As a long time NBA guy and currently as a special adviser, more importantly as a consultant in a field that is rare in Europe; I see more and more executives that fall under these two type of personalities while trying to do the best for their organizations.
Yes people, this is about how you see your EuroLeague, EuroCup, Basketball Champions League or NBA team or Federation sore to heights or drop down to the lowest of lows.
More and more across Europe and the rest of the basketball landscape including the NBA I witness and see things the more it stuns me and how things turn out but they boil down to one or the other.
I end up chasing potential clients ranging from federations that are seeking to resturcture and revamp themselves or those that are trying to modify their current value chain ever so much so that they become top level competitive to attarct the best talent available.
Think of it in definitive terms; not so long ago a talent such as Porzingis emerged out of Latvia and now the NBA sends over international scouting staff if not gets video footage regularly from the next best thing out there to jump on the next band wagon that might be bigger, better or stronger than what is available. By all means how is this not the most plausible way to define how executives try to create possibilities to better their organizations? Well, the simple answer lies in how they see their long term goals play out. Success is also a part of the picture and how you intend on achieving it is also very critical.
At this point I will put the NBA aside as scrapping a team’s personnel to rebuild vs. trying to put together a championship run is done with much more finesse but to the contrary in Europe it is such a coin toss that executives or team owners play a very critical role in how things turn out. Let me be clear that while its so tough to maintain contracts and personnel long term outside the NBA stability “definiteness” that executives seek out comes from how players, coaches are approached either in off seasons or throughout the season. It’s a given fact that finances across the globe are in flux and it creates issues a lot. A few years ago before the D-League back when it was called that was still a playground for players that were not earning enough and the top league of the globe the NBA would pick players was a real gamble. Now it has become such a pool of talent that players get paid better and due to the fact that they get a chance to develop and get paid good enough they do not take risks that will take them too far away from home.
In part due to the above case, localized European or global players have become more reliant as talent to do much more. The landscape overall outside of the NBA has become such a place that executives/owners of basketball organizations have tried to establish a success story from creates frustration. This becomes how they end up how they are seen either as plausible vs. definitive. Basketball is a game of mistakes. Like players that try to make the least and place in maximum effort. The game has become tougher and tougher with every passing season. Sports in general has become so much so about managing risk and trying to create an environment of how to succeed with time management involved.
This summer the NBA is going to be very interesting to watch with all the free agency moves that are looking to be played out. The NBA Draft will also be the precursor to how things happen. In Europe with the EuroLeague (EL), BCL and EuroCup team values will be affected by how the NBA Summer League, certain free agents and former EL players moving back will likely happen. The added fact that the World cup 2019 FIBA will be played out will also have effect to how team cash flows play out. Bare it in mind the next time you check out your favorite team. How do executives see the build of their teams… are they plausibly seeking the best or definitively trying to build from what they can get the most out of?
Ermay Duran
