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When Washington Wizards owner Abe Pollin chose not to return Michael Jordan to the front office in 2003, here's what Richard Hamilton said:
“He's still considered the greatest player to ever play the game of basketball. I don't think anybody can take that away from him. As a team president, I'm not sure.''
Hamilton played for and with Jordan before being traded to the Detroit Pistons in 2002. Theirs was a difficult relationship, particularly when Jordan came out of retirement as a player, since they're both best suited to the shooting-guard position.
Still, Hamilton's point to Detroit reporters that day holds true: We don't know, three years into Jordan running the Charlotte Bobcats, what to make of him as a basketball executive.
He's done some things poorly (drafting Kwame Brown and Adam Morrison, hiring Leonard Hamilton and Sam Vincent as coach). He's done some things well (trading for Boris Diaw and replacing Vincent with Larry Brown). But his body of work suggests Jordan has yet to master what it takes to build a championship team.
The Bobcats are better than when Jordan arrived in June of 2006, but not dramatically so. None of the five teams he assembled (the Wizards' 2000-01 and 2001-02 seasons, plus the past three Bobcats seasons) reached the playoffs. Combined, those teams won 38 percent of their games for a 156-254 record.
In both cases he inherited problems, though very different problems: The Wizards had aging players (Mitch Richmond and Rod Strickland) and salary-cap troubles (trading Juwan Howard's contract to Dallas might have been the best thing he accomplished there).
The Bobcats had plenty of cap room, but little talent. The jury is still out on how that cap room was spent, particularly in trades for DeSagana Diop and Vladimir Radmanovic.
The Observer reviewed all of Jordan's transactions while in charge of the Wizards and Bobcats. Some patterns emerged:
Trades have been his best work, though he's less than infallible in dealing players or contracts.
He blew two top-3 draft picks by taking Brown in Washington and Morrison in Charlotte. He did better later in the first round, particularly acquiring Jared Dudley with the 22 {+n}{+d} pick in 2007.
His experiments hiring inexperienced head coaches (Hamilton and Vincent) were disasters, but he quickly corrected those mistakes by replacing them with veteran hands.
Jordan's trades
It's no surprise Jordan's best work would be as a trader. He said often, when he first took over the Bobcats' basketball operation, that cap room is most reliably spent in trades, not pursuing free agents.
What followed made his point; both times the Bobcats signed restricted free agents to offer sheets (Anderson Varejao and Carl Landry), they were immediately matched by Cleveland and Houston, respectively.
Arguably, Jordan's best trade was when he off-loaded the last two years of Howard's 7-year, $105 million contract to Dallas, in a seven-player deal the winter of 2001. That transaction eventually allowed Jordan's replacement, Ernie Grunfeld, the flexibility to acquire Gilbert Arenas and Antawn Jamison.
Jordan made another good trade last winter, acquiring Diaw, Raja Bell and Sean Singletary from Phoenix for Jason Richardson and Dudley. Though this deal was roundly criticized by national media, Diaw has proven to be the most skilled player in franchise history, a low-post passer who remade the Bobcats' offense.
Still, there have been clunkers: Acquiring center Nazr Mohammed, a deal that sent two expiring contracts to Detroit, was a predictable mistake. Now Mohammed, owed about $13 million the next two seasons, wants to play more or wants out.
The deals for Diop and Radmanovic last season improved the team's depth, but added millions to the long-term payroll.
Jordan's drafts
It's a rarity that a player chosen with a top-three pick is a bust. Eliminate the injury cases (Jay Williams in 2002 and Darius Miles in 2000), and only four top-threes have been busts this decade.
Jordan drafted two of the four.
He selected Morrison third overall in 2006 (weeks after taking an ownership position in the Bobcats) and Brown first in 2001. The only top-three picks similarly unproductive were Darko Milicic (second by Detroit in 2003) and Stromile Swift (second by then-Vancouver in 2000).
In fairness, both the 2006 and 2001 drafts were uncertain at the top. But Jordan passed over significant talent – Brandon Roy or Rudy Gay, to pick Morrison, and Pau Gasol, to pick Brown.
At least Jordan's time researching the 2001 draft was well-spent: He went on to trade for four players chosen in that first round – Richardson, Diop and Radmanovic with Charlotte and Brendan Haywood with Washington.
Jordan's picks later in the first round have been more successful; D.J. Augustin (ninth pick in 2008) and Dudley both were solid rotation players as rookies. Alexis Ajinca (20 {+t}{+h} in 2007) did little as a rookie, but the Bobcats knew they were drafting a 7-foot project.
Jordan's hires
The best thing you can say about Jordan's coaching hires is he quickly acknowledged and corrected mistakes. Neither Vincent nor Hamilton had coached an NBA game before Jordan tapped them. Vincent's inexperience showed up in timeout gaffes (for instance, failing to pull poor foul-shooter Emeka Okafor to blow a game against the Boston Celtics) and he quickly lost the players' respect. Hamilton looked similarly overwhelmed and returned to the college game at Florida State.
Both times Jordan replaced the rookies with veterans – Doug Collins in Washington and Brown in Charlotte.
Collins was in a predicament – hired by Jordan to coach Jordan. Despite Jordan giving up his executive title (though not necessarily his sway), Collins never stopped treating Jordan as his boss. Other Washington players saw Collins as so solicitous to Jordan that they frequently disrespected him. He was ousted shortly after Jordan was not reinstated to the Wizards' front office.
Hiring Brown might be the best thing Jordan has done in Charlotte; Brown is a marvelous teacher and a visionary problem-solver. A 12-5 run in late February and March offered hope for the future that never previously existed.
Jordan's future?
Jordan's role with the Bobcats sometimes seems murky; he isn't an employee, yet he has final say over basketball decisions.
He's not always around – the Bobcats hold the 12th pick in the June 25 draft and Jordan missed a workout Thursday involving lottery candidates Stephen Curry of Davidson and Gerald Henderson of Duke. The gambler's instinct and self-reliance that helped make him a great player could work against him in a business where you're as defined by your misses as your coups.
Jordan might have final say, but Brown – a Hall of Fame coach who ran player-personnel in Philadelphia – seems to hold the most gravitas around the NBA.
Much could change with Bobcats majority owner Bob Johnson looking to sell controlling interest. Jordan has said in the past he'd like to buy the Bobcats, but he won't be the only bidder.
Ultimately a sale – and it might not be far off – could leave Jordan with everything Bobcats or nothing at all.
