UPDATE: Al Iannazzone now reports that the Nets have hired Billy King to be their new General Manager, rather than hiring him as President. To quote Mikhail Prokhorov:
I am very pleased Billy King is coming on board as Nets general manager. He has all of the qualities we’ve been looking for in a candidate: professionalism, good relations with the league, players and agents, and strong communications skills. He will be an excellent fit with Head Coach Avery Johnson. Most importantly, Billy is ambitious. He wants to win. This is what I felt when I met with him and why he will be a strong addition to the Nets organization.
NBA.com states King’s experience in the original story as follows:
King’s tenure as the Sixers’ basketball boss was uneven. He was able to surround Allen Iverson with enough talent for the 76ers to make the Finals in 2001 and for Iverson to win league MVP honors that season. But Philly never reached those heights again, as King made a series of questionable financial decisions, including giving journeyman forward Kenny Thomas a $50 million contract and center Samuel Dalembert a $64 million deal. He gambled that Chris Webber and Iverson could coexist when he traded for Webber in 2005, and the team made the playoffs that season. But they didn’t get there in 2006, and by 2007, Webber’s knees had deteriorated to the point where he and the team agreed to a buyout.
After Brown’s departure for Detroit in 2003, King also went through several head coaches, including Randy Ayers, Jim O’Brien and Mo Cheeks.
But King drafted pretty well during his tenure as president, taking forward Andre Iguodala in the first round in 2004, guard Lou Williams in the second round in 2005, guard Thabo Sefolosha in the first round in 2006 and forward Thaddeus Young in the first in 2007.
Now that King has been confirmed as GM instead of President, I’m still not a big fan of this move. Even less so, actually. What do you guys think?
