KOC will never try to build a championship worthy team. What has He done to even attempt to build a championship worthy team? Exactly. He's an idiot that doesn't mind seeing his team fall short year after year. He's content with a team that's horrible. I believe that if Corbin had the right guys, He could lead them to the finals. Can the koc experiment please end??????
Well, for starters, KOC had always been the 3rd most powerful voice in terms of personnel, behind Larry H. and Jerry Sloan. For many years, Larry H. REFUSED to exceed the luxury tax level. I heard Larry H. on multiple occasions state that his main goal was to operate the team for a profit. Now I will give him credit for exceeding the tax before he died. He gave the Williams, Boozer, AK, Memo lineup a shot to win. KOC was stopped a couple of times by Larry H. from trading AK. But he did the best he could, even when Sloan backed him into a corner by publicly feuding with and then benching players and seriously comprimising their trade value (Arroyo, Giricek). KOC was also forced into deals when ownership determined payroll HAD to be slashed. Do you think he wanted to give up Maynor just so the team could dump Harpring's cap/tax hit?
Drafting has been the Jazz' achilles heel, but I don't judge them too harshly for missing on picks in the late teens or 20's, It's a crapshoot that late. You're either taking undersized guys who have been productive, drafting extremely raw talents who may develop, or looking at guys who were successful at smaller schools. The only huge misses were Humphries and Snyder. And most draft experts gave Utah an "A" after that draft. Again, though, how many of the picks were KOC's and how many were Sloan's? We heard the rumor that Sloan wanted Williams and KOC wanted Paul. And we see who won that battle. But also give KOC credit for salvaging that draft when the lottery killed us. He somehow fooled Portland into trading down, probably the trade (along with the Oden selection) that cost another great GM his job.
I'm not saying KOC is the best GM in the business. But he's done a helluva job rebuilding the team after Stockton, Malone and Hornacek left. And he's doing a great job building the team post-Williams, AK and Boozer. The trade he did for Deron earned him almost universal praise across the NBA by fellow GM's, owners and sportswriters. As for FA's, it's not like the LeBron's and Kobes are going to hold pressers and announce their desire to come to Utah. KOC operates in a small market, on a tight budget and has still managed to field teams that have been extremely competitive.
By comparison, how long did it take Boston to rebuild after Bird retired? Or Chicago after MJ...or the Lakers after Magic? How is Cleveland doing post-Lebron? How is Detroit doing by hanging on to their "stars" too long?
