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- Mar 6, 2007
Matt Steinmetz You’ve owned the team for a little over two months. How has it been?
Joe Lacob: It’s pretty much what I expected. Certainly I didn’t expect acouple of the little things that happened like the David Lee arminjury. That and a couple other personnel things, I guess, I could haveexpected. But nothing particularly out of the ordinary.
And then the performance of the team … I obviously would like to be alittle better than we are or have a little bit better record. Westarted out 6-2 and I felt we could be pretty good.
But clearly the injury to David Lee hurt. Some of the other injurieshurt. And then getting everybody back on the same page. And you know,Lee is just getting healthy. And Keith is a new coach learning his way,too.
So there are a lot of adjustments going on. I think in December, and(general manager) Larry (Riley) said it, too: ‘Let’s get this teamhealthy and see what we’ve really got.’
Sometime you don’t even get to that point. You don’t get healthy. Wenow are. We don’t have excuses. So it’s whatever Larry put together andwhatever influence I’ve had, which is little at this point. And we’regoing to see what we have.
Our goal, and I’ll tell you straight out, is to be at .500 or better by the All-Star break. I think it’s very possible.
Before last night, we looked at it. We had 15 games … We need to go11-4 and that would put us at 28-27. I think 12 games are home out ofthose 15. So we’ve got to win our home games and we do have some toughones, particularly San Antonio. But I think it’s doable.
Well, I’m actually going to predict it. I think we’re going to get there.
Steinmetz There seems to be two schools of thought. One is you haven’tdone anything and the other is that you haven’t been there very long.To the average fan there’s been no noticeable outward changes in theorganization. Where do you come down on that?
Lacob: I think there’s a couple ways to look at this. We haven’t ownedit that long. There’s a lot more, unfortunately, to the average fanthan what they see. I have to come in and get to know people. There are130 people here to get to know. Honestly, I’m starting to feel likeI’ve scratched the surface. But I have had individual meetings witheverybody. I’ve got a lot to evaluate. I’ve got to get to know whothese people are. Just understand who they are and what they do. Andare they doing a good job is the second question. And then you need ameans of comparison.
I do have one because I was involved with the Celtics at leastperipherally, at least being on the board. … It’s a little morecomplicated than people think. When I say evaluate. It’s not like ‘Lookat the bottom line and say that must be bad or (team president) BobRowell is really bad.’ It’s not that simple. There’s a lot to it.
And then there are negotiations with Oakland and the JPA. I’m in themiddle of that. I’m just giving you some things I’m working on. We paidthem the money we owed them – which was $11 million – we meaning(former owner Chris) Cohan. We’re up to date, but they owe us money nowand the dispute is not resolved.
And I’m trying to resolve that. One more thing I’m working on. They gotlitigators and all that, and I’m trying to get rid of that. I don’tlike lawsuits. So I’ve got to deal with that and evaluating the peopleand I’ve got to deal with the team thing and Larry on the basketballside.
I’m trying to give you a sense. There’s just a lot of stuff to do. Iknow people get impatient. I’ve got a plan formulated -- which is ‘I’mnot going to make changes in the organization – of significance, whatpeople would say are major – until after the season.
It’s so consuming when you’re in the middle of it all. There’s workeveryday and you’ve got games every night. There’s a lot going on. ThenI’m going to take stock. I’m taking notes as I go along, and a fewthings, if they’re really bad, they’ll have to change. I don’t want tosay really bad, if there’s issues, they’ll have to change.
I mean everybody. There’s a lot to this. I’m looking at ticketing. Are we doing that properly? We got the right people?
We have some turnover right now. Well, people are worried about thelockout potential and they might figure they don’t have job security.They don’t know and they’re worried. This is an unusual year.
If you were an employee here, you’re worried. You’ve got a new guycoming in here talking to everybody, you got the pending lockoutscenario that’s in the papers. There’s a lot of stuff.
To answer your question, we haven’t done anything major yet and wedecided we’ll wait till the season is over to do that kind of thing.And we’ll have a really fair sense of judgment and there will besignificant changes, I can assure you.
On the basketball side, particularly, that’s a work in progress andwe’re evaluating as we go. Now, none of that changes the fact that weare working very, very hard. Larry, the entire basketball operationscrew, myself, every single day, scouring.
There isn’t a day that goes by we don’t talk to other teams. I canassure you that. And, first of all I can tell you what you do readabout is usually wrong. Sorry.
Not saying it’s you, but in general. For instance there are a couple ofplayers who have been mentioned freely from other teams that we aretrying to get. And I can tell you they’re not true.
Steinmetz OK, give me an example? Throw a name out there.
Lacob: Tayshaun Prince. We’ve had no discussions along those lines.That’s not of interest. People get it wrong. What I’ve learned is theymake this stuff up. Maybe it’s the new media. They create stuff and itgets repeated. We are talking to a lot of people that is not in thepress.
Steinmetz Are you willing to trade your expiring contracts for a guywho has three or so years left at, let’s say, $30-plus million?
Lacob: Yes.
Steinmetz You are? But I assume it’s got to be the right player?
Lacob: Yes, regardless of whether that scenario or another scenario it’s going to have to be the right player.
Steinmetz But that player isn’t going to have a good contract …
Lacob: We’ve been considering … There are one or two players out therethat are interesting – good players, but they have big money. They’reoverpaid, I would say. But we still might do it.
You need to understand and the fans need to understand: Nothing willprevent us from winning the NBA championship. Nothing. There is no waywe’re not going to win.
We’re going to win. We’re going to get there. I can only go as fast asthe opportunities are made available or we make opportunities available.
That’s the limiting factor. There’s only so many players and they getto make their own decisions of trading us a player we want.
You can’t tell a player to sign here. Danny Granger, I think, saidsomething about the weather. I don’t know if that’s real or not real.It’s crazy if he really believes that. But there’s a guy, if that’strue, who wouldn’t come here, to use an example.
That part is harder. I knew that, but it’s harder when you’redealing with it everyday. You can’t just go identify a player and gethim.
I’ve got to tell you we’ve made some trade offers that are to me – as asemi-knowledgeable guy – are ludicrous, stupid for other teams not toconsider, if not do it. And yet there are reasons why they don’t andthey don’t. It’s hard to get things done. There’s only been onesignificant trade.
Steinmetz The player you’re going to get will likely add to your talentlevel and they would make you a better team but their contracts aren’tvery good, so …
Lacob: So we have to decide. Some names have been discussed. They’repretty easy decisions for me. They’re not what we’re interested in. Butyou’re right. It’s hard. We may have to overpay to add a player.
On the other hand, would you rather have a third of your payroll tiedup in expiring contracts for people who aren’t necessarily contributingto your team as much as you’d like?
Or would you rather get something to make your team better. Questionis, are you doing it to make your team a little bit better right now?You might be using assets you could use this next summer, forinstance, could be very valuable.
Steinmetz You have $17 million or so coming off the books, but you’restill only $8 million under – and you lose your mid-level. Is thatwhere you really want to be?
Lacob: These expirings, on the one hand you kind of want to use them.Even though you might overpay, which is possible, we have to decidethat. Then, of course, the system may change, too. I can honestly tellyou nobody really knows.
Carmelo Anthony, the Nuggets and the Nets, I don’t think they know whatto do. I don’t think Carmelo knows what to do. Does he sign now? Doeshe wait till the summer? It’s a very complicated time.
Steinmetz Is there a scenario in which you would trade for Carmelo Anthony without him signing an extension?
Lacob: I guess there is a scenario where that would be the case. Butit’s unlikely. It’s more likely that the cost would be too high. Thatit wouldn’t make a lot of sense for us long-term. All depends. I thinkit’s going to be very fascinating. As the deadline approaches it wouldappear the value Denver will get is going to decrease day by day. If Iwere them I would have done something earlier, last summer. I justthink they’re putting themselves in a very difficult situation.
Steinmetz You said Jeremy Lin was your call. There are some people whothink you signed a guy who couldn’t play in the league and that youwanted to show people you knew basketball …
Lacob: I wasn’t trying to show anybody anything. I just know the kid. Iknow he can play and I think it was a phenomenal signing and stillthink it is. We’re getting offers for Jeremy Lin. More than one. Thisweek alone. I’m just going to tell you we think it was a very goodsigning. Not just me, the rest of the organization.
I don’t know if you noticed but he went down to the D-League … he’s notgoing to get the minutes here. He’s gone down there and done a goodjob. He was an all-star in the showcase. His numbers were prettyastonishing.
He’s getting better, gaining some confidence. We think Jeremy is goingto be a good player. His strength is that he’s a very good defensiveplayer because he anticipates very well.
He’s got size. He’s reasonably athletic. People don’t think so but heis. His driving is good. It needs to improve. He goes right all thetime. We shouldn’t say he can’t go left, but he just hasn’t so far. Andhe clearly has to improve his shooting.
I’m very happy. He wasn’t drafted. He’s a minimum, inexpensive asset.You need to look at him as a developing asset. Is he going to be asuperstar? No.
The Landry Fields’ things don’t happen very often, by the way – whenyou draft a guy in the second round and he’s starting and he’s probablythe second-best rookie in the whole league.
Although I did call that one.
Steinmetz But Lin doesn’t have a guarantee for next season …
Lacob: I would think he’ll be on the team. We like Jeremy. We think he’s going to develop into a pretty good player.
Steinmetz Is Jeremy a point guard or shooting guard?
Lacob: He’s a combo guard. And so, that’s going to be the challenge. Wehave a few of those (combo guards). Steph Curry really wasn’t a pointguard, either.
Steinmetz Some would say you don’t have a true point guard on the roster …
Lacob: I wouldn’t quite say it as strongly as that. There are somepeople who don’t think you need a point guard to win in the NBA. Idisagree with that. I’m more traditional. I think we do.
I think Steph Curry can do it. He’s not a pure point guard.He obviously could be more successful on certain teams and certainsituations as a two. Monta Ellis is the same way.
They’re interesting. They’re both capable of playing the one and two.If you look at Ellis’ numbers right now, they’re pretty amazing. He’sputting up 36 points, with six assists, five rebounds.
He’s having amazing games. This guy’s unbelievable, deserves to be an all-star.
Steinmetz But can’t that backcourt only take you so far?
Lacob:We think the guard combination is working overall. Is it the bestdefensive combination in the league? No. Is it the best offensivecombination in the league? Maybe. When you put it all together, wethink we have a pretty good backcourt.
You could sit there and make an argument if you’re going to go deepinto the playoffs, that backcourt might not stand up against someof the others. I think there’s an argument there. We’ll see.
Right now we’re not trying to get deep into the playoffs we’re trying to get into the playoffs. We’re trying to get there.
Steinmetz You seemed to slight Monta Ellis when talking about the team early in your tenure. Is that a fair perception?
Lacob: I recall it. And it’s fact. And I then went on to say I didn’tmean to exclude Monta in that. I was highlighting those guys becauseLee was new and Curry is young, and they were the additions.
And they’re the type of guys from a character standpoint that we’relooking to have on this basketball team. Now, I will say Monta hasexceeded my expectations dramatically. I knew he was a good player. I’dbeen watching him. Always thought he was good.
I was worried a little bit about his character. Theincidents that happened in the past. I think Monta will be the first toadmit that he’s had some issues. Maybe some of them had to do with other people on the team. Maybe his fault. Who knows?
I think there was a little bit of an issue there and whether or not hecould play well with Curry because he made those statements.
Clearly from the beginning of the year, his life changed abit, he had a child, he has a great wife who is supportive and strong.I had a conversation with him in September, which I probably will neverforget -- at a 49ers game, I took him to.
I wanted to check him out, you know? It was a very positiveconversation. I think this guy came in ready to go this year, ready tobe a solid citizen and to be a solid teammate and player. He did that.
And I think he got a lot of positive reinforcement from me and othersin the organization. People want to feel appreciated and I don’t thinkMonta’s ever really felt appreciated.
And, by the way, I hope I don’t get in trouble for this … He doesn’tseem to get the calls, whereas others do. Maybe I’m just a biased owneror biased fan but it sure feels that way to me when I watch the game.
Maybe that’s something that’s earned over the years.Certainly Kobe Bryant, guys like that have earned it. But this guyshould start getting that recognition and getting treated that waybecause he’s a first-class teammate, an awesome player this year, takenhis game to another level.
And his character has been great. I’m a huge MontaEllis fan right now. Frankly, he is the guy in this franchise. There isno question about it. And he’s earned it.
Steinmetz: Do you think you’ll make a move before the deadline?
Lacob: I think we probably will. I say that a little hesitantly becauseit’s not totally in our control. We are certainly trying to. It is ourintention to do that. We owe it to the team, the fans and theorganization to try to improve.
I think there are things we need to improve and if we canit will get us that much better and could be the difference betweenmaking the playoffs or not making the playoffs. So, I hate to setmyself up because I can’t guarantee this, but we sure are trying.
Steinmetz: What about the luxury tax?
Lacob: Irrelevant.
Steinmetz: You indicated at your initial press luncheon, you probably wouldn’t go into the luxury tax?
Lacob: That’s not the point for me. We need to get better. Need toimprove and if it costs money, it costs money. We’ve had a boardmeeting since then. We’ve all discussed it and everyone is on boardwith the fact that we’re going to do what it takes to get better.
I don’t know what’s going to happen with the new (collectivebargaining) system. What I know is we’ve got some assets here anddepending on what comes available, if we can make our team better,we’re going to do it.
