May 28, 2008

Out of the Frying Pan...

Okay, so early reports have the Hawks signing on Rick Sund as new GM. Don't recognize the name? Well, he helped destroy the Sonics. Don't believe me? The following was not taken from a Sonics fan site, but another NBA blog that awarded on a 5 point system for each roster move, talking about worst GMs last year:

[trade: +5, re-sign: +3] 2/03 – Sund took advantage of the Ray Allen/Michael Redd situation in Milwaukee by stealing Ray Ray away, only giving up a washed-up point guard (Gary Payton) and a guy who still can’t shoot (Desmond Mason). However, Allen is a guy who commands max money but doesn’t provide max results, which is why the ’05 Allen re-sign gets a +3.

[+1] 7/03 – He did a fair job landing two serviceable players in the unspectacular Nick Collison (#12) and the wispy Luke Ridnour (#14), but neither guy has developed into an established starter. In that draft, Sund passed on the likes of David West, Boris Diaw, Leandro Barbosa and Josh Howard. He’d trade both Collison and Ridnour for any of those guys in a heartbeat.

[-14] – In the next three drafts, Sund picked three project centers: Robert Swift (#12) in ’04, Johan Petro (#25) in ’05 and Saer Sene (#10) in ’06. In drafting these guys, he passed on Al Jefferson, Josh Smith, Delonte West, Tony Allen, Kevin Martin, David Lee and Marcus Williams. Swift is injured while Petro and Sene are combining for a dreadful 7.5 points and 5.4 rebounds this season. What a brutal draft run.

[trade: +3, re-sign: +1] 2/06 – Turning short timer Vladimir Radmanovic into Chris Wilcox was a nice move, though he hasn’t developed into a 15/10 guy like the Sonics hoped. The team may eventually regret re-signing him last summer.

[+1] 2/06 – Sund acquired Earl Watson for Reggie Evans, trading toughness in the frontcourt for toughness in the backcourt. I’m convinced that Watson can anchor a bench, but he’s not yet a starter.

[-5] 2/07 – Sund’s biggest mistake was not to trade Rashard Lewis before the deadline after deciding not to sign him to an extension before the season. Now it looks like Lewis will opt out this summer, which means the Sonics may get nothing in return for their stud swingman.

Synopsis? He can't draft, but seems to do decent in free agency. If it wasn't bad enough that the links next to the ESPN.com article are stories about the Hawks losing out on their 1st two choices, it looks like we got Billy Knight 2.0. But hey, I'm not complaining, at least Billy Knight is gone. Sund '08! YES WE CAN!!!

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