Like the world of advertising and marketing, the NBA is in the middle of a renaissance period.
And if you are familiar with advertising trends (or Mad Men), then you’ve realized that the strategies that worked on Madison Avenue 50, 30 or even 10 years ago might not be the ones that work today.
The mantra is simple: adapt or die.
The NBA, a big business, is no different. Blake Masters, a Stanford Law graduate and contributing author of Creative Entrepreneurship, makes an excellent analogy:
People find themselves in an alarming Alice-in-Wonderland-style scenario in which they must run harder and harder – that is, working longer hours – just to stay in the same place
Well, just like Joe Somebody at Company XYZ, many teams in the league — think Milwaukee, Toronto et al. — are finding themselves in this same crazed state in which they must find new, more difficult ways — thanks new CBA — just to tread water. If they’re lucky, maybe they’ll win a playoff series.
The details are often understood: We need better guards, a more experienced head coach, a face on the billboard, etc.
But at the same time the big picture can remain unclear: small-ball is in, corner 3’s pay, being the 8th-seed does not, and bigger contracts aren’t always better. Not everyone gets it.
That’s why it was so refreshing to read Mark Cuban’s blog this weekend, a detailed explanation of why his Dallas Mavericks made the moves and employed the specific strategy that they have over the past three seasons.
Lets Talk Mavs #MFFL: Going in to the 2010-11 season we were worried. Our team was aging. We… http://t.co/jiDbiRRWFQ
— Mark Cuban (@mcuban) August 4, 2013
Whether the Mavericks are contenders this year or not, Cuban, an extraordinarily successful businessman, gets it. He sees the league going one way, and understands where the opportunities for improvement will be because of it.
You also have to pay attention to what is happening around you. In the almost 14 years since I bought the Mavs the league has gotten much smarter. There are fewer old school owners and GMs . THere is a much more analytical approach to everything.
What I do know, at least what I think i have learned from my experiences in business is that when there is a rush for everyone to do the same thing, it becomes more difficult to do . Not easier. Harder. It also means that as other teams follow their lead, it creates opportunities for those who have followed a different path.
Like advertising, if your strategy is to keep doing the same things that you did yesterday, then you’re going to fall behind. Eventually you’ll have to pack it up, go home and file for bankruptcy move the franchise to Seattle.
As the offseason winds down, here’s a look from NBA.com’s David Aldridge and SheridanHoops’ commander Chris Sheridan at who positioned themselves to make a leap in 2013-’14:
Howard’s end in Los Angeles came after the Cavs shocked just about everyone by taking Anthony Bennett No. 1 overall in the Draft. The Cavs’ move came after the Celtics traded their coach and the remaining 2/3 of their ’08 championship core in separate deals — but only because the Commish told them they couldn’t do them in one big deal.
And so, with the offseason slowing down, and enough of the impact free agents and Draft picks now on their respective teams, there’s enough intel to assess who had the most productive offseason, who did OK with what they had, and who came up a little short.
Aldridge had a strict criteria for his rankings, and wanted to make it clear that just because he likes what the Bobcats did more than the Heat, doesn’t mean he thinks they are anywhere close to as good as the defending champs. Here are a few highlights:
No. 1 Houston Rockets
THE KEY MAN: Center Omer Asik. If Asik, who asked for a trade when the Howard deal went down, can get past his disappointment at being relegated to the bench, Houston will have the best starter-backup center tandem in the league.
THE SKINNY: After years of maneuvering, GM Daryl Morey has gotten two stars to build around in Harden and Howard. Whether that will be enough to break through in the West is up for discussion. Are Howard’s back issues a thing of the past? Can he regain the three-time Defensive Player of the Year form he had in Orlando? How will the Rockets’ role players adjust to having to play off of Howard instead of in the freewheeling system coach Kevin McHale used last season? And is this a good enough defensive team? But the Rockets matter again in the West, and that was Morey’s goal.
No. 2 Brooklyn Nets
THE KEY MAN: Owner Mikhail Prokhorov. The Nets’ owner continues to go all in to win at ridiculous numbers — Brooklyn’s tax bill for the upcoming season will be more than $87 million if it goes through the season without major roster changes. That tax bill is on top of a team salary that will be in excess of $102 million. Of course, the Russian tycoon is sitting on billions, and could conceivably spend this way for years. But other very rich owners have lost their taste for deficit spending if it doesn’t produce championships. If Brooklyn doesn’t overcome Miami and/or Indiana and Chicago in the next couple of years, will The Prokhorov keep the checkbook open this wide?
THE SKINNY: For all the heat and speculation the mega-trade with Boston produced, the Nets’ biggest transaction remains their gamble on Kidd, who literally took off his Knicks uniform one week and was named Brooklyn’s coach the next. He’s never spent a minute on anyone’s bench in any capacity other than as a player. Other former players have gotten that kind of shot before, from Bill Russell to Danny Ainge to Magic Johnson to Larry Bird to Mark Jackson. But few have had to come in and coach as veteran a team as Kidd will, that has such great expectations. The respect players have for Kidd is universal, but that was while he was a fellow player. Kidd will now have to develop his coaching philosophy and style, manage his new roles as a motivator and disciplinarian (I would pay cold hard cash to be there the first time J-Kidd has to cuss out KG for missing an assignment). He has to deal with the world’s most ferocious and insatiable media market while never making another mistake in his personal life. That’s a big ask. But if he pulls it off … what a party they could have on Atlantic Avenue next season.
No. 3 Indiana Pacers
THE KEY MAN: Guard George Hill. The Pacers came tantalizingly close to The Finals, with a couple of chances to knock off the Heat in the East finals. But Indiana was undone by its inability to handle Miami’s pressure in Games 5 and 7 on the road, with 17 turnovers in Game 5 and 21 turnovers in Game 7. And when Indiana did manage to get into its offense, Hill didn’t run his team near well enough or make enough shots (4 of 18 from the floor in Games 5 and 7 combined) to make the Heat back off. The Pacers are sticking with him, but Hill is going to have to be better in the biggest moments next season.
THE SKINNY: After getting next to no production from their bench against Miami, the Pacers shook that group up. The 33-year-old Scola takes Hansbrough’s role as the top power forward off the bench and Watson replaces backup point Augustin. Indiana figures to get a boost next season with the return of Danny Granger, which should allow it to bring Lance Stephenson off the bench. Otherwise, Indiana’s window is now wide open, with Roy Hibbert emerging in the playoffs after a horrid start to the season and Paul George looking like a max-player superstar for long stretches. And Coach Frank Vogel insisted during the playoffs that he was serious about putting in a zone defense for next season. Doing so could make what was already one of the league’s top two or three defenses almost impregnable (if it takes to Mavs-circa-2011 type flow).
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