Exclusive Interview with Thunder GM Steve Jobs
Jun 8, 2017 17:31:28 GMT -5
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Post by Adrian Wojnarowski on Jun 8, 2017 17:31:28 GMT -5
Earlier this week, I sat down across from the elusive Steve Jobs - a dinner meeting at the Legacy Grill for the sake of procuring an interview that I won't soon forget. The year the Thunder just had could be described as disappointing, among other things (strange, questionable, a roller coaster, etc.), and most recently having completed his infamous "youth movement," I wanted to give him a chance to clear the air.
Wojbomb: "So, you have a contender - John Wall, Khris Middleton, Jae Crowder, Draymond Green, Al Horford, solid depth in guys like Norm Powell... and you strike out on KD. Lead me through the next few months from your perspective."
Jobs: "Well you know, it definitely started with missing our chance at Kevin. We really, really liked our chances to bring him on board and have a really strong team built to win it all. Adding a player like Kevin tends to do that to any roster. But what really pushed things over the edge ended up being Draymond's antics. I know the movies made about me posthumously make me look like a guy that loves drama, but when a man sends out a dick pic after spending the whole playoffs kicking dicks, I just felt like he was getting a little out of control and that isn't what Thunder basketball is about. I knew it was time to move in a new direction. Of course, nothing can replace his versatility, so even having Oladipo and Tristan Thompson to fill that void, we just weren't the same team. I thought that the depth would make us more competitive, but I underestimated the time frame we'd need before our guys really meshed. On top of that, KD joining the Supersonics the year after they won the title was a bit deflating for the entire West, but especially for the franchise that was born from the initial demise of the Sonics...
Woj: Of course. And what lead you down the path of blowing it up?
Jobs: "We knew we'd compete, but when Phoenix came out of nowhere with such a strong season, New Orleans started compiling lots of talent, Steph joined KAT... I knew that would be a good team over the coming years... and a lot of other great teams were already building in the West - it looked like a crowded race to the top of a conference guarded by the most prolific superteam in the history of the league, so I started to re-evaluate. There were a handful of young guys and rookies I had eyes for, and I looked at our roster and saw a bunch of guys that were nearing their primes and knew it wouldn't be fair to them to deny them better opportunities. You know, I succeeded so much in business by being a bit ruthless - acquiring appreciating assets, moving depreciating assets. Being shrewd about the cycles of value was an important part of my business, and I guess in a sense I carried some of that over to managing the Thunder. The best way to maximize value is to get on board from early on, and I knew I had a chance to do that.
Woj: And that really started when you had a chance to acquire Myles Turner, right?
Jobs: Absolutely, absolutely. He was the catalyst. Obviously, we had Norm who we loved and felt really great about as a long term solution at shooting guard, but we have also kept our finger on the pulse of this rising tide of centers that can do it all... Davis, KAT, in a sense guys like KD and Giannis fit the bill - 7 footers with a little bit of everything. Turner was very young and a little more raw than KAT, but we loved the all-around game and thought he could be a franchise building block even if he never grows into a superstar like we hope all of our players can.
Woj: And tell me more about the trade that brought him in and the following moves that got you to where you are now?
Jobs: Yeah... Well, we knew it was about to be time to pay Vic the money he deserves, and Jae was someone that the Warriors liked a lot, so we thought it would be mutually beneficial to make the swap even though it meant we kind of gutted our wing positions. I spent months trying to figure out who we could bring in to fill the hole that Jae and Vic left, but eventually, I settled on realizing that our best path forward was to prioritize youth. You know, since the fantasy draft under Clay Bennett, and then my acquisition of the team, it's been a little bit chaotic trying to settle in with players that we think fit our culture and our future vision, so a youth movement was my first real chance to make that happen. I wanted to bring Turner to OKC and start something fresh and new, and the rest of the group came together around him. We loved what Draymond brought to our team, and thought that another facilitating defensive big like him was insanely important, so Ben Simmons was a guy that we looked at - despite the injury - and felt like no price could be too high for what he brings. Then Jaylen Brown and Dejounte Murray were guys that we loved what we saw from them, and felt like they'd be highly coveted players in the coming years, so the price was never going to get better than it was when we struck deals with Cleveland and Sacramento. Of course, Norm has been on board for a while and he's going to be special too. We really like what we've got here, and we're excited to give them a chance to compete!
Woj: Wait, so to clarify... you're not intending to tank?
Jobs: Not really, not at all. That was never the intention. We loved the young guys that we saw, and thought it would be a great opportunity to capitalize on the value, but tanking was never on my radar. We knew this season was too far gone, and while there are some great players in the '18 draft, it was never worth quite what this '17 draft was. So yeah, we're hoping that our young core can do work for us, but we also fully intend to be players in free agency and bring on board some veterans that will help us get there and mentor the young guys up to their potential. You know, a lot of excellent point guards and wings are on the market - like the obvious in Russ and Curry, but also some guys like Harrison Barnes, who we were really interested in acquiring after the trade for Turner and we still think he'd be a great addition. We signed Al Horford knowing that we'd be trying to build a contender, and it would cast our team in a very negative light if we didn't do everything in our power to give him some help while our younger guys build some experience. We're going to aim for value over flash, but there's a lot of cap space available to us this offseason and I intend to do everything I can, short of trading away our young core, to use what we've got available and make sure the Thunder are still a force in the West. We think we can be both deep and have some top tier talent, and it's going to be exciting to watch us grow...
Needless to say, this was a very informative and thought-provoking discussion. I was very happy to get so much insight out of Steve, and I hope that I can sit down with some other GMs soon to get more up-close and personal views of the GMs in the league.
Wojbomb: "So, you have a contender - John Wall, Khris Middleton, Jae Crowder, Draymond Green, Al Horford, solid depth in guys like Norm Powell... and you strike out on KD. Lead me through the next few months from your perspective."
Jobs: "Well you know, it definitely started with missing our chance at Kevin. We really, really liked our chances to bring him on board and have a really strong team built to win it all. Adding a player like Kevin tends to do that to any roster. But what really pushed things over the edge ended up being Draymond's antics. I know the movies made about me posthumously make me look like a guy that loves drama, but when a man sends out a dick pic after spending the whole playoffs kicking dicks, I just felt like he was getting a little out of control and that isn't what Thunder basketball is about. I knew it was time to move in a new direction. Of course, nothing can replace his versatility, so even having Oladipo and Tristan Thompson to fill that void, we just weren't the same team. I thought that the depth would make us more competitive, but I underestimated the time frame we'd need before our guys really meshed. On top of that, KD joining the Supersonics the year after they won the title was a bit deflating for the entire West, but especially for the franchise that was born from the initial demise of the Sonics...
Woj: Of course. And what lead you down the path of blowing it up?
Jobs: "We knew we'd compete, but when Phoenix came out of nowhere with such a strong season, New Orleans started compiling lots of talent, Steph joined KAT... I knew that would be a good team over the coming years... and a lot of other great teams were already building in the West - it looked like a crowded race to the top of a conference guarded by the most prolific superteam in the history of the league, so I started to re-evaluate. There were a handful of young guys and rookies I had eyes for, and I looked at our roster and saw a bunch of guys that were nearing their primes and knew it wouldn't be fair to them to deny them better opportunities. You know, I succeeded so much in business by being a bit ruthless - acquiring appreciating assets, moving depreciating assets. Being shrewd about the cycles of value was an important part of my business, and I guess in a sense I carried some of that over to managing the Thunder. The best way to maximize value is to get on board from early on, and I knew I had a chance to do that.
Woj: And that really started when you had a chance to acquire Myles Turner, right?
Jobs: Absolutely, absolutely. He was the catalyst. Obviously, we had Norm who we loved and felt really great about as a long term solution at shooting guard, but we have also kept our finger on the pulse of this rising tide of centers that can do it all... Davis, KAT, in a sense guys like KD and Giannis fit the bill - 7 footers with a little bit of everything. Turner was very young and a little more raw than KAT, but we loved the all-around game and thought he could be a franchise building block even if he never grows into a superstar like we hope all of our players can.
Woj: And tell me more about the trade that brought him in and the following moves that got you to where you are now?
Jobs: Yeah... Well, we knew it was about to be time to pay Vic the money he deserves, and Jae was someone that the Warriors liked a lot, so we thought it would be mutually beneficial to make the swap even though it meant we kind of gutted our wing positions. I spent months trying to figure out who we could bring in to fill the hole that Jae and Vic left, but eventually, I settled on realizing that our best path forward was to prioritize youth. You know, since the fantasy draft under Clay Bennett, and then my acquisition of the team, it's been a little bit chaotic trying to settle in with players that we think fit our culture and our future vision, so a youth movement was my first real chance to make that happen. I wanted to bring Turner to OKC and start something fresh and new, and the rest of the group came together around him. We loved what Draymond brought to our team, and thought that another facilitating defensive big like him was insanely important, so Ben Simmons was a guy that we looked at - despite the injury - and felt like no price could be too high for what he brings. Then Jaylen Brown and Dejounte Murray were guys that we loved what we saw from them, and felt like they'd be highly coveted players in the coming years, so the price was never going to get better than it was when we struck deals with Cleveland and Sacramento. Of course, Norm has been on board for a while and he's going to be special too. We really like what we've got here, and we're excited to give them a chance to compete!
Woj: Wait, so to clarify... you're not intending to tank?
Jobs: Not really, not at all. That was never the intention. We loved the young guys that we saw, and thought it would be a great opportunity to capitalize on the value, but tanking was never on my radar. We knew this season was too far gone, and while there are some great players in the '18 draft, it was never worth quite what this '17 draft was. So yeah, we're hoping that our young core can do work for us, but we also fully intend to be players in free agency and bring on board some veterans that will help us get there and mentor the young guys up to their potential. You know, a lot of excellent point guards and wings are on the market - like the obvious in Russ and Curry, but also some guys like Harrison Barnes, who we were really interested in acquiring after the trade for Turner and we still think he'd be a great addition. We signed Al Horford knowing that we'd be trying to build a contender, and it would cast our team in a very negative light if we didn't do everything in our power to give him some help while our younger guys build some experience. We're going to aim for value over flash, but there's a lot of cap space available to us this offseason and I intend to do everything I can, short of trading away our young core, to use what we've got available and make sure the Thunder are still a force in the West. We think we can be both deep and have some top tier talent, and it's going to be exciting to watch us grow...
Needless to say, this was a very informative and thought-provoking discussion. I was very happy to get so much insight out of Steve, and I hope that I can sit down with some other GMs soon to get more up-close and personal views of the GMs in the league.