WCSF GM Interview Series: Justin Timberlake
Jun 12, 2017 6:38:07 GMT -5
billy, Steve Jobs, and 3 more like this
Post by Adrian Wojnarowski on Jun 12, 2017 6:38:07 GMT -5
Just after my opportunity to talk with Scottie about the Cavaliers' surprising post-season success, I found some time to sit down with the world-renowned musician/actor, and the GM of the Phoenix Suns, Justin Timberlake.  He's been very successful since joining the league, and the Suns have been almost undeniably the surprise story of the season (perhaps only second to the Brooklyn Nets).  After a very busy 15-16 season, and lots of trades to get them to this point, I was practically dying to hear from him about what it took to get here.
Woj: Justin, thank you very much for taking time out your touring schedule and the active life of being an D720 GM to sit down with me.
Justin: For starters, we’d like to thank you and the D720 Sports Network for this opportunity. While this is a busy time of year for us, we are more than happy to sit down and discuss basketball.
Woj: Absolutely, it's our pleasure. From the beginning of this season, what is your perspective on how everything went? Did you have a plan for how you wanted the season to go?
Justin: To answer this fully, I think it makes the most sense to start from the end of last season. We caught the injury bug heading into the later portion of the year, which greatly hindered our playoff chances. Similar to what Steve Jobs did this year with the Thunder, we began to make a bit of a youth movement. Through various trades we acquired the 6th pick in the 2016 draft, younger players with relevant talent like MKG, Nurkic, and Bismack, as well as the DET 2017 1st and SAS 2017 1st. Simply put, our plan after the 2015-2016 season was to make the most of the rumored amazing draft class of 2017, while retaining free agent interest with young talent. All of our free agent pitches during the last offseason stated that our goal was to be competitive for the 2017-2018 season. The turning point in that plan, even though it wasn’t realized until later, was the acquisition of Draymond Green. His defensive versatility is what lead our team to be so successful and gave us an identity.
Woj: How much of that plan did was fully realized? And how much did it end up changing throughout the year?
JT: Of our initial plan to compete in the 2017-2018 season, we failed pretty miserably. To our shock, there was a synergy to the team that proved to be a winning formula. So, back to the drawing board we went! Our plan then changed to being competitive this season to attract a top free agent PG, while maintaining the youth and assets we had been stockpiling over the past few months. Keep in mind at the time, we were running Mudiay as our starting PG. The pitch to the star-studded PG free agent class of 2017 was going to be, “we won X number of games and made it to the playoffs without a starting caliber PG – now imagine our team with you on it”. That pitch, combined with the youth to promise a perpetually competitive team, made us confident in our ability to land a star. The final change to our plan came when we began trade talks with John and the Seattle Supersonics. They were looking for youth and had Lowry on the block, we had the assets and were looking for a starting PG. While it was tough to stomach the loss of a likely top 10 pick in this draft, Lowry’s playmaking and shooting seemed to put our 3-6 seed team to a 2 seed and title competitor position. The chance to win a title doesn’t come very often and akin to a song from The 20/20 Experience album, ‘don’t hold the wall’.
Woj: You've made it past the Grizzlies only to have a game stolen on your home court by the underdog 3-seed Utah Jazz. Now the series is 3-1 in Utah's favor going back to Phoenix for Game 5. What is your strategy from here on out? Do you feel confident about your chances through the rest of the playoffs? Thoughts on the Jazz and other teams you might encounter going forward?
JT: First off, the previous series against the Grizzlies was one I will never forget. It was my first ever playoff series and losing the first two games at home to the 7-seed made my associates and I quite nervous. For whatever reason, we came out flat. I think we learned a great lesson there, and I’m glad it happened near the beginning. From here on out, our strategy is the same as it always is – turn defense into offense. We pride ourselves on being the best defense in the league, and I think we will only be successful if we stick to our strengths. While we are confident in our matchup against the Jazz, we know it will be no small task. Paul George is an incredible player, he has a talented team around him and we're down 3-1. As long as we limit PG’s offense and stay afloat with their strong 2nd unit, I think we have a shot at forcing a game 7. This next game is do or die for us. It sucks having been so close in the past two games, but we have to remain positive. It really shows how evenly matched this series is. If we are fortunate enough to make it to the next round, both the Pelicans and Sonics would be strong adversaries. We don’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves, but the road to the championship will not be easy against either team. Thankfully, we have some of the most competitive players on our side. I know we can trust them to leave everything they have on the floor, so we just have to believe.
Woj: Win or lose, what are your goals this offseason? Do you plan to be active in free agency?
JT: After the addition of Lowry, our 2017 free agency hopes became unnecessary and not possible. Depending on where the salary cap is at, we’re looking at roughly 8 million dollars in space with 13 players rostered for next season. We will be looking to round out our bench with our remaining cap space and hopefully attract a ring-chasing veteran. Another goal for us in the offseason is to continue developing our young guys. Mudiay, Murray, Nurkic and the 16th pick this year all played an important role in this season, and it would be great if they could expand that even further. It is not very often that a competitive team also has such promising youth. Getting this kind of experience will be invaluable to them as they continue their careers.
Woj: And your plan for the draft?
JT: Last year went great for us. Our hopes to pick Murray became a reality and we are extremely excited at his potential. We hope he can improve on his shooting and playmaking, and eventually become a star. This year, we are drafting a lot lower than last year. Since we plan to remain competitive and we don’t have any future picks other than our own, this pick may be the highest we have for awhile. With that in mind, our draft plan will be to draft for upside. This draft is extremely deep and we are confident that we will choose a talented prospect. We are in a great position to not have to rely on the draft for future success. This year is a bonus for us and we feel that taking a risk is warranted. Exactly who we have our eyes on we won’t reveal, but the depth of this year makes our scouts extremely excited.
Justin and his Suns have a steep task ahead of them, but we'll see if they're up to the task. Regardless of the outcome, I think it is safe for JT and his front office to chalk up this season as a huge success after having no real plans for contending and coming out with a great regular season and a strong showing in the playoffs. Next season may be the more defining benchmark for what this team is capable of, after Justin finally has a full offseason to build the team exactly how he wants and give his big three the best shot to bring home a ring. Until then, we'll all be anxiously awaiting the drama of Game 5.
Woj: Justin, thank you very much for taking time out your touring schedule and the active life of being an D720 GM to sit down with me.
Justin: For starters, we’d like to thank you and the D720 Sports Network for this opportunity. While this is a busy time of year for us, we are more than happy to sit down and discuss basketball.
Woj: Absolutely, it's our pleasure. From the beginning of this season, what is your perspective on how everything went? Did you have a plan for how you wanted the season to go?
Justin: To answer this fully, I think it makes the most sense to start from the end of last season. We caught the injury bug heading into the later portion of the year, which greatly hindered our playoff chances. Similar to what Steve Jobs did this year with the Thunder, we began to make a bit of a youth movement. Through various trades we acquired the 6th pick in the 2016 draft, younger players with relevant talent like MKG, Nurkic, and Bismack, as well as the DET 2017 1st and SAS 2017 1st. Simply put, our plan after the 2015-2016 season was to make the most of the rumored amazing draft class of 2017, while retaining free agent interest with young talent. All of our free agent pitches during the last offseason stated that our goal was to be competitive for the 2017-2018 season. The turning point in that plan, even though it wasn’t realized until later, was the acquisition of Draymond Green. His defensive versatility is what lead our team to be so successful and gave us an identity.
Woj: How much of that plan did was fully realized? And how much did it end up changing throughout the year?
JT: Of our initial plan to compete in the 2017-2018 season, we failed pretty miserably. To our shock, there was a synergy to the team that proved to be a winning formula. So, back to the drawing board we went! Our plan then changed to being competitive this season to attract a top free agent PG, while maintaining the youth and assets we had been stockpiling over the past few months. Keep in mind at the time, we were running Mudiay as our starting PG. The pitch to the star-studded PG free agent class of 2017 was going to be, “we won X number of games and made it to the playoffs without a starting caliber PG – now imagine our team with you on it”. That pitch, combined with the youth to promise a perpetually competitive team, made us confident in our ability to land a star. The final change to our plan came when we began trade talks with John and the Seattle Supersonics. They were looking for youth and had Lowry on the block, we had the assets and were looking for a starting PG. While it was tough to stomach the loss of a likely top 10 pick in this draft, Lowry’s playmaking and shooting seemed to put our 3-6 seed team to a 2 seed and title competitor position. The chance to win a title doesn’t come very often and akin to a song from The 20/20 Experience album, ‘don’t hold the wall’.
Woj: You've made it past the Grizzlies only to have a game stolen on your home court by the underdog 3-seed Utah Jazz. Now the series is 3-1 in Utah's favor going back to Phoenix for Game 5. What is your strategy from here on out? Do you feel confident about your chances through the rest of the playoffs? Thoughts on the Jazz and other teams you might encounter going forward?
JT: First off, the previous series against the Grizzlies was one I will never forget. It was my first ever playoff series and losing the first two games at home to the 7-seed made my associates and I quite nervous. For whatever reason, we came out flat. I think we learned a great lesson there, and I’m glad it happened near the beginning. From here on out, our strategy is the same as it always is – turn defense into offense. We pride ourselves on being the best defense in the league, and I think we will only be successful if we stick to our strengths. While we are confident in our matchup against the Jazz, we know it will be no small task. Paul George is an incredible player, he has a talented team around him and we're down 3-1. As long as we limit PG’s offense and stay afloat with their strong 2nd unit, I think we have a shot at forcing a game 7. This next game is do or die for us. It sucks having been so close in the past two games, but we have to remain positive. It really shows how evenly matched this series is. If we are fortunate enough to make it to the next round, both the Pelicans and Sonics would be strong adversaries. We don’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves, but the road to the championship will not be easy against either team. Thankfully, we have some of the most competitive players on our side. I know we can trust them to leave everything they have on the floor, so we just have to believe.
Woj: Win or lose, what are your goals this offseason? Do you plan to be active in free agency?
JT: After the addition of Lowry, our 2017 free agency hopes became unnecessary and not possible. Depending on where the salary cap is at, we’re looking at roughly 8 million dollars in space with 13 players rostered for next season. We will be looking to round out our bench with our remaining cap space and hopefully attract a ring-chasing veteran. Another goal for us in the offseason is to continue developing our young guys. Mudiay, Murray, Nurkic and the 16th pick this year all played an important role in this season, and it would be great if they could expand that even further. It is not very often that a competitive team also has such promising youth. Getting this kind of experience will be invaluable to them as they continue their careers.
Woj: And your plan for the draft?
JT: Last year went great for us. Our hopes to pick Murray became a reality and we are extremely excited at his potential. We hope he can improve on his shooting and playmaking, and eventually become a star. This year, we are drafting a lot lower than last year. Since we plan to remain competitive and we don’t have any future picks other than our own, this pick may be the highest we have for awhile. With that in mind, our draft plan will be to draft for upside. This draft is extremely deep and we are confident that we will choose a talented prospect. We are in a great position to not have to rely on the draft for future success. This year is a bonus for us and we feel that taking a risk is warranted. Exactly who we have our eyes on we won’t reveal, but the depth of this year makes our scouts extremely excited.
Justin and his Suns have a steep task ahead of them, but we'll see if they're up to the task. Regardless of the outcome, I think it is safe for JT and his front office to chalk up this season as a huge success after having no real plans for contending and coming out with a great regular season and a strong showing in the playoffs. Next season may be the more defining benchmark for what this team is capable of, after Justin finally has a full offseason to build the team exactly how he wants and give his big three the best shot to bring home a ring. Until then, we'll all be anxiously awaiting the drama of Game 5.