He plays basketball with the black hole that is Carmelo Anthony in a triangle offense.

Carmelo is also a known rebound stealer.

Word is he struggles doing a single air squat. He's got a lot of work to do.

Anyone ever compare Staps to Rik Smits?

It's not apples to apples but goes along with that shooter with size being a #2/#3. Smits obv had much more bulk on him.

what are your guys top 10 GM power rankings?

here's mine:

1) Bob Myers.

(Maybe the guy is on a super duper heater to start and we are overrating his true ability, but what his team has done in 5 years is totally ridiculous)

2) RC Buford
3) Pat Riley
4) Daryl Morey
5) The Ghost Of Sam Hinkie

Put these next few in any order
6) Neil Olshey
7) Dennis Lindsey
8) Masai Ujiri
9) Chris Wallace / John Hollinger

10) The Hoarder

For fun, worst 6 GM power rankings:

1) GarPax
2) Steve Mills / Phil Jackson
3) Vlade
4) Jeff Bower / Stan Van Gundy
5) Dave Wohl / Roc Divers
6) Ernie Grunfeld


I didn't put a ton of time into this and there is a lot of weirdness compiling it since GMs tend to move around a lot. Bucks, for example, well-built team with solid future, but how do you place their GM situation in the power rankings when they just moved their GMs, etc etc etc

I'm not arguing that Staps sucks. I'm arguing that he isn't likely to ever be a superstar. He shoots it well, but not well enough to distort defenses in the way that the best shooters do.

It really is tough to come up with a fair Porzingis to Boston trade. If I'm the Knicks I'm not doing it unless I get #3 AND either the Nets first or that Lakers/Kings pick.

I'm not doing it for #3 and one of Boston's current players or even two of them .

And if I'm Boston I definitely do not trade that Nets pick.

The closest one is #3 + Kings pick which might not be great but I think Boston correctly says no to that.


This changes if we make it Butler instead of Porzingis because Butler is >>>.

Olshey at 6? LOL He should be at the bottom after that ET signing. Ainge is easily in the top 6 just from that Nets trade

There are many diff ways to interpret the power rankings.

- Body of work power rankings (Ainge clearly top 5)
- Skill top rankings (hard to perceive given variance, we don't know what goes on in front offices)

Therefore I think the best way to view the power rankings is basically:

"What GM would I trust the most to turn a mediocre team into a good team in 10 years"

or worded differently:

"If I am the owner of the Magic or Pistons, which GM could put my team in the best position 10 years from now?"

I think my top 10 stays more or less the same. I would keep the same top 4, maybe move down Bob Myers a little bit and give more credit to Buford/Pat.

I definitely would take those 9 guys to turn around the Magic over Ainge. I think Ainge is a mediocre drafter being kept afloat by 3 great trades and the 2nd best coach in the league.

(by the way, the intended irony here is that John Hammond is now GM of the Magic, and I think Hammond is top 10 and I would take him over Ainge as well)

does ainge not get credit for getting brad?

He hired Brad out of nowhere, then gave him a lengthy extension two years into his deal.

Cs are playing chess in a shoots and ladder league.

lol Boston slappies

Staps is only 22.

he does, but not as much as others think he does.

how much luck has to go into Doc leaving and Brad being in the right place to get recruited?

How many other teams would have snagged him that year if Doc stayed? Would Ainge have fired Doc to get Brad if Doc didn't want to leave?

Lots of variables and variance to consider, and it mostly hinges on how many teams would have hired Brad within a year if given the opportunity. If the answer is less than 2, then Ainge prob deserves to get bumped up a little bit. If the answer is 5 or more, then Ainge is just a guy who was lucky to have his window align with Doc and Brad's window.

Burford was just lucky to get pop for a quarter century

Pop was GM and gave it to RC, so don't start with that lol

additional spicy observation: there were strong rumors in round 1 that brad was getting fired if celtics lost the series to the bulls

I think it's likely theres ~5 really good GMs and ~5 really bad GMs and the rest are relatively interchangeable. Tho I generally agree with your first 5. After that not sure what Olshey has done that's that incredible. Lindsey getting a ton of credit for 4 playoff wins in 6 years. Rumblings make me think they're a pretty big dog to lose Hayward.

Would also just have left Hinkie off the list. Just too hard to rank.

Think Ainge could be a top 5 guy, but he's starting to get a bit of a rep. When Jjax doesn't work out for your team, that's a pretty big red flag.

I also think Magic/Pelinka combo could end up being pretty good. Easy to scoff at their qualifications, but ultimately if they're able to leverage their charisma and delegate properly, they could be a really powerful tandem in exactly the right spot.

oh, so that means RC is def an awesome gm. jesus.

and those strong rumors were lol. Not a chance. they literally just extended both him and Ainge. Not a chance Brad gets fired even if they get swept and he exposes himself on nat'l tv.

but I guess analysis by baseless twitter rumors is a good way to go about things.

And you were going so well with your take. The above is completely lol.

people are saying

Black guy wants to live in Phoenix instead of Boston.

Shocking.

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/1...rth-pick-draft

Phoenix/Boston feels like a lateral move city wise

Not to young, black men who play in the NBA; don't you remember KG's concern about coming to Boston before he did?

A Phoenix 6 being a Boston 10 is an additional consideration.

I would put that in the con column