The 5 Teams With the Worst Front Offices in the NBA
With the NBA season winding down, fans of the teams at the bottom of the standings are hoping that the ping pong balls fall their way for the top pick in the draft and the chance to secure Zion Williamson out of Duke. Williamson has been one of the most hyped basketball recruits in recent memory and looks to be a franchise-altering superstar in the making. The teams at the bottom of the standings all have one major flaw — poor front office personnel. Without further ado let’s look at the five worst front offices in the NBA and determine what they can do to turn things around.
5. New Orleans Pelicans
- Five-year winning percentage: 46.6%
The Pelicans front office is in shambles, reeling from superstar Anthony Davis‘ trade request. For some reason, the Pelicans thought Davis would simply be quiet and watch as the team toiled in mediocrity. Proposed trade deals with the Lakers never came to fruition, and it appeared former GM Dell Demps never had any intention of trading Davis to the Lakers.
Demps lost his job in the middle of the season, and coach Alvin Gentry also might be fired by the end of the season. New Orleans will more than likely trade Davis to either Boston or Los Angeles depending on who has the better deal. Unless the Pelicans can get a bona fide star in return, such as Boston’s Jayson Tatum, they will ultimately lose any deal they make giving up Davis.
4. Chicago Bulls
- Five-year winning percentage: 44.4%
This may seem like a high winning percentage, but three of those years included standout player Jimmy Butler. GM Gar Forman and Executive VP of Basketball Operations John Paxson’s moves have been very questionable from coaching decisions to roster moves. The Bulls traded Jimmy Butler for Zach LaVine and Chris Dunn, and while LaVine has had flashes of being a quality shooting guard, it is clear that nobody won that deal.
The Bulls will need to find pieces to place around Otto Porter, who is on a max deal thru the 2021 season. The Gar-Pax duo never seems to get it right, which is why Chicago has one of the worst front offices in the NBA.
3. Sacramento Kings
- Five-year winning percentage: 39.2%
We can’t let one mediocre season forgive all of the Kings poor roster moves since Vlade Divac took over as GM. While the DeMarcus Cousins trade has looked good in hindsight, drafting Skal Labissiere and taking on for poor contracts has made this process of a rebuild longer than fans expected it to be.
The Kings do have young talent in DeAaron Fox and Buddy Hield, who help push the fastest-paced team in the league, so there is hope for the future. Drafting a center or picking a big man up in free agency should be the Kings top priority this offseason, but until Sacramento starts winning consistently, it’s going to be in the conversation for the worst front offices in the
2. Phoenix Suns
- Five-year winning percentage: 30.8%
A lot of Phoenix’s disarray has to do with owner Robert Sarver. They have been reports about the culture that has been created in Phoenix, and there seems to be zero stability at any level of the front office.
First-year head coach Igor Kokoskov has done his best trying to manage the young talent they have on the team, but you have to look at poor drafting (besides Devin Booker and Deandre Ayton) in recent years and passing on Luka Doncic as glaring talent development problems for this team. The Suns can turn things around by drafting a quality point guard or pick one up in free agency, but can one of the worst front offices in the league get it right?
1. New York Knicks
- Five-year winning percentage: 30.3%
The Knicks have been one of the worst franchises in the league for the better part of two decades. Poor coaching hires, poor draft decisions (besides Kristaps Porzingis) and questionable free-agent deals have made them a laughingstock of the league.
The Knicks have missed the playoffs six straight seasons. After trading Porzingis to the Mavs, the Knicks can turn it around this summer by using the two max contract slots to sign free agents and hope they can pair them with a top-three draft pick.
Are these the teams with the worst front offices?
After looking at our list of the five worst front offices is in the league, is there any that we are missing? The five-year trends indicate these teams are perennial basement dwellers, but sometimes all it takes is one draft pick to turn around a team’s fortunes. That could be the case with the quintet of teams on our list.
