Should The Lakers Make New Free Agent GM Bob Myers A Godfather Offer?
After 11 years at the helm of their front office, Golden State Warriors general manager/team president Bob Myers is leaving his post, per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
“It’s just time,” Myers told Woj.
Myers failed to come to terms with Warriors ownership, led by Joe Lacob, on a new contract.
His $8 million annual salary makes him the third-highest earning front office executive in the league, per Itiel Estudillo of Sportskeeda. Myers ranks behind only Miami Heat team president Pat Riley, currently in his 10th NBA Finals as an exec (who makes $11 million annually), and San Antonio Spurs president R.C. Buford, who has been in charge for four of San Antonio's five title runs and whose Spurs are about to draft a possible generational superstar in power forward Victor Wembanyama.
Ever since your Los Angeles Lakers ousted Myers' Warriors in the second round of the Western Conference playoffs earlier this month, there have been rumblings that he was not long for this job.
Why Golden State majority owner Joe Lacob couldn't come to terms with Myers on a new contract, after he led the club to six NBA Finals appearances and four wins (including one just last year!) during his tenure, is anyone's guess. Perhaps he just no longer considered Myers "light-years ahead" of other front office minds?
Myers didn't draft Stephen Curry, and was "merely" the team's assistant GM when it selected Klay Thompson in the 2011 draft, but he was the man responsible for selecting Draymond Green and Harrison Barnes in 2012, and was one of the key voices in the room who decided to not flip Thompson and Green for Kevin Love in 2014. He signed eventual 2015 Finals MVP Andre Iguodala as a free agent that summer, and then also helped revamp the team in 2016, inking free agents Kevin Durant, Zaza Pachulia, David West and JaVale McGee, which instantly led to three straight Finals appearances and two straight titles.
One could argue that Myers' misguided championship parade diss of Durant did play a role in Durant's eventual free agent departure in 2019, but he rebounded from that by putting together last year's title team, adding key role players Andrew Wiggins (who blossomed into an All-Star in 2022), Gary Payton II, Otto Porter Jr. as free agents while drafting the likes of Jordan Poole, Kevon Looney, Moses Moody and Jonathan Kuminga.
Longtime NBA sharpshooter Mike Dunleavy Jr. is currently the Warriors' second-highest ranking front office executive. It remains to be seen if he will inherit Myers' old gig.
There will doubtlessly be a surplus of franchises gunning to hire Myers to front their front offices with so-called "godfather offers" (i.e. an offer he couldn't refuse), even though he tells Woj he's looking to take a break from that world to spend more time with his family (that's what they all say, to be fair). Should your Lakers try to throw their hats into the mix?
Lakers team president Rob Pelinka redeemed himself this season with a flurry of smart moves to improve LA's roster, after the club foolishly flipped some of its key championship depth in favor of a very past-his-prime Russell Westbrook in the summer of 2021. He's also responsible for surrounding stars LeBron James and Anthony Davis with the teammates that brought them a championship in their first season together. Pelinka has earned the Lakers' trust, all told, and should hold onto his gig. Sure, he's had some misses. But his hits outweigh them for the time being.
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