Anonymous GM Admits to Tanking Plan: Masai.. is that you?

[mcHAPPY]

Danny Ainge, Boston.

The way the GM talks about the 76ers doing the same thing it's like he is referring to a division rival.

Or maybe a gm who recently worked for division rival philly: Phoenix

[Bendit]

Philly. The gm spoke on condition he could insert that last quotation!

[TheGloveinRapsUniform]

Sixers?

Nope coz he referenced the Sixers.

Im guessing it's McDonough since he's the newest in the league.

Cant be Ainge coz Ainge talks with a swagger and a God-complex.

[white men can't jump]

95% sure that's the Phoenix GM. They just traded their big in Gortat for young players and draft pick. In fact it's entirely possible that they interviewed him about that trade and he passed along these quotes under the condition of anonymity.

And really, good on him to say things like that because of the reality that he is facing. For him to say it out loud is risky but it's the truth.

The reason I have trouble believing PHX is that they haven't actually gotten significantly worse despite shedding Gortat, and earlier on, Scola. They were a bad team last year. They were never going to be a treadmill team even if they kept all their veterans. They were farther from being a playoff team than Philly. Philly could've been a treadmill team had they kept Holiday and tried to build off last year. Same with Boston if they kept Garnett and Pierce. And maybe same with Utah if they had resigned one or both of Jefferson/Millsap.

[p00ka]

When I first read the article, I gotta say that my initial reaction was that this whole thing could have been made up by the writer.

lol, no shit. A newbie to ESPN, hired as a college basketball insider, same spot he also was bouncing from Foxsports, to cbssports, is the guy that some "anonymous NBA GM" chose to trust enough to blurt this out??? Suspicious at best,,,, but the guy's getting attention/hits, the ESPN motto.

[slaw]

When I first read the article, I gotta say that my initial reaction was that this whole thing could have been made up by the writer.

It certainly is odd that a GM would say this for the record (even with anonimity).

Still, you never know. People get going and they say all sorts of crap they probably shouldn't.....

[JimiCliff]

The other really weird thing about this article: it's just one continuous rant from the "GM", without even a single word from the "writer" to frame it. I've never seen any article that was purporting to be an interview formatted like that; not in sports, or music, or movies...

Not that that necessarily means anything- but it's weird.

[octothorp]

Probably Phoenix. Makes sense that a first year GM like McDonough who's primarily been in a head college scout role in his previous job would be comfortable talking to a primarily NCAA reporter guy like Goodman. Seems like Goodman is Boston-based too, so that's another connection between him and McDonough.

[white men can't jump]

Probably Phoenix. Makes sense that a first year GM like McDonough who's primarily been in a head college scout role in his previous job would be comfortable talking to a primarily NCAA reporter guy like Goodman. Seems like Goodman is Boston-based too, so that's another connection between him and McDonough.

Again, the trouble with PHX, is that have they really changed direction? They've been tanking since last year and everyone knew it. This interview, assuming it's real, sounds like it's on a team that has obviously changed direction. To me, that sounds more liek Boston, Utah or Philly (who we assume it's not because PHilly is mentioned).

[mcHAPPY]

Again, the trouble with PHX, is that have they really changed direction? They've been tanking since last year and everyone knew it. This interview, assuming it's real, sounds like it's on a team that has obviously changed direction. To me, that sounds more liek Boston, Utah or Philly (who we assume it's not because PHilly is mentioned).

McDonough was hired on May 13th, 2013.
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nba-ba...183916346.html

He replaced Lance Blanks was hired in 2010. Blanks didn't do a great job running the team and the decisions he made heading in to 2012-13 were awful (from Marshall to Beasley to Lindsey Hunter to fighting with Jermaine O'Neal).

Phoenix didn't tank intentionally last year. They were AWFUL on so many levels that they were naturally bad. Now Blanks is gone, McDonough is in and he is taking a bad team and keeping it bad as he unloads contracts for assets.

[LBF]

It's "Anonymous" you don't even know that it's from a GM. Just because it says that..doesn't mean it to be true.

[The Great One]

Based on those comments. I would say no.

[isaacthompson]

It just doesn't sound like something Masai would say. The quotes are pretty aggressive.. unless the anonymity gave him more courage to come out directly like that, I wouldn't bet on it.

[ezz_bee]

Although I hope Masai calculates the value of losing, I can't imagine he's the source of this article. Why ruin his mystique?

[ebrian]

The reason I have trouble believing PHX is that they haven't actually gotten significantly worse despite shedding Gortat, and earlier on, Scola. They were a bad team last year. They were never going to be a treadmill team even if they kept all their veterans. They were farther from being a playoff team than Philly. Philly could've been a treadmill team had they kept Holiday and tried to build off last year. Same with Boston if they kept Garnett and Pierce. And maybe same with Utah if they had resigned one or both of Jefferson/Millsap.

You could be right. Honestly I don't follow Phoenix, Philly, Boston or Utah that closely. I only have time for the Raptors, so what I did for research on my guess was to go into RealGM and check the team forums for every GM I suspected. Not surprisingly, nearly every one of the "suspects" had a thread about that article and Phoenix seemed like the only forum where everyone was in agreement that it was probably their own GM.