Ending a month or so of speculation, Sam Presti announced at a press conference today that PJ Carlesimo will return as the Sonics' head coach next season.Carlesimo enters the 2008-09 season having posted a winning percentage below .300 in three of his past four seasons, and since leaving the rosy confines of Portland a decade ago has compiled (emphasis on "pile") a record of 66-175.
In other words, if the Sonics go 82-0 next season, Carlesimo would still have a below .500 record in the NBA coaching teams outside of the state of Oregon.
However, were the Sonics to win all 82 games, then continue with a 27-game win streak to start the 2009-10 season, PJ would then be right smack at .500 for his post-Blazer career.
Of course, it's not really fair to PJ to blame him for this past season's roster. It's not as if he benched rookies in favor of veteran retreads like Donyell Marshall or Francisco Elson in an attempt to study the mystical powers of those veterans. And it's not as if he didn't have, oh, I don't know, the starting point guard for the Cleveland Cavaliers collecting DNP-CDs for half the season.
Oh, nevermind.
11 comments:
So PJ's coming back for next year - remind me again why we should try and save this team?
they only signed PJ cuz nobody else in their right mind would want to when there are better openings available such as chicago and dallas for example
They already were due to pay PJ $3 million next season. At this point htey want to make sure they get the most out of their bad investments... or perhaps the least.
Delonte West has benefited from playing with the Cleveland Cavaliers due to LeBron James' all-around supremacy and Mike Brown's simplistic offensive system.
During the upcoming off-season, however, the Cavaliers ought to acquire a high-scoring shooting guard to play alongside point forward "King" James off guard West; Michael Redd would be a realistic target.
FROM CLEVELAND & TO MILWAUKEE
SF Wally Szczerbiak
SG Damon Jones
FROM MILWAUKEE & TO CLEVELAND
SG Michael Redd
C Dan Gadzuric
http://tinyurl.com/5gcuuj
The Cavaliers should attempt to trade for a backup point forward for James, too, since Aleksander "Sasha" Pavlovic ball-handling is subpar and he's best used as a defensive stopper at the backup shooting guard spot.
Marko Jaric of the Minnesota Timberwolves perfectly fits that mold of a point forward; thus, a three-team trade between the Timberwolves, the Cavaliers, and the Seattle SuperSonics that'd be centered around Jaric, Eric Snow, and Luke Ridnour would make sense for each ballclub.
FROM CLEVELAND
PG Eric Snow
FROM MINNESOTA
SF Marko Jaric
PF Mark Madsen
FROM SEATTLE
PG Luke Ridnour
C Mouhamed Sene
TO CLEVELAND
SF Marko Jaric
PF Mark Madsen
TO MINNESOTA
PG Luke Ridnour
C Mouhamed Sene
TO SEATTLE
PG Eric Snow
http://tinyurl.com/5sz4h8
The SuperSonics would profit from the above deal by dumping Ridnour's overpriced deal -- as well as the injured carcass of Mohuamed Sene, who'll most likely never play another game in the NBA -- for Snow's expiring contract. That, without question, would be a financially prudent transaction.
BOOOO!
PJ, your just a puppet/tool.
I know your in it with Satan Bennett.
Those are well-reasoned trade proposals AK.
I had thought that Minnesota would be one of the handful of teams who might bite on getting Ridnour if they don't keep Telfair as they shouldn't.
Just getting Snow's expiring would turn off most and I'd guess Presti probably wouldn't do it. I might go along (don't have strong feelings on it either way) but you might be able to get more if not now in Feb, or next summer.
Bucks are going nowhere with Redd so a trade would be forward thinking for them.
Your trades are probably good for the Cavs in terms of on the court needs but Ferry or more likely his owner might not be willing to take the extra salary and longer contracts.
Taking Snow's contract might be more appealing if you wanted him to be an influence on Durant / Green for a year or if you wanted to try to secure him as a longterm coach (He would seem near ideal assistant. Head coaching? That would be a question for 3-5 years from now.) Or maybe his contract could be used in a flip for something else later.
I had been under the impression from previous reporting that PJ got a 3 year $4 million deal. Today the PI says 2 years $6 million. This is a major discrepancy.
I am not sure we've got the correct, complete story.
Maybe PJ had a team option on the third year?
It's Bennett's money and I don't care about that but it affects guessing about Presti's level of confidence in PJ's performance and his strategy and timeline. If the $3 mil salary is correct then Bennett / Presti were less concerned about cheap and probably more gullable and wrong about what level of coaching performance they were buying. Another deduction for them.
It is a curiosity but I can't get too worked up about it. 2 years is better than 3. But zero was better than 2 except for precious draft position which is overrated even the quality of these drafts.
They need heaping helpings of trades up and free agent signings in addition to good drafts. Good drafts alone might get them to .500 in year 4 or 5. Not enough for my interest.
But with the pending move the team is just a sidshow of its former status.
This is probably a sign the Sonics think they'll be in Seattle next year--they'd probably want a higher-profile, GOOD coach for their first year in OKC don't you think?
Edits:
The story in PI was yesterday not today. This was a delayed post on the topic. Hard to talk ball these days.
and should be ...
draft position which is overrated "given" the quality of these drafts.
Heard Marty Blake Jr call this is a deep draft. I don't really buy it. If it is deep it is deep in likely to be mediocre role players. Filling out a team with extra draft picks as presti has set out to do will require him to be a very good picker. The Jeff Green pick calls that into a lot of doubt. This draft will tell us a lot more.
Sure PJ will be gone before they hit OKC if they do. It may be harder to get the coach they'd like than they think there. Another 20 some win season won't make it easier. Maybe some coaches might have taken the job this year to develop the players their way? Undoing the PJ stunt will probably take additional time. Durant will likely be in 4th or 5th year before he has a solid team around him and that makes taking the job on the basis of a better future pretty sketchy. Odds of him wanting to skip out seem likely to be pretty high.
Post a Comment