Are the Grizzlies becoming dysfunctional under Robert Pera?
Like any professional sport, the NBA has good owners, and bad owners. Some put the right people in charge of basketball decisions, spend wisely and largely stay out of the way. Some employ and empower the wrong people, spend recklessly and never get out of the way. Others simply won't spend at all. Some are successful in a basketball setting. Some aren't.
It's too early to tell where 36-year-old Grizzlies (principal) owner Robert Pera, the former Apple-engineer-turned-Ubiquiti Networks-founder/CEO, who is considered one of the world's youngest billionaires, falls in that heap. He's clearly passionate, claims to be willing to spend and desperate to win, but you can say the same for notoriously inept basketball owners Jim Dolan and Dan Gilbert, among others.
In the lavish world of pro sports ownership, there's a big difference between simply wanting to win and actually being self-aware enough to get out of the way after putting a team together - both on the court and in the front office - that can win.
The recent instability of the Grizzlies and the wild reports coming out of Memphis beg the question - Is Pera simply hands-on now (something he apparently wasn't with former CEO Jason Levien in office), or reckless?
The initial Grizzlies shakeups upon Pera buying the team seemed promising. John Hollinger, one of the driving forces between basketball's statistical revolution, was brought on board to serve as Vice President of Basketball Operations. Under a new regime, Rudy Gay's poisonous contract and ball-stopping ways were eventually shipped North to Toronto. The Grizzlies made the Western Conference Final for the first time in franchise history.
Even Lionel Hollins being relieved of his coaching duties after that franchise year last season didn't seem crazy. If an owner or management team believe they can do better from a coaching standpoint, they should make that move to get better every time, not just after a disappointing season. In this case, Pera's Grizzlies thought better meant long time Grizzlies assistant Dave Joerger.
After a shaky start to his first season as an NBA head coach, Joerger guided the team to a 50-win season and a playoff berth in one of the toughest Western Conferences ever, despite missing Marc Gasol for a quarter of the season and being four games under .500 in early January. Heck, if Zach Randolph hadn't gotten himself suspended for Game 7 of their first round matchup with the Thunder, Joerger's Grizzlies might have even gotten through Oklahoma City.
Nevertheless, with a solid first season under Joerger's belt and the team's core locked up for next season (Zach Randolph has a player option but could work out an extension), it seemed this was finally the beginning of some stability for the Grizzlies under Pera's ownership. What's transpired in the weeks following Memphis' Game 7 elimination at the hands of OKC, however, has been anything but stable.
Levien and Director of Player Personnel Stu Lash were let go, General Manager Chris Wallace has temporarily regained some power, and David Mincberg, an attorney listed as Director of Scouting on the team's website, is reportedly rising the ranks.
The topper, of course, was Joerger being permitted by the Grizzlies to interview for the Timberwolves job, reportedly getting close to a deal with Minnesota that would have involved the T-Wolves sending compensation to Memphis, and then being retained by the Grizzlies in the end anyway. Was it just that the Timberwolves couldn't stomach parting with a second round pick as compensation? Did Pera and the Grizzlies have a sudden change of heart over Joerger?
In a twitter Q&A following the Joerger news, Pera said he had "never really talked 1:1 with Joerger before this weekend." Reminder: Joerger has worked with the Grizzlies since 2007 and Pera has owned the team since 2012.
Then there are the odd details reported by Sports Illustrated's Chris Mannix, which only make the entire situation seem more dysfunctional. Among some of the items in Mannix's report, according to sources, are that Pera was frustrated with Joerger after a hyped 1-on-1 game between Pera and Tony Allen never materialized, that Pera "brought up the idea that Joerger could wear an NFL-style headset and take instructions on the sideline," and that he suggested Mike Miller could become a player-coach.
It sounds like a sketch comedy skit gone wrong, but it's reportedly the inner workings of a real NBA team - and a recently successful one at that. This is all great entertainment for those following along, but it's also at least a little concerning if you're a Grizzlies fan.
If healthy, and with a returning Randolph, the Grizzlies should once again win 50-plus games next season and be on the fringe of legitimate title contention. But their window beyond that is murky, as Marc Gasol is slated for free agency in 2015, Randolph will be 34 after next season, and given their place in the standings, they probably won't be adding any major impact youngsters through the Draft.
Pera will need to straighten out the front office and stabilize his franchise in order to either keep the Grizzlies competitive beyond next season or to at worst make a smooth transition into a rebuilding phase.
If he's simply in the early stages of becoming a properly involved, hands-on owner, Memphis should be fine. But if he's the Dolan/Gilbert type that can't stay out of his own way, another era of Grizzlies futility might be just around the corner.