Keep Doc Rivers away from the front office

Doc Rivers’ coaching days could be coming to an end soon, but that doesn’t mean the end of him in the league. Moving on to one of the front office chairs is a possibility and it’s not a good thing.

In Rivers' case, he already spent time as president of basketball operations while working as a coach for the Los Angeles Clippers from 2013-17. He didn’t do a good enough job as an exec and was later demoted to just coach while Lawrence Frank took over.

In fairness, front office decisions are often made through a committee and a key figure has more power than rest. But let’s review some of the questionable decisions in LAC while Rivers was president.

1 Ah, yes. In 2014 the Clips traded Jared Dudley and a 2017 first-round pick (turned into OG Anunoby in 2017) for Carlos Delfino, Miroslav Raduljica, and a 2017 second-round pick (Marcus Paige). Never mind that Dudley was a well-liked locker room guy, who later was a member of the Los Angeles Lakers 2020 championship, Anunoby is one of the best two-way players in the league and second best on the New York Knicks.

The worst part about that trade is that Delfino, Raduljica, and Paige went on to play a combined 10 games after its completion.

2.Not giving Joe Ingles a real shot. The Utah Jazz picked up in two days later off waivers, and he spent the next 7.5 seasons there.

3.Two days before Kevin Durant signed with the Golden State Warriors, the Clippers extended Rivers’ son, Austin, limiting their cap space. He was a solid player, but they probably should have waited instead of giving up on Durant before the 11th hour, which indicated they were not all in. Durant was reportedly impressed with their pitch, yet would later say in 2018 that the Thunder were in second place for him. Still, stars can be unpredictable and why take away the chance for them to make a last minute audible?

While coaching is a separate realm, there were still moments he failed to see the value of someone on his bench, and that can translate to management when scouting. Consider how Georges Niang, a zero on defense and a washed P.J. Tucker were getting more minutes than Paul Reed in 2022-23. The same Paul who stepped up big-time for the Detroit Pistons in February when Isaiah Stewart and Jalen Duren were suspended.

How about having Ivica Zubac, who played in 72 games, being 11th in minutes in 2019-20 behind Landry Shamet who couldn’t guard a rock then (but has improved since)? Keep in mind that Zubac (now in Indiana) has become one of the league’s best big men and a post presence, since Rivers left LAC.

It gets worse: never forget that Tyrese Maxey, one of the league's dynamic stars, was only playing 15.7 minutes per game as a rookie under Rivers, while Seth Curry and Matisse Thybulle were fourth and seventh in minutes. Rivers realized Maxey was the goods the next season, playing him more than double his minutes, which also more than doubled his points per game average.

The autopsy isn’t pretty. Rivers has been riding the wave of the 2008 Celtics title, somehow getting credit for being the sharpest of basketball minds for a long time when his peers have surpassed him. The Bucks' front office doesn’t need him.