FIRE MITCH!

[JDR720]

On Peterson https://theathletic.com/3168728/2022/03/08/nba-40-under-40-nets-assistant-gm-jeff-peterson-may-soon-run-his-own-team-and-hes-got-some-thoughts-on-how-to-do-it/

In 2013, after one season as a basketball-operations assistant with the Atlanta Hawks, Jeff Peterson’s NBA career tilted at a few crossroads. He had received an offer from University of Arizona head coach Sean Miller to come work for him.

Unsure of where he stood, Peterson went to Hawks general manager Danny Ferry with the news. Ferry asked if he wanted to work with the Hawks. Peterson was sure he did, but uncertain if there was an opportunity for him.

So get out of here, Ferry told him, you have a job.

Nearly a decade later, Peterson remains in the NBA, now as the Brooklyn Nets assistant general manager. He has climbed through the industry quickly. The 33-year-old was recruited to Brooklyn three years ago. In 2020, he interviewed for the Pistons GM job. Peterson’s skill in the front office and his work with the Nets have made him one of the more promising young executives in the league. It’s also put him on The Athletic’s inaugural NBA 40 under 40 list.

“There are people who can have honest conversations, peer-to-peer — I could have a conversation with the GM, players can talk to players, coaches talk to coaches. Jeff is a rare breed that can talk across platforms,” Nets general manager Sean Marks said. “So he can have a very honest conversation with a player. He’s had that multiple times. Get the message across, he’s not afraid.

“He’ll have the same conversations with coaches. He’ll have the same conversation with the front office. He’ll have the same conversation with our ownership group. So when you’re able to like be true to who you are across all of that and not be afraid. That’s a talent.”

Marks hired Peterson in 2019, luring him over from the Hawks after having been impressed by his easy rapport with others, his warm interactions with him and the relentlessness with which he worked.

He entrusted Peterson with the amateur scouting side of the Nets’ operation, and Brooklyn has succeeded in that department recently. Cam Thomas looks like a good find after the Nets took him 27th in the 2021 draft, and Kessler Edwards has been a surprising contributor after being selected 44th.

But Marks says Peterson’s savvy extends beyond just the picks. He points to the way Peterson has run the college scouting department and how he has empowered scouts. Marks leans on Peterson for more than just the draft. He calls him a “great sounding board” and takes his counsel in all facets of the organization.

“He is not afraid to get a little dirty,” Marks said. “Just because you’re the assistant GM doesn’t mean you can’t do some of the other tasks, and I think for what we do here, we’re responsible for everything. Titles don’t mean anything. So it doesn’t matter who has a great idea, whether it’s a draft pick, a free agent, or whatever or trade and Jeff is somebody who’s a great listener.

“I think that certainly helps you know, if you have a leader that listens to people, and I think that he does that really well. I think that that’s why his peers look up to him.”

Peterson has been able to learn from many basketball-operations leaders during his time in the NBA — he worked under Ferry, Wes Wilcox, Mike Budenholzer and Travis Schlenk in Atlanta — but he’s also jumped quickly into a sizable role in Atlanta. The Hawks front office was small when Peterson started, he said, and he was able to grab real experience. He would take lunch orders and schedule car deliveries for players, but as a just-out-of-college ex-player, he also jumped on the court to help Kenny Atkinson, who was then an assistant coach.

Because he knew so many college coaches from his playing days — Peterson played at three different schools in three different Power Five conferences — he was able to get into practices and get information. That allowed him to scout and gain intel early on.

At 27, Peterson was named an assistant general manager, which forced him to learn how to manage above and below him.

“It was a huge compliment,” he said. “And a huge challenge at the same time.”

When Marks offered him a job in Brooklyn, Peterson saw it as a chance to grow and see another organization from the inside. A few months later, the Nets signed Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. Peterson had known Durant for almost two decades — he says they played for the same AAU organization in Maryland — but he saw the importance of being able to work with stars for the first time.

“So much of this business is being able to have that relationship, especially those quote-unquote star players, whatever it may be, but it’s being able to see how those guys interact and communicate with them on a daily basis,” he said.

Learning how to work with stars has been an important part of Peterson’s time in Brooklyn. He has built his own philosophy for team building over his time in the NBA, pulled from what he’s seen with the Hawks and Nets.

He’s been influenced by the executives he’s worked with, from Ferry to Budenholzer and Wilcox and Schlenk in Atlanta to Marks in Brooklyn. Peterson has watched how they form staffs and see the game, how they communicate with the head coach and the team’s owner. He keeps what he likes and makes note of what he doesn’t. That process has helped him formulate his future governing style.

Peterson keeps a running document on his phone in an app. He’ll jot them down while at home or on the team plane, pulling ideas not only from his experience but from books and podcasts and listening to general managers in others sports. He labeled the notes “Thoughts” — on team building, basketball operations and everything else.

When he interviewed for the Pistons job in 2020 he had to articulate his ideas for the first time. It was, he said, one of his best professional experiences yet.

Peterson did not get the job but he was animated by it. Soon enough, he may not only get to talk about his thoughts on running a basketball operations department — he may get to put them into practice, too.

[JDR720]

On Schlenk https://theathletic.com/4574013/2023/06/02/travis-schlenk-washington-wizards/

WASHINGTON — In his first major move as Monumental Basketball’s new president, Michael Winger added someone with a proven track record to the Washington Wizards’ front office.

Winger reached a deal to hire former Atlanta Hawks and Golden State Warriors executive Travis Schlenk as the Wizards’ new senior vice president of player personnel, three league sources told The Athletic on Thursday.

Schlenk will oversee all of the team’s player evaluation work on the amateur, international and professional levels. The team’s scouts will report to Schlenk, according to a league source who was granted anonymity because Schlenk’s hiring has not been announced yet.

Winger has at least one other consequential hire to make: someone to serve as the Wizards’ No. 2 executive (who may ultimately be referred to as “general manager”). Winger, who is taking care not to rush the process, has not offered the job to anyone yet, the source said.

Although Winger will have final say on all player personnel moves, the assessments and opinions of the No. 2 executive and Schlenk will carry significant weight. Winger’s background centers less on player evaluation and more on developing broad roster construction and organizational strategies, handling negotiations and navigating the salary cap and the collective bargaining agreement.

Schlenk spent 5 1/2 years as the Hawks’ head of basketball operations until the Hawks parted ways with him and three other talent evaluators in December as part of a broad front-office shakeup.

During his tenure in Atlanta, Schlenk orchestrated a relatively quick rebuild. Within a month of his hiring, Schlenk had the foresight to trade away incumbent center Dwight Howard in an effort to set a more serious tone within the Hawks’ locker room and pave the way for Hawks coaches to develop young players.

Schlenk also compiled a relatively strong draft record. In 2017, he selected forward John Collins 19th. The next year, Schlenk traded the draft rights to Luka Dončić to Dallas for the draft rights to Trae Young and a protected 2019 first-round pick. Also in the 2018 draft, Schlenk picked Kevin Huerter 19th.

After the Hawks won fewer than 30 games in each of Schlenk’s first three seasons, the team posted a 41-31 record during the 2020-21 season and reached the Eastern Conference finals.

ESPN was the first outlet to report that Winger will hire Schlenk.

Winger and Schlenk have known each other for approximately 15 years, going back to Schlenk’s time with Golden State.

Schlenk spent 13 years with the Warriors, the last six as an assistant general manager in Bob Myers’ front office.

[Bassman]

More impressed with Peterson but Schlenk isn’t a schlup either.

[Braggins]

The new owners are failing their first test by not replacing Mitch in time for the trade deadline.

[Braggins]

The team is 172-239 under Mitch (41.8%) with no playoff appearances. Under Rich Cho the team was 223-304 (42.3%) with two playoff appearances. Cho also had a season where he intentionally created the worst team in the league to tank, so Mitch having a worse record would be a bit worse than it actually looks.

It seemed at first that Mitch was better because if you directly compare the teams from the Cho era vs the Mitch era, the Mitch teams have a higher talent level, but the teams have been worse relative to the rest of the league under Mitch overall and the last couple years especially have been a disaster.

Unless something drastic happens in the second half of the season Mitch will probably go down as a worse GM for Charlotte than Cho.

[Rich4114]

The team is 172-239 under Mitch (41.8%) with no playoff appearances. Under Rich Cho the team was 223-304 (42.3%) with two playoff appearances. Cho also had a season where he intentionally created the worst team in the league to tank, so Mitch having a worse record would be a bit worse than it actually looks.

It seemed at first that Mitch was better because if you directly compare the teams from the Cho era vs the Mitch era, the Mitch teams have a higher talent level, but the teams have been worse relative to the rest of the league under Mitch overall and the last couple years especially have been a disaster.

Unless something drastic happens in the second half of the season Mitch will probably go down as a worse GM for Charlotte than Cho.

Mitch has been better at making draft selections. But that’s it and some of them were no brainers. He wasted several competitive seasons by failing to address the C spot and backup PG spot. Something that has happened even this season. He has also declared Charlotte not a free agent destination unless we’re a championship contender but then went out and stretched the single worst contract in franchise history to sign Gordon Hayward to a way over priced deal. Also refused to embrace the tank after the Kemba decision and now we’re stuck with Terry. Fml.

[fatlever]

you knew mitch didn't give a **** about winning when he
1. let dsj walk for nothing
2. made zero effort to replace him with a quality backup pg
3. panic signed fran to 1yr min contract, only 200k guaranteed
4. then kept frank on the **** roster when frank broke his **** leg in preseason, all but guaranteeing he would miss first 2 months of season... or more. what was the **** point in keeping frank? season is half over mitch. you wasted a roster spot for 35+ games on a 15th man level talent on a 200k guaranteed salary to keep frank. it was insane then, more insane looking back.

[JDR720]

I can't imagine Mitch finding anyone like McBob.

Cho was sneaky good at finding quality vets in the scrap bin.

[fatlever]

I can't imagine Mitch finding anyone like McBob.

Cho was sneaky good at finding quality vets in the scrap bin.

mcbob, cdr, courtney lee, lin, tolliver, sessions...

[JDR720]

Dennis was the closest thing. Then we let him go for the minimum.

I think a ton of Mitch's issues boil down to his mentality. He doesn't think Charlotte can compete since it's a small market, so he doesn't seem to bother.

I wonder if he couldn't adjust from being the Lakers GM, a position that anyone could do because players will always want to come to LA.

He actually has to do work here. And he doesn't want to or know how to.

[bravor]

Cho received a bunch of crap back in time, but the main mistake was Batum's contract (and the worst was the 5th year as PO, it could have been an overpaid 4 y contract otherwise). He was a solid cap manager (which he was in Portland first)
Rest was a really bad luck with injuries on key players (from Kemba to MKG, passing by Zeller and couple more). Draft wise, he never really had top picks to do, and the main mistake was Mitchel (esp. with Clifford pushing to get him). Otherwise, he could not do miracles where he was drafting.

The worst gm decision from the new FO wass still beting on SGA's trade instead of keeping him (even though with SGA, no Ball obviously).
But not jumping on Eason is also tough to swallow, esp. with all the Bridges stuff (and they probably know more than anybody here). Like since he made the decision initially, he does not want to change his mind on a really bad evaluation on both players and recognize his error.

He has also seriously overrated most of his late 1st/2nd rounders except for Martin/Graham to a certain extent. But most of them are out of the league already for obvious reasons.
He also extended Rozier on a pretty fat contract (even though some bonus will never be reached) for a guy without a real market. Knowing he was and is a terrible player to pair with Ball.

He could still redeem a bit if he can land a decent 2025 1st for Hayward (2024 would be a bad idea, next draft seems really meh in quality and depth while 2025 already has a bunch of gems, not just Boozer & Flagg).

[yosemiteben]

I think a ton of Mitch's issues boil down to his mentality. He doesn't think Charlotte can compete since it's a small market, so he doesn't seem to bother.

I cannot imagine that is his actual mentality

[NCHeels2008]

Dennis was the closest thing. Then we let him go for the minimum.

I think a ton of Mitch's issues boil down to his mentality. He doesn't think Charlotte can compete since it's a small market, so he doesn't seem to bother.

I wonder if he couldn't adjust from being the Lakers GM, a position that anyone could do because players will always want to come to LA.

He actually has to do work here. And he doesn't want to or know how to.

Honestly I think he sucked at finding role players for the Lakers too, just Kobe, Pau, Odom and Bynum with Phil Jackson doesn't require a lot else to win

[Braggins]

I thought Schlenk's tenure in Atlanta was bad and would not be interested in him. I've never heard of the Peterson guy (but he maybe sounds kind of interesting).

[fatlever]

The qualifications for our next gm should have zero to do with being familiar with the owner.
Do a proper league wide search for the best gm willing to accept this job.



Sent from my SM-G973U using RealGM mobile app

[Rich4114]

The qualifications for our next gm should have zero to do with being familiar with the owner.
Do a proper league wide search for the best gm willing to accept this job.



Sent from my SM-G973U using RealGM mobile app

I agree with this, and I like to take the risk out of the equation by going after second in commands at organizations that are perennially good at drafting, signing free agents and winning. Like if we got the second in command under Pat Riley and Chris Quinn as HC, I'd be happy with that.

[fatlever]

Jan 2 perfect day for a clean slate. how about it new owners? Announce mitch has been ****, please.

Give new gm 6 weeks to prepare for trade deadline.

What the **** are you waiting for?

But, we all know, nothing will be done. Mitch will be given a nice front office consulting of oversight role at the end of the year. We will drag our feet, not name a new gm until like a week before the draft... then do nothing in the offseason because new gm still getting acclimated.


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[SWedd523]

Jan 2 perfect day for a clean slate. how about it new owners? Announce mitch has been ****, please.

Give new gm 6 weeks to prepare for trade deadline.

What the **** are you waiting for?

But, we all know, nothing will be done. Mitch will be given a nice front office consulting of oversight role at the end of the year. We will drag our feet, not name a new gm until like a week before the draft... then do nothing in the offseason because new gm still getting acclimated.


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Next year, though, next year we're gonna regroup, get after it, and make some noise. We promise. Remember this is a playoff team when healthy. Just wait for next year. Please, please wait.

[fatlever]

"this team, only 3 years ago, under a completely different coach, won an incredible 43 games. remember that? it's basically the same team. so, it's fine. this is basically a 43 win team, plus Miller and Mark. that's like, 50 wins for sure. just gotta stay the course"

[Rich4114]

Jan 2 perfect day for a clean slate. how about it new owners? Announce mitch has been ****, please.

Give new gm 6 weeks to prepare for trade deadline.

What the **** are you waiting for?

But, we all know, nothing will be done. Mitch will be given a nice front office consulting of oversight role at the end of the year. We will drag our feet, not name a new gm until like a week before the draft... then do nothing in the offseason because new gm still getting acclimated.


Sent from my SM-G973U using RealGM mobile app

The new owners actually have a chance to win fans over in a disastrous season by making a move like this tbh. I understand leaving Cliff there until the end, but there is truly no reason to leave Mitch there. What is he even doing all season? Scouting for a draft he won't participate in? Did MJ protect him for a year in the sale arrangement?