Jerry West Convinced Ballmer to Sign off on Blake Trade

https://mobile.nytimes.com/2018/05/13/sports/basketball/jerry-west-just-wants-to-feel-wanted.html Going through with the trade would essentially be admitting that re-signing Griffin was a mistake, an ill-conceived attempt to cling to relevance and respectability after losing Paul. Do it anyway, West urged. The Clippers had gone to great lengths just six months earlier to persuade Griffin to stay in free agency, staging a mock jersey retirement ceremony in which Griffin was proclaimed to be “a lifelong Clipper” as part of their recruiting pitch. Trading him so soon after that, for all the financial flexibility it could restore, would also paint the Clippers as heartless. “Don’t be afraid to make that tough decision if....

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West saw the greater picture, and he was willing to trade Griffin. I wonder if West sees the bigger picture with Doc or if he has been honeyd#cked by Doc

Firing Doc was a great plan the last 2 or 3 years before this season. The problem with firing him now is there are no CLEAR upgrades available and he really did a great job this year. His leadership resonated with the younger, new Clippers squad this year. My only real gripe with him this year was not starting Harrell at PF and playing him 30 minutes a game+playing Austin too much at times. Oh and Thornwell falling out of rotation randomly.

He coached his ass off this year and I say that as someone who's passionately been pro fire Doc for 3 years at least. Who do you hire if you fire him?

I noticed that West only signed a two year contract. I hope he stays longer because this clipper squad needs more time than that for relevance.

Casey is a better coach than Rivers in my opinion, and he's newly available. We passed on him to hire VDN. We shouldn't pass on him again.

Boston did this quite successfully. You go to the collegiate system for a coach in lieu of a viable alternative. I think we shouldn't be deterred just because a name in the pro league doesn't pop up. Also, do you really think Doc will give our two draft picks a fair shake? Doc is the wrong man for this club, and the 42-40 record shouldn't be the only criteria we use to judge him. He never utilized Boban, over-utilized Austin, burned out our starting unit (which the L.A. times wrote a piece on), and was one of the reasons CP3 left.

Jerry West is on his way to Chicago for the Lottery Draft tomorrow. Good Luck Jerry! 😉

let's hope the #1 pick for ours and the #10 from detroit

You forgot his biggest mistake of all. Underplaying Harrell. In a way that will pay off though because teams won't offer him stupid money hopefully.

So would that be considered a mistake or a stroke of genius?

It's just funny that people keep saying Doc did a good job this season and should not be fired. They forgot the previous season he failed when we have the best PG in the league. Is it because we have more rookies playing and a 42 wins? Everybody knows rookies want a minutes to show who they are, so once they have the opportunity they will take advantage on it, and those who needs a new contract will play hard, even if it was Sam Cassel in the bench, this player will play as hard as they can, I don't believe it's because of Doc coaching.

We had Steph Curry?

Harrell is a bright spot for this team. Him and Harris will form the nucleus of a very good squad. It's funny but if I understand correctly Doc's reluctance to play Harrell might have the silver lining of a team favorable contract, is that right? I agree. But he won't be hidden for long we better act and sign him to a good contract

Also on a side note everyone. CP3s team just lost game 1

Doing a good job this season and getting fired are not mutually exclusive. Just 'cause he kept the ship from sinking doesn't mean that he can win the race.

Casey is an upgrade. Also, you could say Casey coached really well got them into the 2nd round but... can’t get past there and you’re gone. Reminds me of another coach I know... 😉

why not 1 and 5?

It's hard to imagine Ballmer being the one that pushes for a move like that. I had already assumed it was West, this is just a direct confirmation.

Speaking of Doc. West was evaluating him this season. If he wanted him gone, he would also be gone, so whether I like Doc or not, it is promising that West saw something good. As we see with Blake, if he thinks it isn't working out, he won't be shy to push Ballmer to make a change.

The Detroit pick can't be 5, the lottery is only done for the top 3 picks. After that the remaining teams are arranged according to the win/loss order.

As we know if Detroit pick moves up into the top 3, we lose it, so we want our pick to move up into top 3 and Detroit to stay put.

The reason Detroit put top 4 protection is that starting next year the lottery will be done for the first 4 picks, so they wanted to protect their pick still. This is in case they moved up into top 3 this season then were in the lottery again next season and moved up into top 4 they would still be protected.

They looked so bad that a sweep isn't far-fetched if the Dubs can pull off the win tomorrow. Capella, Harden, and Morey woke the sleeping giant. You can't claim you're the better than the Dubs when you got you ass handed to you. You can't claim your team was built to beat the Dubs when you just handed over home court advantage in game 1.

yup, never celebrate before crossing the finish line. Interestingly, Houston fans criticisms on CP3 are the same some of us here have pointed out like holding on to the ball, over dribbling, and lack of aggression.. This will be the only series i root for the warriors. I just want CP3 to fail for the trash he talked about this team

How did this turn into the Rockets vs Warriors and CP3 discussion?

I can imagine how hard it was, but I'm very glad they pulled the trigger on this trade. Tobias Harris has been a very good player, Avery Bradley may be a big bargaining chip, and if the draft pick we get from this deal pans out, this may be one of the best trades we have made in a while. When you look at what we got from both the CP3 and BG trades, we are in a very great situation. I think I remember reading it either here or in a different article where Jerry says the right choice isn't always popular, and the most popular choice isn't always the right choice.

Could it be that BG pulled some inexcusable sh*t? I have always valued character as a determinate for keeping a player. He has consistently done things that are questionable. At 6'10" and 250# he assaulted a restaurant patron and an employee. You or I would have gone to jail. He slacked off to "save himself for the PO's, he has constantly whined to the refs. Finally, he pulled one of the worst, most heartless thing I've EVER heard to the mother of his children. In other words he lied in public. I've never seen this on a Reality show.

How do you know that somebody's an ass*ole? He acts like one and BG does. If any of you have met Trust Funders? He acts like one. They don't take responsibility for their actions. There is no way you BG worshipers can excuse his actions.

I think that BG pulled some unforgivable stunt. He felt invulnerable then he did what he always does, something awful. He has always gotten away with it because he was Golden Boy. What player has ever acted like he does?

What is more likely,----- #1 he did something unforgivable. OR -----#2 Everything was fine and they gave him a huge contract and publicly said his jersey would be retired. Actually they had planned on trading him all along while at the same time praising him in public and giving him a LOT of money.. Then for some unknown reason arguably one of the best GM's ever in a week or so decided to trade him on a whim. This would make him one of the most dishonorable despicable people in a long time. Remember, they gave him a HUGE contract.. Even DTS would not have pulled this.

The obvious is usually the truth

Looking back on the trade it was the right decision. Blake changed our whole franchise around. But i don't think blake is a winner he folds under pressure and he has so much talent he should just dominate.