Tony Ressler: "I make the final decision"

[Bankingitbig]

Quote

Ressler: No changes to Hawks’ front-office structure

By: Chris Vivlamore - Atlanta Journal-Constitution 

Tony Ressler doesn’t foresee changes to the Hawks front office despite a win total that has decreased in each of the two seasons that he has owned the team and set up the current hierarchy. He likes how the team is positioned and its future despite being frustrated by the regression.

The Hawks principal owner spoke to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Friday about a number of issues facing the team and his ownership group. He addressed the structure of the basketball operations department with Mike Budenholzer as head coach and president and Wes Wilcox as general manager. The Hawks were coming off a 60-win season and a trip to the Eastern Conference finals when the Ressler reached agreement to purchase the team two years ago today. The Hawks have won 48 and 43 regular-season games the past two seasons.

“I don’t think so,” Ressler said when asked if he plans to make changes. “I love Bud and Wes. I love the intellect, the competence and the commitment to win of both Bud and Wes. … This is the NBA and I’m trying to be as thoughtful about this as possible. I want to win very badly. I want to win a championship very badly. … I think Bud and Wes can actually do what I’m looking to do, can achieve the greatness I’m looking to achieve at this franchise.”

Ressler spoke in length about the franchise’s decision-making process with an environment that seeks input from Budenholzer, Wilcox, members of the basketball operations and coaching staff and other team owners. He said he leans on Budenholzer and the championship pedigree groomed after 19 years in the Spurs organization the most. However, there is a continued spirit of cooperation and the sharing of ideas on every decision both on the basketball and business sides of the franchise. He said Budenholzer and Wilcox complement each other in their areas of expertise.

But make no mistake, Ressler makes the final decisions.

“To me, the loudest voice has been earned by his 20-plus years of experience in the NBA,” Ressler said of Budenholzer. “At Ares Management, I think I have the loudest voice and if you think I have the final decision on a business that manages $100 billion of assets for institutional investors, you couldn’t be more wrong. I don’t have the final decision on anything. But please hear me, the way we are trying to manage the Atlanta Hawks is I have Bud, I have Wes and they do look at the world differently, which I love.

“But the president of basketball operations is what I say it is, not what you say it is. It has the loudest voice, not the final word. There’s a dramatic difference.”

Ressler said he understands and agrees with the adage that coaches want to win now and general managers want to win in the future. He disagrees with the notion that Budenholzer is conflicted by the end games of the two positions because of the organization’s structure.

“That’s not true,” Ressler said of Budenholzer having the last word. “I make the final decision with all due respect. Just so you know, Bud is incredibly inclusive. Wes’ view, (senior advisor and former general manager) Rick’s Sund’s view, (assistant general manager) SJeff Peterson’s view. I’m in the decision-making business in my other job. It’s what I do for a living. If you think Bud makes a final decision on everything that we do, you don’t understand the way the Atlanta Hawks are run. Bud is a fantastic coach, a fantastic basketball mind, has a perspective that we cherish and respect and consider critically important. There should be no confusion.

The Hawks have just one starter, Paul Millsap, and four other players remaining from the 60-win season. Ressler said personnel decisions have been made with the goals of trying to get better and younger while continuing the run of 10 straight postseason appearances. There will be no complete tear down. The current roster has a mix of young and veteran players and there are a number of upcoming draft picks that can be used in several ways to improve going forward.

“Yes, despite those 10 straight playoff appearances I’m frustrated as hell,” Ressler said. “I want to be better. I think we understand this team has been here for 50 years and hasn’t won a championship. I saw that coming in. But we have, and something I do believe we should be proud of, 10 picks in the next three years. We have, I would argue, a really good young core of players. … I think we have a good group of vets … But we also acknowledge, at least I would argue, that we need to get better, we need to be positioning for a championship because after 50 years of not winning a championship I get what the priorities have to be.”

Interesting article and interview with Hawks' owner Tony Ressler... Source: here

Edited April 22, 2017 by Bankingitbig

[Bankingitbig]

Jeff Schultz also wrote a decent article with a few more tidbits (one interesting point on the Horford negotiations).

Quote

Hawks’ Ressler says he makes final decisions, confident in front office

By: Jeff Schultz - Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Tony Ressler walked into the interview like he would walk into any business meeting — prepared, confident and holding a yellow legal pad with a page full of notes.

It’s the two-year anniversary of Ressler’s purchase of the Hawks and not everything is moving along to his satisfaction. The team’s win total has dropped each of the last two seasons and it lost the first two games of a playoff series to Washington, two years after reaching the Eastern Conference finals.

“I’m frustrated as hell,” he said.

But before beginning an exclusive interview with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Ressler wanted to a vent. He went through his notes to counter a column I wrote about the state of the Hawks last week and their stature in the city. He believed the viewpoint left the impression that he didn’t care, or wasn’t trying (neither of which was written or implied). He also wasn’t enamored with the online headline: “Hawks are in playoffs and few seem to care — that’s a problem.” He pointed out the irony of the title because Hawks’ night games often finish too late to get into morning editions of the AJC.

On this point, we were in full agreement. I agreed to support his drive to have deadlines pushed back and also offered to write a column supporting any effort he might make to purchase the newspaper. (I suspect this might come up in my next review.)

This has not been an easy season. Ressler acknowledged the Hawks are in “transition” from the team that went to the Eastern Conference finals only two years ago but he expected them to win more games. There has been criticism from fans and media about how well the front office team of coach-president of basketball operations Mike Budenholzer and general manager Wes Wilcox is working, and significant personnel issues moving forward.

To Ressler’s credit, he answered every question. Some of his responses were surprising. He not only expressed confidence in Budenholzer and Wilcox, he said he doesn’t anticipate any significant changes in the front office structure. That won’t go over well.

But the owner also dismissed any suggestion that Budenholzer is the final decision-maker.

“I make the final decision,” he said.

“If you think Bud makes a final decision on everything that we do, you don’t understand the way the Atlanta Hawks are run. … The president of basketball operations is what I say it is, not what you say it is. (Budenholzer) has the loudest voice, not the final word. There’s a dramatic difference.”

So if you didn’t like the decision to sign Dwight Howard, blame Ressler. If you believed holding onto Paul Millsap at the trade deadline at the risk losing him for nothing in free agency, like Al Horford, blame Ressler. (He didn’t discount his front office might’ve been divided on the issue of trading Millsap but maintains when it reached his desk, he responded, to use his acronym, “NFW.”)

On the Horford negotiations, Ressler reminded us that he was in his first year as owner. “I might’ve done some things differently. But at the end of the day, did we make the effort and offer a ton of money? There are so many ways to second-guess, but we tried.”

He’s a brilliant businessman who co-founded two private equity forms and has an estimated net worth of $1.67 billion, according to Forbes. So the challenges of owning a basketball team shouldn’t seem that great.

But sports ownership is a different animal. It’s remarkable how many people build successful businesses, only to purchase a team as a vanity project and suddenly can’t seem to snap together two Legos.

“I’m learning as I go,” he said. “I’d like to tell you I hit the ground running and I understood completely the role of an owner and the decision-making process. I don’t think I did. I think there was a part of me that hoped it would be a little more of a portfolio company investment, with a CEO out front.”

Points for honesty.

Ressler has negotiated the construction of a $40 million practice facility, purchased a D League franchise and implemented plans for a major renovation of Philips Arena (with help from Atlanta mayor Kasim Reed, who doesn’t want to lose another team). But on-court success largely hinges on picking the right players, and we can debate how well that has gone since Ressler took ownership.

Ressler lives in Los Angeles but is in Atlanta every other week on average during the season and seems both emotionally and financially invested. He loves basketball and still plays pickup games. So he knows the sport a little.

He understands his to stick with Budenholzer and Wilcox may not go over well, but said, “You can’t please everyone. My hope over time is fans will see this effort and the people we have in place are capable of making really good decisions. I have to do what I think is right for the franchise.”

Maybe more surprising is his belief that the 2017 Hawks are a better playoff team than the one that went to the conference finals in 2015. He said this team is deeper and “more playoff ready. We just haven’t shown it yet.” He also somewhat diminished the playoff run two years ago by pointing out the Hawks’ struggles against eight-seeded Brooklyn in the first round and a Washington team in the second round that lost John Wall in Game 3.

That said, those Hawks won 60 games and the postseason was the high-water mark in franchise history. They went into the postseason without Thabo Sefolosha (thanks to an overzealous New York City police officer). They had DeMarre Carroll playing one leg, and Al Horford tossed in a game at Cleveland they were winning, and lost Kyle Korver.

Ultimately, wins and losses decide all debates. Ressler knows this. But he believes the Hawks’ intent to get younger and faster will pay off.

“I think we’re making progress despite winning less games,” he said.

At some point, of course, that will have to change.

Basically furthers my belief that the Howard signing was done more so by Koonin/Ressler than Budcox, along with ownership screwing up the Horford negotiations. But who knows... Good to see Ressler trying to get the Hawks more recognition in their own city though.

[Bankingitbig]

23 minutes ago, Bankingitbig said:

Basically furthers my belief that the Howard signing was done more so by Koonin/Ressler than Budcox, along with ownership screwing up the Horford negotiations. But who knows... Good to see Ressler trying to get the Hawks more recognition in their own city though.

Hate to reply to myself, but wanted to note that Budenholzer and Ferry did meet with Howard back in 2013 before Ressler was owner. So maybe Bud truly did want him. Who knows...

[Alex]

Get rid of everyone and start over again.  

[marco102]

42 minutes ago, Bankingitbig said:

Jeff Schultz also wrote a decent article with a few more tidbits (one interesting point on the Horford negotiations).

Basically furthers my belief that the Howard signing was done more so by Koonin/Ressler than Budcox, along with ownership screwing up the Horford negotiations. But who knows... Good to see Ressler trying to get the Hawks more recognition in their own city though.

Horford wanted to leave. Point blank and simple. He was talking to Isiah at the allstar game about Boston.  Ownership had nothing to do with that.

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Bankingitbig said:

But we have, and something I do believe we should be proud of, 10 picks in the next three years.

I'm not sure how truly great that is. I'm just saying most teams have a 1st and a 2nd....so while most teams get 6 picks in the next 3 years, we get 10....(which we will probably either trade or draft a guy to rot in Europe) and I'm supposed to be excited as a fan?

 

GET ME A SUPERSTAR!!!!!!!!!

[Lurker]

Honestly more like 9 than 10, while there are times in which it does turn out the 60th pick is a gem, its rare.

From what I know about this draft the 1st pick in the second round better be used though. You can get a role player with that pick I bet IMO.

[Lurker]

Fine don't blow it up but this plan needs to get scrapped. It'll be a PR nightmare when it happens but Dwight either needs to get "Monroe'd" (which worked out well for Greg Monroe and the Bucks) or be traded.

I'm not really even asking for a passing big man, I'm asking for a big man that can be versatile on the offensive end outside of 5 feet from the rim. If y'all wonder why Muscala has been, and will continue to play, it's kinda actually similar to last year's playoffs in a different way! He plays because he brings what Horford does on offense/defense in a lite way, which is not seen in the starting lineup. It was like how Humphries played because Horford didn't bring any rebounding (which part of this was unfixable).

[Lurker]

The reason why I said part of it was unfixable is Horford was the designated helper on drives by Kyrie/LeBron. It freed Tristan up.

[Bankingitbig]

This video always cracks me up... This year? "(quick) No!" then the oh shoot moment in his head when he realizes what he just said...

[Guest]

2 hours ago, Spud2Nique said:

I'm not sure how truly great that is. I'm just saying most teams have a 1st and a 2nd....so while most teams get 6 picks in the next 3 years, we get 10....(which we will probably either trade or draft a guy to rot in Europe) and I'm supposed to be excited as a fan?

 

GET ME A SUPERSTAR!!!!!!!!!

The only great thing is they belong to us. They are not owned to any other teams, you don't want to be a team that owe thee picks. -so hopefully they can be parlayed into upgrades.

[JTB]

Well that's interesting....hopefully all Hawks fans read this and get off of budcox back when things over the season goes wrong.

[Guest]

5 minutes ago, JTB said:

Well that's interesting....hopefully all Hawks fans read this and get off of budcox back when things over the season goes wrong.

 You know that won't happen.   There will always be skeptics no matter what. Makes for good debates.

[Thomas]

3 hours ago, JTB said:

Well that's interesting....hopefully all Hawks fans read this and get off of budcox back when things over the season goes wrong.

Still gotta coach in game with rotations and late game offense play calling so I'm still pretty irritated with him. He by himself lost the second playoff game in my piss poor view. Rotate players that are hurting you out late in any game. Still a lukewarm fan, I think. 

[NBASupes]

7 hours ago, Bankingitbig said:

Hate to reply to myself, but wanted to note that Budenholzer and Ferry did meet with Howard back in 2013 before Ressler was owner. So maybe Bud truly did want him. Who knows...

That Dwight was a different Dwight but that said, this evening Dwight is the Dwight I want 

[Plainview1981]

9 hours ago, Bankingitbig said:

Interesting article and interview with Hawks' owner Tony Ressler... Source: here

I read half of it... The new ownership is the same as the last.

[Plainview1981]

1 hour ago, NBASupes said:

That Dwight was a different Dwight but that said, this evening Dwight is the Dwight I want 

Was he really? Has Dwight been good since the Orlando days? I mean, sure he was a little better than he is now... But I'm not so sure he has been of much value since he left Orlando.

[Lurker]

We actually saw what was needed from Dwight early and then he wasn't involved for most of the rest of the game but it didn't matter as Millsap took over when it got a little too close for comfort.

He doesn't need to be a good passer, this offense is simple. All he needs to do is dive hard to the hole on PNR and occasionally make a good pass out like that early pass to Prince for 3 in the first.

[Thomas]

9 hours ago, marco102 said:

Horford wanted to leave. Point blank and simple. He was talking to Isiah at the allstar game about Boston.  Ownership had nothing to do with that.

That was some pretty dirty pool there, looking back. Him having such a loyal nice guy rep and all. And then doesn't show up against the Cavs.

[marco102]

Just now, Thomas said:

That was some pretty dirty pool there, looking back. Him having such a nice guy rep and all. 

I can't wait to watch him clap clap clap his soft ass (pause ) out the playoffs.