The Grizzlies' draft process has many voices, but one boss
By Ron Tillery
So, what's it look like when you pull back the curtain on the Grizzlies' draft process?
Who makes those picks, anyway?The best answer is: Well, it all depends. Despite the constant of Michael Heisley as owner, the process has changed as the front office has changed. If you're counting at home, the Griz -- well known for a revolving door for players and coaches -- are working on their fourth organizational hierarchy as it relates to drafting.
Gone is the wholly collaborative effort of the @+@# Versace/Billy Knight regime. And, the autonomy that Jerry West and, later, Marc Iavaroni once wielded is history.
Now, as the Griz prepare for their 10th draft since moving to Memphis, the organization's preparation and mode of operation is described as collaborative at different levels -- but with Heisley ultimately making the final call.
That means the team's scouts, coaches and general manager Chris Wallace form opinions independent of each other. They feed information to Heisley, and whatever decision the Griz make Thursday during the draft -- they have the Nos. 12, 25 and 28 picks of the first round -- will come from their Chicago-based billionaire boss.
"But I don't want people to think that I'm the guy who picks the player out of nothing," Heisley said. "What I do is I take the opinions of various people. I question them. I try to evaluate their opinions. I put that together, and then Chris and I make a decision. Do we all sit down and take a vote? No. Somebody has to make the decision."
Heisley began to wield control over major decisions just before the 2008 draft. West was a year removed from retirement and Iavaroni had been stripped of his decision-making powers.
Now, the Grizzlies' process of preparing for the draft and exercising picks/trades comes down to how Heisley interprets the information he receives.
The scouting department, led by Tony Barone Sr. and Tony Barone Jr., sends Heisley documents regarding players it likes and how the draft could unfold.
Wallace continually makes recommendations. Head coach Lionel Hollins eventually has his say.
"Mike simply wants to see that there has been a process. Mike is a guy who will debate you on anything," Wallace said. "He wants to see that there are layers to your opinion and that you're willing to stand for what your opinion is. And that's fine because it forces you to think through what you've come up with."
Truth is, Heisley wants to be sold and everyone in the franchise understands that.
"I don't think Mike dominates the process but he has the right to make the call," Hollins said. "It's his team and his money. We have to present information that lets him be more comfortable with what we think. Owners have the right to be involved."
Heisley's level of involvement, though, has shifted through the seasons. Then-GM Knight wanted Pau Gasol in 2001 and won the right to pick the Spaniard over high schooler Eddy Curry. West, as president of basketball operations, was responsible for Drew Gooden in 2002. Then-assistant GM Tom Penn convinced the war room to go with Hakim Warrick in 2005 when an angry and dejected West stormed out because his player was off the board.
Former head coach Iavaroni's desire in 2007 was to grab Mike Conley, so the Griz took him with the fourth overall pick.
Last year, at least half of the front office believed in guard Stephen Curry. Heisley -- his role having reached buck-stops-here status -- entered the proceedings with center Hasheem Thabeet on his mind, and found a strong advocate for the pick in Barone Sr.
Thabeet, it was.
Who will serve as the influencer this year is anyone's guess.
"Everyone has an option to voice their opinion on players," Barone Sr. said. "My thing is, here's the information. Here's what I believe. If I was in a different role I might want more to say about it. But as the player personnel director, I'm providing information. You look at it and you make the evaluation based on what we say."
There are indications that the team's front office lacks strong voices -- that those debates Heisley loves are often one-sided affairs.
Wallace would only say that "we can't do anything that Mike is adamantly opposed to."
And Heisley isn't opposed to overriding seemingly sound opinions. Signing Allen Iverson isn't the only move Heisley has made despite being vehemently opposed by his basketball people in recent years.
He entered the 2008 draft determined to trade the pick. He wanted to acquire the second overall pick from Miami for the right to draft Michael Beasley even though the consensus among his coaches and scouts was to draft Love.
Undeterred, Heisley -- with Wallace firmly on board -- spearheaded the draft-day deal that netted the Grizzlies O.J. Mayo. There still were more votes for keeping Love, whom the Griz selected with the fifth overall pick.
"I was a big supporter of O.J. so I basically made that choice," Heisley said. "Chris agreed with me. We had a lot of people that didn't agree with me. But we went ahead anyway. So far, I feel comfortable with that choice. As for Thabeet, I made that decision. But I had a lot of recommendation."
Heisley can be unconventional in his information gathering.
For example, he still communicates regularly with Versace and West, people who
used to work for the Griz but were fired (Versace) or retired (West).
Heisley will take his solicitation a step further this year. He's invited a few high-profile college coaches, whom he won't identify, to address the Grizzlies' front office with their opinions about players in the draft.
"These are very knowledgeable basketball people," Heisley said. "I use coach Gene Bartow (president of Hoops LP). Jerry is considered possibly the best basketball mind in the industry and @+@# Versace has always been very knowledgeable. I know that @+@# and Jerry have more basketball knowledge in their little finger than my whole body.
"And I don't think I have more knowledge than Tony Barone when I come into this. I just want to know why he's picking this guy. But Chris and I have to make the decision in the end."
Publicly, Wallace doesn't appear to be offended at Heisley's reliance on relative outsiders.
"I'm satisfied with my level of involvement," Wallace said. "Decision-making is a fluid process. There's probably no team in the NBA where the decision-making breaks down to the same proportion every time. It doesn't work out that way. The only time it does is when you have a czar general manager who has complete control of the franchise. There aren't too many of those situations in the NBA any more."
When the Grizzlies convene for their final draft preparation Wednesday afternoon, the scouting department will have done its homework and readied it for presentation. Heisley, Wallace, the Barones, Hollins and assistant general manager Kenny Williamson will convene for a comprehensive draft overview.
Barone Sr. will direct the meeting, which will cover everything from player rankings to opinions on who the Grizzlies should pick.
"We'll go over every detail," Heisley said. "It goes sometimes until the next morning."
Draft day then brings about organized chaos. Debates rage on. Wallace works the phones for potential trades nonstop while pacing the floor.
"It's like a telethon you see on TV," Wallace said. "The telephones are constantly ringing."
Heisley, though, makes this one thing very clear: while the Grizzlies' draft process may ring out with many voices, it's not a democracy.
"We don't vote," he said. "Somebody eventually has to make a decision.
"But I don't think I'm running the team. I'm more active than I have ever been. So people take that as I'm running the team. I take responsibility for the mistakes because the buck stops at the top. Just like President Obama has to take responsibility whether he makes the mistakes or not. With the Grizzlies, it used to be Jerry West, now it's Mike Heisley. It's that simple. That doesn't mean Chris doesn't make most of the decisions.
"I've deferred to Chris. I deferred to Chris and Iavaroni on the (Pau) Gasol trade. I'm not upset. I made that decision. But I think Chris would be the first person to tell you that they recommended it to me. Do I make the decisions for HEICO (his company)? Yeah. Do I talk to Stan Meadows (HEICO and Grizzlies lead attorney)? You bet your (butt). Sometimes I defer, and that's decision making."
http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2010/jun/20/owners-manual/
Fantastic.