Now, admittedly, I'm a huge fan of the Sports Guy, so I'm biased, but I think they should take his advice and hire HIM. I mean, why not?
It'd be fun because it's so rediculous; they'd get massive pub for the move (especially from ESPN, who currently has Simmons under contract); and if he fails miserably, so what? It's not like they were going anywhere BEFORE they hired him.
A high ceiling with basically no risk?
Sign me up!
I don't care for The Sports Guy, though I am not biased AGAINST what he says, he is wrong. It wouldn't help at all. Besides, its Simmons' wet dream. He is in Los Angeles, his lame attempt at pretending to be a Clippers fan because of some not-really-existent-anymore rivalry with the Celtics/Lakers would be exciting for him personally because he has taken Isiah to task many times. He loves to bash Isiah and it is really easy to do. Isiah Thomas has been written about by Simmons almost as much as any player who actually still plays. He wouldn't even have to travel outside of the city to have a fall back piece.
Here are my personal reasons for why I think it is bad....
- They are saying that they also want to give him the GM job. Now if you compare what Dunleavy was able to do over the past 4-5 season as GM of the Clippers to ANYTHING Isiah has done, it's not even debatable who is better. Dunleavy was responsible for getting Chris Kaman, Baron Davis, had the sense to let Elton Brand walk before his entire lower body went into retirement, getting Marcus Camby, and getting Al Thorton (won't mention Blake Griffin, no brainer pick). Do I even need to start with moves Isiah made for New York or the contracts he paid out?
- The press the franchise would get would be even more negative nationally. Simmons would write about their woes more often since his buddy Isiah is there. ESPN would continue to cover the bad moves Isiah will make and Sterlings reluctance to ever pay big money for an all-star for any length of time. Dan Patrick would be more critical of the Clippers. Here locally we couldn't care less about Isiah Thomas. No one in Los Angeles is going to get pumped to go to a Clippers game because Isiah Thomas is in town.
- Isiah Thomas is not a better coach than Mike Dunleavy. Even when you look at Dunleavy's winning % with the clippers has been at .380-.400 in the last 6 seasons I still think he is a better coach. There was one thing Michael Cooper said the other night on a Lakers history piece done on Fox Sports West that really got me thinking. Hall of fame basketball players like an Isiah Thomas (he was speaking about Magic at the time obviously) often get frustrated coaching average players. Cooper's reasoning was that these guys don't understand why so and so can't make great plays on a consistent basis. Just completely forgetting that they were some of the best in the game and just how talented they really were. Sounds like an interesting way to look at it.
- I don't want to see Baron Davis get busted in the parking lot with a skeezy and a gun like Stephon Marbury, he is one of my favorite basketball players to watch
