Month: September 2012

• Scott Brooks replaced P.J. Carlesimo as the Thunder head coach after 13 games, finishing the year with a 22-47 record. With four seasons under his belt, his current coaching record stands at 174-125. 
• With newly hired Marc Iavaroni, the Grizzlies complete the season at 22-60. He would only last an additional 41 games the following year upon going 11-30, being replaced by Johnny Davis and ultimately Lionel Hollins. He is now an assistant for the Clippers. 
• Reggie Theus guided the Kings to 38-44. After starting 6-18 the following year, Theus was replaced by his assistant and another first-year coach, Kenny Natt. Theus was most recently an assistant for Kurt Rambis in Minnesota, but is not currently in the league. 
• Jim Boylan finished with a 24-32 record upon replacing Pete Myers, who served as the interim coach for one game after the firing of Scott Skiles. Boylan was eventually replaced by Vinny Del Negro and is now an assistant for Skiles in Milwaukee. 
• Sam Vincent went 32-50 in his lone year in the NBA as a head coach with the Bobcats. He is not currently in the league. 

2008-09

• Erik Spoelstra became head coach of the Heat, starting his career with a 43-39 record. In a total of 312 games, Spoelstra stands at 194-118. 
• Vinny Del Negro had his first chance at head coaching with the Bulls, guiding Chicago to 41-41. With the same 41-41 record in 2009-10, Del Negro was fired and is eventually hired by the Clippers. He is 154-158 overall. 
• Kenny Natt served as an interim head coach in Sacramento, but was not retained after an 11-47 record to complete the season. Natt is not currently in the NBA. 
• Tony Dileo took over for the final 59 games for the 76ers after Mo Cheeks is fired, winning 32 games and losing 27. Dileo is presently working for the team's front office in Philadelphia.
• Jay Triano guided the Raptors to 33-49 after Sam Mitchell's 8-9 start. Triano was relieved of his head coaching duties after a 62-102 record over the following two seasons. He was recently hired as an assistant coach to Trail Blazers coach Terry Stotts. 
• Michael Curry lasted one year with the Pistons, going 39-43. He is now serving as an assistant for Doug Collins on the 76ers. 
• Ed Tapscott took the reins of the Wizards upon the departure of Eddie Jordan, winning 18 of the final 71 games. He is not currently coaching in the NBA. 

2009-10

• John Kuester led Detroit to 27 wins and 55 losses. After just a three-win improvement in 2010-11, Kuester is eventually fired and replaced by Lawrence Frank during the 2011 offseason. Last year, he served as an assistant under Mike Brown, and was most recently named an advance scout for the Lakers.   
• Kiki Vandeweghe ultimately replaced Lawrence Frank and interim coach Tom Barrise on the Nets while still serving as the team's general manager, concluding the season with 12 wins and 52 losses. Vandeweghe was not retained in any capacity the following season. 
• Jeff Bower was named head coach of the Hornets after Byron Scott's 3-6 start, finishing 34-39. Bower is not currently with an NBA franchise. 
• Kim Hughes took over as the interim Clippers coach after Mike Dunleavy was fired, finishing at 8-25. Although Hughes was subsequently released that summer, he was recently hired as an assistant coach by the Trail Blazers. 

2010-11

• Pacers coach Frank Vogel received his opportunity as an interim coach after Jim O'Brien started the season at 17-27, finishing with a 20-18 record. He remarkably led Indiana to a 42-24 record in 2011-12 and the third seed in the Eastern Conference. In a total of 104 games, Vogel has gone 62-42. 
• Chicago's Tom Thibodeau made quite the debut, guiding the Bulls to 62-20. After 148 games, Thibodeau owns 112 wins and 36 losses. 
• Atlanta's Larry Drew started his career with the Hawks at a record of 44-38. Drew followed up with a 6% improvement in winning percentage in 2011-12, and currently stands at 84-64.
• Tyrone Corbin replaced Jerry Sloan in Utah, grabbing eight wins in the Jazz' final 28 games that year. In 2011-12, Corbin led Utah to the eighth seed at 36-30 and is 44-50 overall. 
• Monty Williams was able to notch a playoff berth with the Hornets, going 46-36. In his second season, Williams finished 21-45. 

2011-12

• Mark Jackson led the Warriors to a 23-43 record. 

Here's a look at all the NBA's news from this past week. 

• The Nets are expected to sign Andray Blatche. 
• The Heat will re-sign Terrel Harris. They also signed Jarvis Varnado and Mickell Gladness. 
• The Rockets will sign Scott Machado. 
• The Lakers sign Robert Sacre. They also signed Greg Somogyi, and added Reeves Nelson. 
• Justin Timberlake joined the bid to purchase the Grizzlies. 
• The Nuggets signed Quincy Miller. 
• The Pacers signed Sundiata Gaines and Sam Young. 
• The Magic signed E'Twaun Moore. 
• The Hawks signed Mike Scott.
• The Hornets signed Darius Miller. 
• Jason Kapono has been working out with the Spurs. 
• Brian Scalabrine turned down a job serving as an assistant coach for the Bulls. 
• The Raptors are scheduled to sign Jamaal Magloire. 
• James Singleton might sign in China. 
• The Clippers promote Gary Sacks.
• The Bulls remain in the mix when it comes to signing Anthony Tolliver. 
• The Bobcats are looking at Tracy McGrady. 
• Allen Iverson is considering playing in China. 
• The Bulls are exploring an extension for Taj Gibson. 

Today we detailed the significant moves that a half-dozen new NBA executives made in their first summer on the job. It's been an offseason of change for NBA front offices, as seven clubs have replaced the man in charge of player personnel since the end of the regular season. We haven't had much of a chance to evaluate Dennis Lindsey, who became Jazz GM just over a month ago, but all the other new hires have already made several significant decisions. That includes Gary Sacks, who didn't formally take over as Clippers GM until this week, but was part of a three-man committee with team president Andy Roeser and coach Vinny Del Negro starting in June.

Vote below to let us know which executive you think is off to the best start.

The front office carousel has been spinning quickly since the end of the regular season, as seven teams have come up with someone new in charge of player personnel. The Pacers, Clippers, Magic, Trail Blazers, Hawks, Warriors and Jazz have all undergone front-office reshufflings, and the Sixers appear poised to do so as well. There could have been even more movement. The Knicks removed the interim tag from GM Glen Grunwald's title, while the Wizards ended doubts that Ernie Grunfeld would return by extending his contract. There were rumors that the Bucks could make a change, with GM John Hammond a candidate for Portland's opening, and a report cited Kings GM Geoff Petrie was also in the running for the Blazers job.

With the offseason nearing its completion, here's a look at what each new front office executive has done this summer. We'll leave out Dennis Lindsey of the Jazz, who took over the GM role from Kevin O'Connor just a month ago, after most of the player movement had already taken place.

• Pacers: Donnie Walsh replaced Larry Bird as president of basketball operations on June 27th, the same day Kevin Pritchard took over as GM for David Morway. The Walsh-Pritchard team, with Walsh having the final say, was able to keep a couple of the cornerstones of the team built by the previous regime, re-signing restricted free agents Roy Hibbert to a maximum contract and George Hill for five years and $40MM. Both deals were finalized on July 13th. The most significant changes new management undertook were the signing of Gerald Green to a three-year, $10.5MM deal and the trade of Darren Collison for Ian Mahinmi, who got a new four-year, $16MM contract.
• Clippers: GM Neil Olshey agreed to stay on with the team on June 1st, but abruptly reversed course and bolted for Portland three days later. That left team president Andy Roeser, coach Vinny Del Negro and director of player personnel Gary Sacks to jointly run the team's basketball operations in his stead. The team promoted Sacks to vice president of basketball operations exactly three months later, putting him solely in charge. The triumvirate of Roeser, Del Negro and Sacks had a busy summer, beginning June 29th with the acquisition of Lamar Odom in a four-team trade that sent away Mo Williams. They gave Blake Griffin a five-year maximum contract extension on July 11th. They inked Jamal Crawford the same day, and re-signed Chauncey Billups on the 13th. The team amnestied Ryan Gomes on July 17th, the day before Grant Hill came aboard. 
• Magic: Orlando parted ways with Otis Smith on May 21st and hired Rob Hennigan as his replacement on June 20th. Hennigan oversaw the biggest move of the summer, pulling off the Dwight Howard blockbuster on August 10th, giving the team cap room and draft picks in the future. Hennigan also sent Ryan Anderson away to the Hornets in a sign-and-trade on July 11th, but made a long-term commitment to one veteran holdover, signing Jameer Nelson on July 16th to a three-year, $25.2MM contract. The new GM also inherited a coaching vacancy, and filled it with Jacque Vaughn on July 30th.
• Blazers: Olshey jumped from the Clippers on June 4th, replacing interim GM Chad Buchanan. The June 28th draft was his first major test, and Olshey spent the Blazers' pair of lottery picks on Damian Lillard, who went sixth overall, and Meyers Leonard, the 11th overall selection. Restricted free agent Roy Hibbert agreed to sign a maximum-salary offer sheet on July 1st, but when it became clear the Pacers would match, the deal fell through, and the signing never took place. Olshey signed one of his own big men instead, inking J.J. Hickson on July 13th to a one-year, $4MM deal, several days after failing to tender Hickson a qualifying offer of approximately the same value, thus making him an unrestricted free agent. The Blazers did make a qualifying offer to Nicolas Batum, but still had more trouble retaining him than they had with Hickson, getting in a bitter tug-of-war with the Timberwolves until July 20th, when they finally matched the four-year, $46.122MM offer sheet Batum signed with Minnesota. Olshey also sent Raymond Felton packing on July 16th in a sign-and-trade with the Knicks.
• Hawks: Danny Ferry became president of basketball operations and GM for the Hawks on June 25th, replacing former GM Rick Sund. It didn't take Ferry long to make his mark, as he agreed to trade Joe Johnson to the Nets on July 2nd, the same day he OK'd a swap of Marvin Williams for Devin Harris with the Jazz. Both moves were finalized on July 11th, and they gave the Hawks cap space and flexibility for the future. With an eye toward the present, Ferry used the mid-level exception to sign Lou Williams to a three-year, $15.675MM contract on July 12th, and traded for Kyle Korver on July 16th.
• Warriors: The team promoted assistant GM Bob Myers to GM on April 24th, replacing Larry Riley, who was reassigned as Golden State's director of scouting. He addressed the team's need for a new starting small forward through the draft, taking Harrison Barnes with the seventh overall pick, and spent free agency tinkering with the bench. He finalized a three-way trade on July 11th that brought in backup guard Jarrett Jack from the Hornets and sent Dorell Wright, the incumbent starter at the three, to the Sixers. Myers added more depth on August 1st, the day he finalized identical two-year, $8MM deals for Carl Landry and Brandon Rush.