Post by aaronjh on Jan 16, 2007 14:27:53 GMT -5
It appears that for Orlando Magic GM Aaron Haberman, tasting victory only served as motivation for much bigger things. This, of course, should come as no surprise; it's not uncommon for title contenders to try to improve in order to put themselves over the top--exactly what Haberman did. However, the suprise is how much Haberman shipped off in order to acquire what he feels is the finishing piece on a championship team.
Last season, in his second year running the Magic, Haberman reached the finals for the first time in his entire tenure in Orlando. The future looked bright; though the team was anchored by aging veterans, it also boasted a promising core of youth and had its first-rounders in two very promising drafts. But Haberman grew nervous that he was setting the team up for mediocrity once Dikemebe Mutombo and Reggie Miller declined and eventually retired. His resolution? Make the best of their stays in Orlando by improving the team anyway he could.
"When I assessed the season we had last year, I was nothing but proud. It's the furthest I've ever brought a franchise and we had a spectacular run. But I knew we hadn't achieved the ultimate goal to win a championship, and I didn't want to see history repeat itself. We got dominated because we were shut down on the perimeter and had no options inside offensively. It would hurt to watch that again, considering the amount of talent we had. And I know our time as a contender is limited because we have some centerpieces to this team that won't be around for long. Ultimately, I made the decision that if were ever going to build on last year's awesome run, we'd have to sacrifice a bit," Haberman said when the dust settled from his three postseason trades.
And sacrifice they did; Orlando dealt off one of its more promising young players and an elite defender in Tony Battie, along with two first-round draft choices and a future upgrade. Haberman's mission to bulk up inside was accomplished with the acquisitions of Patrick Ewing and Jim McIlvaine.
With a promising young center gone along with two first-round draft choices, it's apparent Haberman has committed to the 'now or never' approach to winning. Though he is adamant that his efforts to win now will not leave the franchise without a future, he acknowledged he made significant sacrifices to improve the team. "I made some really tough decisions. We all knew Tony was going to improve, and someday he may be on of the best big men around. But we decided we needed a post scorer to balance out our attack; Los Angeles surprised us with their amazing defense on the perimeter, and I didn't want to be set up for that failure again. Now, if we lose, I'll know it's because I didn't leave this team without the personnel to win. Everything is in place to build on last season."
Haberman's commitment to winning this season is an approach he had never made as Lakers GM, but he feels it was an important move in his growth as a GM. "When I was with LA in the old league, there were a lot of times where I had opportunities to mortgage the future to build an elite team. Ultimately, I always second-guessed my team's ability and shied away from giving us a chance to compete. I did that so that I could ensure a decent future was set up. And look, to put it bluntly, the future never came with the Lakers. I want to show Orlando that when I make a move, it will always be with the intent of winning and making this team as good as it can be. That's what the addition of Patrick Ewing was all about."
To critics, the addition of Ewing was very questionable. Haberman sacrificed a first-rounder in the league's most promising time period to acquire Ewing, and he dealt off another to acquire Arvydas Sabonis, who was eventually used to land Ewing. The deal, essentially, was Tony Battie and Orlando's 2003 and 2004 first-rounders for Ewing, a 38 year-old center past his prime, though still a major threat in the post. Ewing's contract expires after this season and the odds are that he will retire. For now, he adds size and scoring to a lineup lacking neither of those things. However, he was brought in to be the post scorer Orlando undoubtedly lacked last season. If his addition brings a championship to Orlando, it will have been a complete success. Unfortunately, anything short of that, even according to Haberman, will have made this major offseason move worthless.
Last season, in his second year running the Magic, Haberman reached the finals for the first time in his entire tenure in Orlando. The future looked bright; though the team was anchored by aging veterans, it also boasted a promising core of youth and had its first-rounders in two very promising drafts. But Haberman grew nervous that he was setting the team up for mediocrity once Dikemebe Mutombo and Reggie Miller declined and eventually retired. His resolution? Make the best of their stays in Orlando by improving the team anyway he could.
"When I assessed the season we had last year, I was nothing but proud. It's the furthest I've ever brought a franchise and we had a spectacular run. But I knew we hadn't achieved the ultimate goal to win a championship, and I didn't want to see history repeat itself. We got dominated because we were shut down on the perimeter and had no options inside offensively. It would hurt to watch that again, considering the amount of talent we had. And I know our time as a contender is limited because we have some centerpieces to this team that won't be around for long. Ultimately, I made the decision that if were ever going to build on last year's awesome run, we'd have to sacrifice a bit," Haberman said when the dust settled from his three postseason trades.
And sacrifice they did; Orlando dealt off one of its more promising young players and an elite defender in Tony Battie, along with two first-round draft choices and a future upgrade. Haberman's mission to bulk up inside was accomplished with the acquisitions of Patrick Ewing and Jim McIlvaine.
With a promising young center gone along with two first-round draft choices, it's apparent Haberman has committed to the 'now or never' approach to winning. Though he is adamant that his efforts to win now will not leave the franchise without a future, he acknowledged he made significant sacrifices to improve the team. "I made some really tough decisions. We all knew Tony was going to improve, and someday he may be on of the best big men around. But we decided we needed a post scorer to balance out our attack; Los Angeles surprised us with their amazing defense on the perimeter, and I didn't want to be set up for that failure again. Now, if we lose, I'll know it's because I didn't leave this team without the personnel to win. Everything is in place to build on last season."
Haberman's commitment to winning this season is an approach he had never made as Lakers GM, but he feels it was an important move in his growth as a GM. "When I was with LA in the old league, there were a lot of times where I had opportunities to mortgage the future to build an elite team. Ultimately, I always second-guessed my team's ability and shied away from giving us a chance to compete. I did that so that I could ensure a decent future was set up. And look, to put it bluntly, the future never came with the Lakers. I want to show Orlando that when I make a move, it will always be with the intent of winning and making this team as good as it can be. That's what the addition of Patrick Ewing was all about."
To critics, the addition of Ewing was very questionable. Haberman sacrificed a first-rounder in the league's most promising time period to acquire Ewing, and he dealt off another to acquire Arvydas Sabonis, who was eventually used to land Ewing. The deal, essentially, was Tony Battie and Orlando's 2003 and 2004 first-rounders for Ewing, a 38 year-old center past his prime, though still a major threat in the post. Ewing's contract expires after this season and the odds are that he will retire. For now, he adds size and scoring to a lineup lacking neither of those things. However, he was brought in to be the post scorer Orlando undoubtedly lacked last season. If his addition brings a championship to Orlando, it will have been a complete success. Unfortunately, anything short of that, even according to Haberman, will have made this major offseason move worthless.