Our friend Jeff over at petemarasmitch.com has put together a collaborative all-NBA scapegoat team. Lo-and-Behold, two of our very own have made the cut, Kevin McHale (executive position, contributed by yours truly), and Mike Miller (contributed by Wyn at canishoopus.com).
The All-Scapegoat Team:
C Andray Blatche, Washington Wizards
F LaMarcus Aldridge, Portland Trail Blazers
F Mike Miller, Minnesota Timberwolves
G Sasha Vujacic, Los Angeles Lakers
G Roger Mason, San Antonio Spurs
Bonus! We even have
Scapegoat Coach of the Year: Vinny Del Negro, Chicago Bulls
Scapegoat Executive of the Year: Kevin McHale, Minnesota Timberwolves
This is some quality company. Check out the original article and a breakdown of each position for this prestigious group of men here:
Read on for the Wolves related snippets
In the curious case of the Minnesota Timberwolves, no single player has been a consistent scapegoat over the years. Instead, former Vice President of Basketball Operations Kevin McHale is our scapegoat. By a long shot.
Although one could blame the chicken (Glen Taylor) for lack of accountability for a 13-year period of mediocrity for the Timberwolves, consistent mismanagement by the former Celtics legend sure takes the cake. Here are Kevin McHale’s top 3 blunders as GM, and It really required some careful thought, and will likely spark a lot of debate:
3. Wolves fire Dwayne Casey and sign assistant coach Randy Wittman to a 3-year contract extension. Wittman has gone down to be one of the worst coaches in the history of the NBA, record-wise, and did little to motivate his young team.
2. Draft day 2006. Wolves trade Brandon Roy for Randy Foye and cash considerations. Aside from Kobe for Divac or Dirk for Tractor Traylor, it does not get much worse than this.
1. The Joe Smith scandal. Signing a mediocre PF to a secret deal cost the Wolves $3.5 million, Joe Smith himself, and 5 1st round picks (later reduced to 3). McHale was suspended from Target Center for the year, yet still kept his job for another 8 years.
On the bubble: Marko Jaric trade in 2005; Ndudi Ebi draft selection
To view McHale’s complete transaction history and make your own list, click here.
(contributed by Wyn at CanisHoopus)
Mike Miller was a big part of the justification for the Wolves to swap OJ Mayo for Kevin Love. Personally, I’m happy with Love over Mayo, but not everyone is. Miller was billed as a sharpshooter with above-average passing and rebounding skills to boot. Then, after Al Jefferson went down, Miller was expected to step into the #1 option on offense and rain down 3s. Unfortunately, that never happened and Miller averaged 9.9 points on the season, a career low. Not only did he not score, but the man barely shot at all, putting up 7.5 field goals a game, also a career low. South Dakota Sharpshooter my ass.
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