Mitch, what will he do?

dwighthowardsdad · by **dwighthowardsdad** on Tue Feb 05, 2013 10:34 pm

"Since the day Jerry West retired [as GM], I felt nothing but heat," said Kupchak, who has a year left on his contract. "This kind of job, you're married to it. You live and die on wins and losses. You always feel the heat. I always feel heat. But I've got great confidence in my ability and my experience. I've been doing this a long time."

http://www.newsday.com/sports/basketbal ... -1.4556628

Since 2000, when Mitch took over officially as GM, he's done a fantastic job. We've had great success and won multiple championships. Mitch has always for the most part remained patient as a GM. When Phil wanted to trade Kobe for Kidd/Marion, Mitch didn't budge. When Kobe wanted to be traded during the years we were losing, Mitch held his cool and pulled of the Pau trade.

Even now, during the Dwight situation, he's remained adamant about not trading Dwight and allowing him to be here the full year and make his decision. Quite frankly, even if Dwight were to leave, I wouldn't be discouraged at all. Why? We have Mitch. IMO, the best GM in the business.

Nevertheless, I bring this up to discuss the quote above. He only has a year left on his contract. If Kobe retires, if Dwight leaves, I can always say we have Mitch; a great basketball mind who knows how to assemble championship rosters. However, what if he leaves? Is there another protege in the works similar to the Jerry/Mitch relationship that we don't know about? Do we have to live with Jim Buss trying to assemble rosters and communicating with other GM's? Does Jim hire somebody else who doesn't have the same pedigree or level of success that Mitch has had?

IMO, the most important thing going forward is not the subject of Dwight re-signing, Pau being traded, or anything of that sort; it is Mitch's decision in a year from now and what he decides to do. He has said this though last year: "If I weren't here, (Lakers owner) Dr. (Jerry) Buss would probably get 50 phone calls from present and former GMs that would love to have this job," Kupchak said. "That's because it's the best job in the league." http://espn.go.com/los-angeles/nba/stor ... les-lakers.

I don't want 50 other calls coming from other GM's, though. I want Mitch. So, my question is, what do you think he does? Does he stay? Does he go? Please discuss...

Egor190 · by **Egor190** on Tue Feb 05, 2013 10:37 pm

Mitch leaving this team is the most horrifying doomsday scenario I can imagine.

Weezy · by **Weezy** on Tue Feb 05, 2013 10:44 pm

Not so many years back we'd have been happy to hear he might leave, crazy how things change. I hadn't even been thinking about this, but wow it's a scary thought, if Mitch left and Jim was in sole control the Lakers might never be the same again. Hopefully Mitch stays on, he's turned into one of the best.

Doc Brown · by **Doc Brown** on Tue Feb 05, 2013 10:46 pm

You give the man anything he wants and if he wants more, you give it to him.

Mitch is the best GM in basketball.

Lakerjones · by **Lakerjones** on Tue Feb 05, 2013 10:52 pm

Doc Brown wrote:You give the man anything he wants and if he wants more, you give it to him.

Mitch is the best GM in basketball.

^^ This. Plus what everybody said here too. Losing Mitch might be the end of this franchise. He's that important. He's that good. There was a rumor that actually had real legs last year about him wanting out at that time. You guys know I don't screw around with saying I'm any kind of insider. But I did hear from damn near the source that it had some legs. That seems to have passed thankfully. I hope that he's here for the long haul now.

And how about putting Mitch in sole charge of the next coaching hire, BTW?

The Rock · by **The Rock** on Tue Feb 05, 2013 10:54 pm

Mitch should attend one of MWP's parties :man1:

432J · by **432J** on Tue Feb 05, 2013 10:54 pm

i still remember the dark days when people were calling for mitch's head. boy have we sure come a long way

just imagine if mitch wasn't in LA and jim buss was doing his job
:man4:

dwighthowardsdad · by **dwighthowardsdad** on Tue Feb 05, 2013 10:55 pm

Mitch seems the type to play it close to the vest. He has a working relationship with Jim & Jerry. I wonder if he really likes working with Jim. Can Mitch actually see himself working with Jim for the next 5 years? I don't get the sense they dislike one another. I think the Lakers will meet every demand Mitch wants if he's committing another 3-5 years as GM. Are they any other offers from other teams that will persuade Mitch to leave, though?

Finwë · by **Finwë** on Wed Feb 06, 2013 1:42 am

Doc Brown wrote:You give the man anything he wants and if he wants more, you give it to him.

Mitch is the best GM in basketball.

I agree, though Riley is pretty good too. I think Riley's got it easier though, Arison doesn't strike me as the type of owner who would really argue with his GM (and ultimately go over him) about basketball decisions (such as coaching hires), so he probably has more freedom than Mitch.
San Antonio's GM is also very good.

The Laker Link · by **The Laker Link** on Wed Feb 06, 2013 2:14 am

Lol, you guys remember when we were pissed off at Mitch though, for not making trades and things like that. Funny how much time has changed.

dak22 · by **dak22** on Wed Feb 06, 2013 2:17 am

Put it this way, Mitch has defended Jim Buss at times when no laker fan would do so.

I'd say his chances are good, especially when he says it's the best job in the league

If Jim Buss is logical enough to let go of his pet for the best center at the time, then he's logical enough to not remove his biggest supporter, despite the poor coaching choices.

KB24 · by **KB24** on Wed Feb 06, 2013 3:54 am

I have always liked Mitch, even when people here hated him. Not for doing wrong things but for not doing enough. He has never made terrible decisions, even the Kwame trade was a gamble I wanted the Lakers to risk.

His patience and his ability to keep a cool head has been great. His draft picks have been good, his trades have been incredible. His ability to deal with the Lakers media is amazing and he has experience dealing with all involved parties including hot heads like Kobe etc.

We must keep him because at the end of the day, a solid GM is what you need first before you win a championship...even before the franchise player.

24/23goats · by **24/23goats** on Wed Feb 06, 2013 6:19 am

Finwë wrote:
Doc Brown wrote:You give the man anything he wants and if he wants more, you give it to him.

Mitch is the best GM in basketball.

I agree, though Riley is pretty good too. I think Riley's got it easier though, Arison doesn't strike me as the type of owner who would really argue with his GM (and ultimately go over him) about basketball decisions (such as coaching hires), so he probably has more freedom than Mitch.
San Antonio's GM is also very good.

thats cause no one tells the Don what to do. The Don tells you.

its kinda funny that the spurs gm keeps his team relavent for a decade and you never hear one thing about him.

trodgers · by **trodgers** on Wed Feb 06, 2013 6:22 am

The Laker Link wrote:Lol, you guys remember when we were pissed off at Mitch though, for not making trades and things like that. Funny how much time has changed.

Yes, but he has a track record now. Good moves, great moves, and some occasional "I like you; here's MLE" moves.

abeer3 · by **abeer3** on Wed Feb 06, 2013 7:22 am

i'm pretty meh on mitch. he's been able to do a lot of nice things because of where he works, imo. he's also done some not so sharp things over the years (e.g., shaq trade, most of the MLEs). in truth, you can't separate him from ownership, so it's tough to pin blame or give props. the buss family is in on everything here, like cuban in dallas. they're de-facto gms, or at least co-gms.

if mitch left, the lakers would be able to poach an up and coming executive from somewhere else (read: whomever is assisting rc buford, god of gms).

therealdeal · by **therealdeal** on Wed Feb 06, 2013 10:13 am

Doc Brown wrote:You give the man anything he wants and if he wants more, you give it to him.

Mitch is the best GM in basketball.

scissors · by **scissors** on Wed Feb 06, 2013 10:21 am

Kwambe for Pau made Mitch a legend.

therealdeal · by **therealdeal** on Wed Feb 06, 2013 10:38 am

scissors wrote:Kwambe for Pau made Mitch a legend.

Well that made him a star. What made him a legend was orchestrating 3 straight Finals appearances and then following it up with assembling an All-Star team. It's not his fault this year's team has been so disappointing thus far, he hit homerun after homerun last summer.

karacha · by **karacha** on Wed Feb 06, 2013 11:04 am

Mitch is really a genius. He does have bad moves and some great ones, but my favorites are getting guys like Ariza, Hill, Clark, Sessions... some of them for practically nothing.

KB24 · by **KB24** on Wed Feb 06, 2013 11:09 am

ya, you have to remember that he could possibly even have Chris Paul before he got stern'd.

KB24 · by **KB24** on Wed Feb 06, 2013 11:10 am

therealdeal wrote:
scissors wrote:Kwambe for Pau made Mitch a legend.

Well that made him a star. What made him a legend was orchestrating 3 straight Finals appearances and then following it up with assembling an All-Star team. It's not his fault this year's team has been so disappointing thus far, he hit homerun after homerun last summer.

nope, what made him a legend was trading Luke's 2 year deal for Sessions expiring K. :man11:

phoenixrisingla · by **phoenixrisingla** on Wed Feb 06, 2013 11:11 am

I would say that its a no brainer that you keep Mitch at all costs...

Then again we have a "no brainer" steering the ship right now. :man10:

And I'm not saying it's likely, but would anyone be honestly shocked at this point if Jimmy screwed this up too?

Chillbongo · by **Chillbongo** on Wed Feb 06, 2013 11:45 am

^ Or if Mitch has had it with Jim overstepping his boundaries into GM territory.

Makes him look bad, and he has to support Jim 100% no matter what.

Mitch is awesome. Remember when we would clown on him for his "magic wand" comments? Well it turned into a legit magic wand. And he's been furiously waving it since 2008.

Laker priorities for 2014 and beyond:

1. Convince Kobe to stay and take less $
2. Sign Dwight long term or another star in 2014
3. Re-sign Mitch Kupchak
4. Wave his wand to obtain draft picks

therealdeal · by **therealdeal** on Wed Feb 06, 2013 1:17 pm

KB24 wrote:
therealdeal wrote:
scissors wrote:Kwambe for Pau made Mitch a legend.

Well that made him a star. What made him a legend was orchestrating 3 straight Finals appearances and then following it up with assembling an All-Star team. It's not his fault this year's team has been so disappointing thus far, he hit homerun after homerun last summer.

nope, what made him a legend was trading Luke's 2 year deal for Sessions expiring K.

That really was a ridiculously awesome move.

LTLakerFan · by **LTLakerFan** on Wed Feb 06, 2013 2:33 pm

Lakerjones wrote:
Doc Brown wrote:You give the man anything he wants and if he wants more, you give it to him.

Mitch is the best GM in basketball.

^^ This. Plus what everybody said here too. Losing Mitch might be the end of this franchise. He's that important. He's that good. There was a rumor that actually had real legs last year about him wanting out at that time. You guys know I don't screw around with saying I'm any kind of insider. But I did hear from damn near the source that it had some legs. That seems to have passed thankfully. I hope that he's here for the long haul now.

And how about putting Mitch in sole charge of the next coaching hire, BTW?

Can you imagine how pissed off internally Mitch must be to see his incredibly hard worked successes in bringing top tier players here in spite of the crap owners and Stern conspiring against the Lakers especially, to just see it all be unrealized talent due to being overruled on these last two coaching hires. He wanted Adelman. You know he wanted PJ to take over this squad.

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