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How would Presti not be close with Carlesimo?
So claims the Tacoma News Tribune. Some other interesting tidbits regarding Pop and Presti's relationships with PJ and Newman.
Also, Lenny Wilkins' reign as president didn't last very long.
Link
Wilkens ‘put out to pasture’
FRANK HUGHES; The News Tribune
Published: June 8th, 2007 01:00 AM
Less than two months into his role as Seattle SuperSonics president, Lenny Wilkens had his power stripped by chairman Clay Bennett. When the Sonics hired Sam Presti as general manager Thursday, Bennett took away Wilkens’ le as president and renamed him vice chairman because, sources say, Bennett was upset with the short tenure of the 69-year-old Wilkens and wanted to, as one source said, “put Lenny out to pasture.”
From Wilkens’ unsavory handling of the announcement of his position of president to his perceived mismanagement of the hiring of a general manager and coach, Bennett was said to be so upset with Wilkens the divide was irreversible.
Wilkens will remain with the organization in an advisory capacity, but day-to-day power has been handed to the 30-year-old Presti.
Though Wilkens is likely to be a small part of the search for a coach, the ultimate decision will fall to Presti and Bennett, who has quietly taken on more of a decision-making role in basketball operations.
The team attempted to downplay the decision at the news conference announcing the hiring of Presti and buried the information in the ninth paragraph of a 13-paragraph release.
When asked about the restructuring, Bennett said: “I am so pleased to find the skill set that Sam represents. And to do the job and be accountable and be responsible, he has to have the authority. He has to have the absolute authority in conjunction with ownership.”
Still, as the search for a general manager unfolded, sources say it became clear Wilkens no longer was favored by Bennett, who in part hired the Seattle icon because he was a conduit to the public for an ownership group from Oklahoma City that had no ties to the Pacific Northwest.
That relationship began to unravel almost immediately, when Wilkens went on KJR-AM radio on April 26 and announced he was the team’s president.
On April 25, the day after the Sonics fired coach Bob Hill and general manager Rick Sund without a press conference to explain their decisions, KJR producers contacted Sonics staffers in an attempt to get Wilkens on the air with host Mitch Levy the following morning.
Sonics employees told KJR they needed to clear the interview with Bennett in Oklahoma City. The Sonics told KJR they would call them back Wednesday night if the interview was on, and the Sonics told Wilkens they would call him if it was OK to conduct the interview.
Late Wednesday night, Bennett’s representatives said it was not OK to conduct the interview. A source told The News Tribune it was because contract negotiations between Wilkens and Bennett were not complete. A source said Wilkens was asking for far more money than Bennett was willing to pay and the sides had not reached an agreement.
Thursday morning, KJR producers hadn’t heard from Wilkens so they contacted him at home. Wilkens told producers he had not heard from the Sonics. KJR producers said they had been speaking with the Sonics the day before. Wilkens then relented and went on the air with Levy.
Apparently, it was a miscommunication. When Wilkens said he had not heard from the Sonics, he meant he had not gotten confirmation to conduct the interview. When producers told him they had been speaking with the Sonics the day before, Wilkens assumed they meant they had gotten the OK.
Still, when Wilkens went on the air, he told Levy the team was working toward naming him president of the organization – even though a contract had not been signed.
A team spokesman that afternoon said Wilkens’ claim was not true, and that he would confirm it later in the day. The Sonics did not confirm Wilkens’ new position until the next day, after an agreement on a contract had been reached.
Bennett was enraged by Wilkens’ pre-emptive announcement, multiple sources say, and viewed it as an underhanded way for Wilkens to force him into agreeing to a contract. Before the relationship even started, a rift was formed. One source said while the contract was agreed upon, it was never signed, the reason it was so easy for Bennett to demote Wilkens back to a consultant role.
Despite his anger, Bennett had no choice but to allow Wilkens to conduct a search for a general manager and a coach. He had fired Wally Walker, Sund and Hill and had no one left to whom he could turn.
But as teams around the league with vacancies conducted their own searches, Wilkens allowed his search to drag on while considering hiring his son as a scout.
Then, as the San Antonio Spurs were competing in the playoffs, coach Gregg Popovich called Bennett to endorse assistant coaches P.J. Carlesimo and Don Newman as potential replacements for Hill.
During the conversation, Popovich also told Bennett he did not have to wait until after the playoffs to request an interview with Presti. Bennett asked Popovich if Wilkens had called the Spurs to request permission and was informed he had not. Bennett was further angered by that bit of news, sources say.
Though Wilkens had interviewed Portland consultant John Gabriel and Atlanta Hawks assistant general manager Gary Fitzsimmons, Bennett interviewed Presti and Washington Wizards assistant general manager Tommy Sheppard by himself.
It wasn’t until Tuesday night in Colorado Springs, Colo., that Wilkens met Presti, though by then it was established in Bennett’s mind that Wilkens no longer would have a significant say and Bennett was going to make the final decision.
In fact, up until Bennett decided to hire Presti, Wilkens had been informing Gabriel he was going to recommend Gabriel to Bennett for the opening. Apparently, Wilkens did not know Bennett was planning on taking away his power.
What this means for the future of the organization and for Wilkens remains to be seen, but in the short term it implies Presti will have significantly more input in major decisions than originally believed.
Several league insiders thought Wilkens wanted to hire his friend Paul Silas for the coaching vacancy, but this likely means Silas will not get the job, at least not based on Wilkens’ recommendation.
Presti has a good relationship with Rick Carlisle, recently fired by the Indiana Pacers, and though he is not close with Carlesimo, he has inside knowledge of him.
Also, this means the end of Wilkens’ one-year stint as the team’s color announcer. FSN spokeswoman Jill Wiggins confirmed on Thursday that Wilkens had telephoned program director Mark Shuken and informed him he would not take the job next season. Wiggins said it was too soon to name a replacement.
How would Presti not be close with Carlesimo?
that tells me Pop didn't think he was the "phenom" anymore.
.
RC didn't want to go if Lenny Wilkens was in charge.
Damn, TAKE RC INSTEAD!!!!
I heard last night at the game that Carlesimo is not a top choice of Presti's at all for the coaching job.
It makes me wonder how well liked PJ is within the organization by other people.
It doesn't tell me that at all. The article says that Pop was calling Bennett to recommend PJ and Newman. And that while on the phone he gave an endorsement and permission to talk to Presti (the Sonics were already interested in Presti). That doesn't seem like Pop didn't think highly of Presti. It just makes it seem like he wasn't going to hold him back.
What's weird is that every summer Pop calls around trying to sell people on PJ and no one bites. I wonder if Pop still wants PJ here.
PJ must be a grating personality.
He was not well liked in Oakland and Portland.
He seems to not be the most loved in SA.
WTF is his deal
And that while on the phone he gave an endorsement and permission to talk to Presti
yup
and IMO, if he was still untouchable, and still thought of as a "genius" then Pop would've reccommended RC instead.
I know I would've
Still I don't like the fact that he is taking critical draft knowledge with him...
yup
and IMO, if he was still untouchable, and still thought of as a "genius" then Pop would've reccommended RC instead.
I know I would've
He's never been untouchable. They've always supported him and knew he wanted to be a GM. Why would he have recommended RC when they were interested in Presti and RC had already said he wasn't interested in moving there until Wilkens?
The plot thickens.
thats what im trying to say.RC had already said he wasn't interested in moving there until Wilkins?
Pop could've reccommended RC, bennet would've called, RC says, not interested if Wilkens is in charge, he tells RC hes not, RC leaves, Presti takes over as GM.
Voila.
Course, you could use the same argument to say Pop was offering Presti because he doesn't want him here any more, either.
Clearly PJ really wants another head coaching job and maybe Pop feels he's paid his penance as an assistant and has earned it.
But if I was a GM, I really don't know why I would take PJ over either one of the many more established and accomplished coaches, or any of the younger, more promising ones. PJ had a couple of chances and didn't exactly make himself a star. There's no shame in that, lots of great assistants are guys who never panned out as head coaches.
By the way, Shoogar's thread le is pretty misleading. It wasn't Pop's idea for the Sonics to interview Presti. As the article states, "Popovich also told Bennett he did not have to wait until after the playoffs to request an interview with Presti."
The Sonics already had the idea and desire to interview Presti before talking to Pop.
Except RC is more highly thought of in the Spurs organization than Presti. Thus they would prefer to keep RC if they were losing one of the two.
I would've offered up RC before Presti.
I get that.
The Spurs don't think of RC as lowly as you do.
he has naked pics of Holt, thats the only reason.Except RC is more highly thought of in the Spurs organization than Presti. Thus they would prefer to keep RC if they were losing one of the two.
Okay, noted. My point was that Presti was getting bashed for the timing of interviewing/acceptance, and it appears that may been Pop's initiative.
It has been public knowledge for a while that the Spurs will let Presti and any of the coaches interview during the playoffs. With how teams rush to make their hires in the offseason, it'd really lower the chances of anyone on the Spurs getting jobs if they didn't have that policy.
However, I haven't seen anywhere where Pop or the Spurs say it was cool for Presti to get hired away before the playoffs were over. That's a whole different ball game. Even if Presti has nothing to do with on the court play, the potential for distraction -- even if minor -- should have dissuaded Presti from having it announced during the Finals.
Again, I've never heard in the history of sport where someone leaves an organization in the middle of a playoff run.
The Spurs are morons.The Spurs don't think of RC as lowly as you do.
No question.
True. Of course, Pop/Spurs granted permission for the interview. Though I'm not sure everyone thought he'd be out the door before the draft.
The second round is going to be interesting with the Sonics picking two picks before the Spurs
Since the first round we've known that Presti and PJ could do interviews. Being interviewed wasn't the issue. Being hired away in the middle of the playoffs is what I'm questioning.
That's still not whole point. The Sonics didn't call the Spurs to ask about Presti. Pop called the Sonics.
According to the article, Pop called Bennett to endorse PJ and Newman.
Then, without prompting, he also told him they could interview Presti.
That's an entirely different scenario than the Sonics calling the Spurs asking for permission.
I think the new thread le is equally misleading.
The article doesn't say without prompting. It doesn't say either way.
And the article says that Bennett was pissed off because he thought Wilkens already called asking for permission. So the point is that the Sonics already wanted Presti before talking to Pop. Pop didn't start the idea.
That's an entirely different scenario than the Sonics calling the Spurs asking for permission.
I think the new thread le is equally misleading.
How is the new le misleading? Didn't Pop endorse the Presti interview during the playoffs?
Who cares when they get interviewed or hired......Presti or Buford interviewing or accepting a job before the playoffs, during the playoffs, or after the playoffs will have absolutely NO bearing on how the spurs do during the playoffs.
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