Over lunch, I asked a friend of mine, “Who’s the worst GM in the NBA?”

His answer?

“Besides Isiah Thomas?”

Over the past few years, Thomas has certainly staked his claim as the very worst in franchise management, but I don’t think it’s fair to rush to judgment. There are some other perennially awful teams in the league, and in most cases, poor management is to blame. So who else should be in the conversation? I came up with a list of nine GMs who are leading teams that have gotten appreciably worse (or haven’t improved much) over the last few seasons:

Isiah Thomas (Knicks), Kevin McHale (Timberwolves), Billy King (Sixers), Billy Knight (Hawks), Danny Ainge (Celtics), Rick Sund (Sonics), Chris Mullin (Warriors), Bernie Bickerstaff (Hornets) and Larry Harris (Bucks).

Rick Sund (Seattle Supersonics)

[trade: +5, re-sign: +3] 2/03 – Sund took advantage of the Ray Allen/Michael Redd situation in Milwaukee by stealing Ray Ray away, only giving up a washed-up point guard (Gary Payton) and a guy who still can’t shoot (Desmond Mason). However, Allen is a guy who commands max money but doesn’t provide max results, which is why the ’05 Allen re-sign gets a +3.

[+1] 7/03 – He did a fair job landing two serviceable players in the unspectacular Nick Collison (#12) and the wispy Luke Ridnour (#14), but neither guy has developed into an established starter. In that draft, Sund passed on the likes of David West, Boris Diaw, Leandro Barbosa and Josh Howard. He’d trade both Collison and Ridnour for any of those guys in a heartbeat.

[-14] – In the next three drafts, Sund picked three project centers: Robert Swift (#12) in ’04, Johan Petro (#25) in ’05 and Saer Sene (#10) in ’06. In drafting these guys, he passed on Al Jefferson, Josh Smith, Delonte West, Tony Allen, Kevin Martin, David Lee and Marcus Williams. Swift is injured while Petro and Sene are combining for a dreadful 7.5 points and 5.4 rebounds this season. What a brutal draft run.

[trade: +3, re-sign: +1] 2/06 – Turning short timer Vladimir Radmanovic into Chris Wilcox was a nice move, though he hasn’t developed into a 15/10 guy like the Sonics hoped. The team may eventually regret re-signing him last summer.

[+1] 2/06 – Sund acquired Earl Watson for Reggie Evans, trading toughness in the frontcourt for toughness in the backcourt. I’m convinced that Watson can anchor a bench, but he’s not yet a starter.

[-5] 2/07 – Sund’s biggest mistake was not to trade Rashard Lewis before the deadline after deciding not to sign him to an extension before the season. Now it looks like Lewis will opt out this summer, which means the Sonics may get nothing in return for their stud swingman.

Final score: -5

In fairness, Sund has had to deal with franchise’s fiscal problems and potential ownership change, though it’s clear he’s better at trading players than he is at drafting them. And that Lewis debacle is going to hurt.

Billy King (Philadelphia 76ers)


[+1] 7/03 – The ’03 draft has to be considered a success. King acquired a serviceable player (Korver) with just a 2nd round pick to work with.

[Big Dog: -2, C-Webb: -5] 7/03, 2/05 – King struggled trying to find a second star to play with Iverson. Both Glenn Robinson and Chris Webber were busts.

[+4] 9/03 – Re-signed Allen Iverson. What can you say? He had to keep The Answer in town.

[+5] 7/04 – Andre Iguodala (#9) has really blossomed since Iverson left the team, and it’s tough to argue that King could have done any better in the ’04 draft.

[-3] 8/05 – He signed Dalembert to a huge contract, but the big fella hasn’t really developed much in the last two seasons, and there are rumors that the team wants to move him.

[+1] 7/06 – King drafted Thabo Sefolosha (#13) and traded him for Rodney Carney. It’s tough to say, but at this point, Carney still looks like a good prospect.

[-4] 7/06 – Mysteriously, King allowed John Salmons to enter free agency and didn’t get anything in return. With Iverson on the way out, Salmons could have been a valuable piece to the get-back-to-respectability puzzle.

[-1] 10/06 – King could have done better than Andre Miller, Joe Smith and two first round picks for AI. The picks are nice, but Miller is a little old to be the point guard for a team in the early stages of a rebuilding effort.

[-4] 1/07 – Waiving Chris Webber guaranteed that the Sixers wouldn’t get anything in return for him. His huge salary made it almost impossible to move him, but had they held on, his expiring salary might have led to a productive trade this summer.

Final score: -7

King is justifiably considered one of the worst GMs in the league. His draft picks have worked out pretty well (Iguodala is becoming a star), but the Big Dog and C-Webb signings were nothing short of catastrophic.

Posted by Nalod:

I don't understand wanting a new blook with no back ground than a guy with mixed results. Calipari and anthony have no GM experience so they are assumed to be good?
Look, Seattle won its division in 05 and had a good team. I always blame the combo of an owner and president for a GM's failure or success.

Seattle was put into a situation to SLASH costs and then get sold. Does that justify some of its picks? not really, but the new guy has a new owner who allowed him to rebuild and stock up on picks.

King had the task of starphuching a team around Iverson to keep competitive and only an owner would have to dictate to continue to build around a player like that. Iverson put fans in the building. Remember Iverson had baggage and the market was not that High for a small guy who relies on his quickness and is aging.

Philly is going to the playoffs, has cap space and its picks.

All GM's make mistakes. No doubt it would be great to have a guy with a winning tradition but this is Walsh's game more than the GM and the right combo of management could be nice.

This is such a different set of circumstances it will be interesting to see what happens with whom they hire, and what moves are made the next few years.