rating mitch kupchak as a GM

[trojanfight]

yeah I get it he landed the gasol deal... but seems to me there have been quite a few deals last few years that have crippled the future... 2 1st round picks and 2 2nd round picks for steve nash.... that's right up there with the what Miami gave up in sign and trade for LeBron. for a player who rarely has played and was almost 38 years old when he was traded that's a bad move..

next up ramon sessions for a 1st round pick....mediocre play and left following year....Derek fisher and a 1st round for Jordan hill.... Jordan hill isn't a bad player...but for a 1st round pick AND Derek fisher....I think they could have just swapped straight up and that's and even trade...

they haven't done much with the draft picks they have kept over the years....one that stands out is they had 3 late 2nd round draft picks...goudelock, and 2 projects were taken over isiah Thomas who is a top 10-15 pg now..38 points twice in last week.

I get it it wasn't mitch's fault for cp3 veto. but these were all questionable deals. if this season continues as it has were looking at a top 10 pick. if he botches that then hes grounds to be canned IMO

 

[Shaqdaddy11]

Mitch deserves a 10/10 in my book.

In the space of three years he landed the leagues best PG (the veto'd CP3 deal), the best center in the league (for an injured cry baby who STILL hasn't landed a team) and despite Nash being a complete bum, NOBODY could have predicted his decline would be so immense.

It was Jims fault to build around Nash, not Kupchaks. Dantoni's hiring - Jim again.

And as for the Session trade? That first round pick turned out to be Jared Cunningham - currently averaging 2.0 ppg. We also got rid of Luke Waltons contract which was a bigger issue.

 

[Retroram52]

Questionable and depending on your criteria for critical comments, this could go either way.

 

[OutlawImmortal]

Shaq has great points but you can add Steve Blake to the list of bad moves.

 

[Kold]

I don't know, he may not be the best...but he sure made some decent moves. That first title team in 09 was built on good moves by the front office. He turned Brian Cook into Trevor Ariza(whom turned out to be the difference maker that year we won) and got Shannon Brown(who was just a throw in in the Morrison trade). I forget how we got Sasha but he was a huge addition as well. In 2010, he got Ron Artest for peanuts after Ariza left, and Ron saved us so many times in that 2010 playoff run. The CP3 move was a stroke of GENIUS....but if you think about, pretty much every move that happened after that summer was a result of that vetoed trade. Dwight would of stayed with CP3, we would of never traded for Nash or sessions, the coaching moves, ugh let me stop drudging up bad memories. One of the biggest mistakes was when they chose Mike Brown/Dantoni over Brian Shaw/Phil Jackson. Brown couldn't coach offense, and Dantoni couldn't coach defense(and his style never truly fit THAT team), plus we had like a hundred injuries that year.

 

[Shaqdaddy11]

Shaq has great points but you can add Steve Blake to the list of bad moves.

Blake isn't that bad. He was always considered a backup. And this year he was putting up career numbers in assists.

 

[Retroram52]

Precisely Kold. I think no matter how you look at it, Mitch has had to juggle a lot of spinning dishes in the drama that has surrounded short Buss and his insanity. Overall, Mitch has been pretty adroit at walking in a field of land mines while maintaining an modicum of basketball sanity and not getting blown to smithereens.

 

[trojanfan12]

Mitch has done an outstanding job, imo. The current re-build is Dr. Buss's plan and Mitch is following it. I've been pretty impressed with what he has been able to pull off given the circumstances.


Look at the roster and all of the young athletic guys that we are talking about being keepers for the future when the Lakers add a couple of max level guys. Mitch is responsible for bringing in all of them.


While the Nash deal has pretty well blown up in his face, it looked much better at the time than it does now. No way for Mitch to predict the cascade of injuries that Nash has suffered. Remember, when the deal that landed him and Dwight was made, most experts were predicting a Lakers title and Nash was a big reason why.

 

[Retroram52]

Yep, TJF12. I have been leaning in the direction of thinking that Mitch has been pretty good with some bumps in the road along the way. Again, given the set of financial and injury constraints he has had to work with, he has done pretty well.

 

[trojanfan12]

Yep, TJF12. I have been leaning in the direction of thinking that Mitch has been pretty good with some bumps in the road along the way. Again, given the set of financial and injury constraints he has had to work with, he has done pretty well.

Yeah, missteps are inevitable. Even Jerry West had his fair share. Benoit Benjamin anyone?

 

[Retroram52]

Classic example!

 

[Shaqdaddy11]

Buss put all his eggs in the Nash/Dwight basket last year and look how that turned out.

Mitch was made to get a team this year for a bag full of peanuts and a fruit roll-up and IMO he did a great job at that. There is no doubt in my mind that he'll get us contending again within the next two years.

 

[Retroram52]

 

[TEB11]

Retro, I have said this many times. Mitch is over-rated of late. He hasn't done anything in two years with the exception of letting the best center walk with nothing to show for it and signing a senior citizen hasbeen point guard who has played like 10 minutes since he's been in a Laker uni for a number one pick. If you fail at your mormal place of employment, more than none you get canned. Well, it's time Laker brass, it's time!

 

[lakersrule]

It's hard to judge Mitch fairly because we don't know exactly how much power Jim is exerting over him. The thing that made Dr. Buss great is that he surrounded himself with great basketball people who were allowed to make the basketball decisions. Jim seems to putting more into the decision making process than his father did.

 

[Retroram52]

You might be right as well TEB.

 

[TEB11]

lakersrule, that IS a very good point as well.

 

[DimesD]

Mitch right now is a yes man. Jim wants to control all decision regardless of how he plays it off as a "group" effort. Everybody knows Mike Brown was his deal. Same with D'antoni. Seriously, there's no possibility that Mitch would recommend D'antoni over a guy who's gotten so much success for the franchise over the years - Phil.
That said, even as a trigger for Jerry Buss, Mitch wasn't good with doling out money. Giving Luke that contract was stupid. (I said don't do it it before he was a free agent.) And Mitch as a talent evaluator missed out on lots of opportunities the last few years. Getting Lin was a simple transaction but he listened to his coach (who knew nothing about Lin- therefore no deal) BB fans did. If you needed a PG, Drafting Thomas shoulda been a no brainer but, no, we had to get Darius Dribbles. On what planet does a talent evaluator deem Morris a better PG than Thomas? It was pretty easy to see. Isaiah >>>> Morris. Takes 2 minutes of anybody's' time to come to that conclusion. Morris had size and that's it.

 

[LALakersboy24.7]

Mitch right now is a yes man. Jim wants to control all decision regardless of how he plays it off as a "group" effort. Everybody knows Mike Brown was his deal. Same with D'antoni. Seriously, there's no possibility that Mitch would recommend D'antoni over a guy who's gotten so much success for the franchise over the years - Phil.
That said, even as a trigger for Jerry Buss, Mitch wasn't good with doling out money. Giving Luke that contract was stupid. (I said don't do it it before he was a free agent.) And Mitch as a talent evaluator missed out on lots of opportunities the last few years. Getting Lin was a simple transaction but he listened to his coach (who knew nothing about Lin- therefore no deal) BB fans did. If you needed a PG, Drafting Thomas shoulda been a no brainer but, no, we had to get Darius Dribbles. On what planet does a talent evaluator deem Morris a better PG than Thomas? It was pretty easy to see. Isaiah >>>> Morris. Takes 2 minutes of anybody's' time to come to that conclusion. Morris had size and that's it.

1.) I can't take you serious being a Lakers & Clippers fan, the world is collapsing.

2.) You seem to only point out all the negatives about Mitch, now i'm not saying he hasn't made mistakes, but come on, we went to the finals 3 season's in a row & won 2 NBA titles just about 3 years ago. How about pointing some good moves that helped us accomplish this ??

3.) We are so quick to forget the good moves he made like drafting Bynum, Farmar, aquiring Odom & Shannon Brown, Trevor Ariza, Metta World Peace, trading for Gasol, getting Fisher back in LA & Phil to coach us again. Did you forget about these guys ?? come on wake up, any team would gladly hire Mitch as their GM if he was available in a heart beat.

 

[trojanfan12]

1.) I can't take you serious being a Lakers & Clippers fan, the world is collapsing.

2.) You seem to only point out all the negatives about Mitch, now i'm not saying he hasn't made mistakes, but come on, we went to the finals 3 season's in a row & won 2 NBA titles just about 3 years ago. How about pointing some good moves that helped us accomplish this ??

3.) We are so quick to forget the good moves he made like drafting Bynum, Farmar, aquiring Odom & Shannon Brown, Trevor Ariza, Metta World Peace, trading for Gasol, getting Fisher back in LA & Phil to coach us again. Did you forget about these guys ?? come on wake up, any team would gladly hire Mitch as their GM if he was available in a heart beat.

Perfect post!! Well said!!