The "I'm not happy" Demand

GM's expect it. Fans of the team fear it. Fans of potential destinations such as New York or Los Angeles want it. The dreaded "I'm not happy" or "We need to get better soon", or even worse "I want to be traded", demand from the superstar of your favorite team. As a Magic fan I know this all too well dealing with Dwight Howard and T-Mac in my short lifespan. I guess you can say this is a part of the NBA and all you need to do is win to prevent it. But I'm not so sure that's the case.

Kevin Love has informed the Minnesota Timberwolves and the world that he is tired of losing in Minnesota and that they need to fix that problem now. An understandable complaint that anybody should be able to understand. Kevin Love is a fantastic player and he's never got to experience much winning in his career. I have to ask this though. Is announcing this really going to make your team better Kevin? Especially when most people already knew you felt this way. Your General Manager David Kahn has not shown in his past to be a very good or competent GM. Did you take into consideration that hearing this news and the shortness of your contract that Kahn, who surprisingly has made some very good strides this offseason to make the team better, will instead panic and make moves to win as soon as possible that will end up backfiring and leading to your eventual departure? This is almost something to be expected now. Keep paying attention to the headlines because it's very likely that Kahn will make a panic move.

I make this case because there are two GM's in particular that I can think of that when they realized their superstar might be on the outs they panicked and made questionable moves. Danny Ferry of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Otis Smith of the Orlando Magic. I obviously know more about the Magic so I'll start there.

Otis Smith in my eyes was not the awful GM everybody made him out to be. Orlando was coming off its first taste of the playoffs in a long time after getting the 8 seed and being swept in the first round. Otis Smith then made the move to fire coach Brian Hill, hire Stan Van Gundy, and offered Rashard Lewis so much money there was no way he wouldn't come to Orlando. He also decided to keep the inconsistent Hedo Turkoglu around. The 2008 season was the most successful season for the team since the Shaq and Penny days. They got out of the first round and were again beat by the Detroit Pistons. He then drafted Courtney Lee and signed Mickael Pietrus. Turk had a breakout season in 2009 and with a huge playoff performance by Pietrus and the defense of Courtney Lee the Magic reached the NBA Finals. They lost to the Lakers. Otis Smith then traded Courtney Lee and other Magic players for Vince Carter and Otis matched the offer for Marcin Gortat. The 2010 Orlando Magic were born and boy were they dominant. The Magic lost in the ECF that year and Otis Smith never made another right move ever again. He over paid players and made an awful trade in the middle of the 2011 season. Dwight asked for a trade at the beginning of the 2012 season which only made Otis panic more. He resigned Jason Richardson to a big unnecessary contract and he signed for Glen "Big Baby" Davis to another big contract. Otis resigned at the end of the 2012 season (many believed he was going to be fired) and this left the team in shambles. Even if Dwight did want to come back he would be coming back to an awful team of players who are being paid way too much.

This now leads me to Danny Ferry and the Cleveland Cavaliers. I had to ask FeartheSword writer Conrad Kaczmarek for help on this one and he directed me to this article.

http://www.peachtreehoops.com/2012/6/25/3116259/danny-ferry-hawks-gm-reaction

I really suggest you go read that. It explains the whole Cleveland Cavaliers situation with Lebron and Danny Ferry and some of the mistakes they made when Ferry panicked.

Now obviously GM's should be able to handle this pressure. Danny Ferry should have been able to handle the fact that Lebron wants to leave and still made smart moves. Otis Smith also panicked at the thought of losing Dwight and this lead to his eventual resignation from the team. I'm not saying it's Lebron or Dwight's fault that their GM's panicked and made the wrong moves. It is the job of the GM to make the right moves under any circumstances. This is just evidence to Kevin Love and any future superstars that telling your GM's so early into your contract that you "want to win now" can lead to unnecessary panic earlier than it should be. Of course the best GM's don't panic but those are a rarity in the NBA. Let the GM do their job and you do yours.