ECSF GM Interview Series: Allan Houston
Jun 14, 2017 15:09:15 GMT -5
billy, Allan Houston, and 1 more like this
Post by Adrian Wojnarowski on Jun 14, 2017 15:09:15 GMT -5
One of the most intense series in the playoffs so far is unfolding before our eyes as the New York Knicks battle the Cleveland Cavaliers. I've loved what Allan did this year - responding very professionally to losing an MVP caliber player, and doing everything in his power to return his Knicks to the top of the food chain in the East - so I sat down with recently to try to get him to open up about the whole ordeal.
Woj: Allan, thanks for taking time out to be here. You give a lot of yourself to the league, especially with all your tireless work in the Ratings Committee. Not a lot of teams could accomplish what you and your Knicks did this season less than a year removed from losing one of the league's Most Valuable Players in Free Agency. Tell me what it means to you that they've accomplished so much, and describe some of the team-building strategies you had to use to put your team in the best possible position to win this season.
Allan: I'm extremely proud of our team. Our players and our coaching staff have performed great. Coming out of the Eastern Conference with the best record after losing our former MVP is a huge accomplishment, and I hope that we continue to add some more accomplishments to the list.
Losing Kevin was definitely tough. We invested a lot into retaining him, trading draft picks and bringing in vets so that we could provide him with a team ready to win. So when Kevin left--which is his prerogative. I fault him none for making the decision--we had to audible. Fortunately, we at our front office were prepared with contingency plans. With our young star Jokic--who we can't say enough about. The young man has proved to be an insanely gifted and unique ball player, and we still think he's improving--with him and the vets we had brought in to build a contender for KD, we proudly built a contender without him.
After losing KD, we were a bit trepidatious as we entered the broader free agent market. With NBPA declining the cap smoothing proposal, we knew that the enormous cap jump would create a market where it was easy to overpay players. So some of our early targets, like Danilo Gallinari who we thought could come in to replace KD at small forward, ended up being out of our price range. We wanted to make sure that we didn't put any potential bad contracts on the books going forward, and to ensure that we had to be patient. We thought we could target some Euro guys for a discount, and after letting some of them go as their price increased, we were happy to have Kuz land with us. The other strategy that has been instrumental to our success was targeting vets like Courtney. As a team, we're very willing to bring in vets. The league has been trending younger, and as other teams zigged, we found value by zagging. While decent guys in their 20s were getting $20M per year contracts, we found some very productive vets were slipping through the cracks and were available for half that. We've targeted similar players, older vets who are still very much productive and on good contracts, in the trade market and we've found similar success. So any underappreciated vet out there, you know you'll be welcome here!
Woj: Win or lose, what do you hope to achieve this offseason? Do you have a time frame for a winning a championship with this core that you think is reachable? Do you plan to be active in free agency? If so, who are some players you might be interested in? If not, how do you plan to improve between now and then?
Allan: I don't want to discuss our specific plans for this offseason too much, but it should be understood that much is up in the air and for now decisions are in the hands of our players. We have three players who will be deciding whether or not to pick up a player option, and we'd love all of them to return and continue to contribute as they have so far. We also have one future Hall of Famer, Paul Pierce, retiring, and another future Hall of Famer, Manu Ginobili, spending the next month considering his own decision on retirement. So our offseason plans can't really be set until they all make their decisions. Regardless, we should have cap space to spend this season, and we'll be looking to bringing in a contributor.
Most of our team-building, via free agency at least, should be coming in the next two seasons. Come 2018-19, we'll be maxing Jokic and we could be a team that's simply operating over the cap at that time. So it's important that we use our space in the next two off-seasons to establish a core that can compete while we're operating over the cap. But we think we have a team that's ready to compete for a championship right now, and we don't see that changing any time soon.
Woj: Despite all the hard work towards building your current team, you find yourself in a bit of a predicament - down 3-2 in the Semi-Finals against the surprise Cavaliers and remaining on Cleveland's home court for one more game before getting a chance to return home. Despite the statement made in game 3 to get your team back in it, what is your strategy from here on out? Do you feel confident about your chances through the rest of the playoffs? Thoughts on the Cavs, and other teams you might encounter going forward?
Allan: I'm not going to lie, I didn't expect to be down 3-2 and facing, hopefully, two elimination games. Cleveland is obviously a very good team. Giannis is a star and he'll be scary in the Eastern Conference for the foreseeable future. And the rest of their squad, especially in the backcourt, is very formidable. As for games 6 and, again hopefully, 7, at this point, it's just up to the players and coach to execute. It's nervewracking, but as GM I think I have done all I could to put them in the situation where they are now, and now it's out of my hands.
And even if we do execute and defeat Cleveland, it doesn't get any easier. Coming into the playoffs, I thought Boston was the scariest team in the East, and they're now getting rested up while they wait to see who they'll face in the Conference Finals. And then there's the West, which is its own beast.
So the prospect of the championship is still a long way off. But I think the team we have is built to compete with anyone, and we're hopeful they go out and prove that.
The most obvious take away from my conversation with Allan is that he's a GM that enjoys the ride and doesn't get too caught up in the past. It's those kinds of qualities that allowed him to take things in stride and return to the top of the East, and whether the Knicks force a Game 7 against the Cavaliers or not, I trust that they'll still be a strong basketball team for the foreseeable future.
Woj: Allan, thanks for taking time out to be here. You give a lot of yourself to the league, especially with all your tireless work in the Ratings Committee. Not a lot of teams could accomplish what you and your Knicks did this season less than a year removed from losing one of the league's Most Valuable Players in Free Agency. Tell me what it means to you that they've accomplished so much, and describe some of the team-building strategies you had to use to put your team in the best possible position to win this season.
Allan: I'm extremely proud of our team. Our players and our coaching staff have performed great. Coming out of the Eastern Conference with the best record after losing our former MVP is a huge accomplishment, and I hope that we continue to add some more accomplishments to the list.
Losing Kevin was definitely tough. We invested a lot into retaining him, trading draft picks and bringing in vets so that we could provide him with a team ready to win. So when Kevin left--which is his prerogative. I fault him none for making the decision--we had to audible. Fortunately, we at our front office were prepared with contingency plans. With our young star Jokic--who we can't say enough about. The young man has proved to be an insanely gifted and unique ball player, and we still think he's improving--with him and the vets we had brought in to build a contender for KD, we proudly built a contender without him.
After losing KD, we were a bit trepidatious as we entered the broader free agent market. With NBPA declining the cap smoothing proposal, we knew that the enormous cap jump would create a market where it was easy to overpay players. So some of our early targets, like Danilo Gallinari who we thought could come in to replace KD at small forward, ended up being out of our price range. We wanted to make sure that we didn't put any potential bad contracts on the books going forward, and to ensure that we had to be patient. We thought we could target some Euro guys for a discount, and after letting some of them go as their price increased, we were happy to have Kuz land with us. The other strategy that has been instrumental to our success was targeting vets like Courtney. As a team, we're very willing to bring in vets. The league has been trending younger, and as other teams zigged, we found value by zagging. While decent guys in their 20s were getting $20M per year contracts, we found some very productive vets were slipping through the cracks and were available for half that. We've targeted similar players, older vets who are still very much productive and on good contracts, in the trade market and we've found similar success. So any underappreciated vet out there, you know you'll be welcome here!
Woj: Win or lose, what do you hope to achieve this offseason? Do you have a time frame for a winning a championship with this core that you think is reachable? Do you plan to be active in free agency? If so, who are some players you might be interested in? If not, how do you plan to improve between now and then?
Allan: I don't want to discuss our specific plans for this offseason too much, but it should be understood that much is up in the air and for now decisions are in the hands of our players. We have three players who will be deciding whether or not to pick up a player option, and we'd love all of them to return and continue to contribute as they have so far. We also have one future Hall of Famer, Paul Pierce, retiring, and another future Hall of Famer, Manu Ginobili, spending the next month considering his own decision on retirement. So our offseason plans can't really be set until they all make their decisions. Regardless, we should have cap space to spend this season, and we'll be looking to bringing in a contributor.
Most of our team-building, via free agency at least, should be coming in the next two seasons. Come 2018-19, we'll be maxing Jokic and we could be a team that's simply operating over the cap at that time. So it's important that we use our space in the next two off-seasons to establish a core that can compete while we're operating over the cap. But we think we have a team that's ready to compete for a championship right now, and we don't see that changing any time soon.
Woj: Despite all the hard work towards building your current team, you find yourself in a bit of a predicament - down 3-2 in the Semi-Finals against the surprise Cavaliers and remaining on Cleveland's home court for one more game before getting a chance to return home. Despite the statement made in game 3 to get your team back in it, what is your strategy from here on out? Do you feel confident about your chances through the rest of the playoffs? Thoughts on the Cavs, and other teams you might encounter going forward?
Allan: I'm not going to lie, I didn't expect to be down 3-2 and facing, hopefully, two elimination games. Cleveland is obviously a very good team. Giannis is a star and he'll be scary in the Eastern Conference for the foreseeable future. And the rest of their squad, especially in the backcourt, is very formidable. As for games 6 and, again hopefully, 7, at this point, it's just up to the players and coach to execute. It's nervewracking, but as GM I think I have done all I could to put them in the situation where they are now, and now it's out of my hands.
And even if we do execute and defeat Cleveland, it doesn't get any easier. Coming into the playoffs, I thought Boston was the scariest team in the East, and they're now getting rested up while they wait to see who they'll face in the Conference Finals. And then there's the West, which is its own beast.
So the prospect of the championship is still a long way off. But I think the team we have is built to compete with anyone, and we're hopeful they go out and prove that.
The most obvious take away from my conversation with Allan is that he's a GM that enjoys the ride and doesn't get too caught up in the past. It's those kinds of qualities that allowed him to take things in stride and return to the top of the East, and whether the Knicks force a Game 7 against the Cavaliers or not, I trust that they'll still be a strong basketball team for the foreseeable future.
Miami Heat