Comparing Kupchak and Buford

Posted on LakersGround.net on 5/18/06.

I common attitude I see on this board is that Kupchak should be fired and someone as good as RC Buford should be hired. The problem with that logic is that Mitch is as good as RC Buford. Look at their records and see.

There are a lot of parallels between Kupchak and Buford - both were made GM after assisting to build a championship caliber club and both won championships with their clubs. Mitch took over after the '99-00 season won two NBA championships, lost in the Western Conference Semis, lost in the NBA Finals and then rebuilt the team. The Lakers averaged 55 wins over those four years. Buford won a NBA championship, lost in the Wester Conference Semis, won an NBA championship and is a favorite for winning again. The Spurs averaged almost 60 wins over those four years.

Let's look at what each GM started with. First Kupchak. Below is the age of '99-'00 Lakers Top 5 in terms of minutes as of
2/1/2000:
Shaquille O'Neal - 27
Glen Rice - 32
Kobe Bryant - 21
Ron Harper - 36
A.C. Green - 36
Average: 30.4

Top 9 is the above plus:
Derek Fisher - 25
Robert Horry - 29
Rick Fox - 30
Brian Shaw - 33
Average: 29.9

Top 12 is the above plus:
Travis Knight - 25
Devean George - 22
John Salley - 35
Average 29.25

Here is the age of the '01-'02 Spurs Top 5 in terms of minutes as of 2/1/2002:
Tim Duncan - 25
David Robinson - 36
Tony Parker - 19
Steve Smith - 32
Antonio Daniels - 26
Average 27.6

Top 9 is the above plus:
Malik Rose - 27
Bruce Bowen - 30
Terry Porter - 38
Charles Smith - 26
Average 28.8

Top 12 is the above plus:
Danny Ferry - 35
Cherokee Parks - 29
Stephen Jackson - 23
Average 28.8

Also, the Spurs had the rights to Manu Ginobili, 24, but he hadn't made it to the NBA yet.

Clearly, Buford started with a much younger team and with more trading pieces outside of his core than Mitch did. The Lakers Top 5 is almost 3 years older than San Antonio's Top 5. If you consider the Lakers core to be Shaq, Kobe, Fisher and Horry and the Spurs core to be Duncan, Parker, Ginobili and Bowen, the Lakers core averaged 25.5 years old compared to 24.5 for the Spurs. However, that is misleading because Horry (because of bad knees) and Shaq (because he won't keep himself in shape) started declining early and Bowen hasn't started declining yet. The Laker players outside their core that had trade value were Glen Rice (32), Rick Fox (30) and Devean George (22). None of those players had much trade value. The Spurs players outside their core that had trade value were Steve Smith (32), Antonio Daniels (26), Malik Rose (27) and Stephen Jackson (23). Daniels got a full MLE contract that last off-season, Rose is a solid backup PF and Jackson is a starter for the Pacers.

Drafting
Kupchak's picks during the contending years were below. To make the comparison apples-to-apples, I am only going to look at the contending years:
2000
West's pick was Mark Madsen
2001
No Draft Picks
2002
Kareem Rush (20)
'02-'03: 11.5 mpg in 76 games, 3.0 ppg on .393 shooting, .279 from 3, 1.2 rpg, 0.9 apg
'03-'04: 17.3 mpg in 72 games, 6.4 ppg on .440 shooting, .348 from 3, 1.2 rpg, 0.8 apg
2003
Brian Cook (24)
'03-'04: 12.6 mpg in 35 games, 4.4 ppg on .475 shooting, 2.9 rpg, 0.6 apg
Luke Walton (32)
'03-'04: 10.1 mpg in 72 games, 2.4 ppg on .425 shooting, .333 from 3, 1.8 rpg, 1.6 apg

Buford's picks have been:
2002
Wasn't GM yet and pick was traded
2003
No Draft Picks
2004
Beno Udrih (28)
'04-'05: 14.4 mpg in 80 games, 5.9 ppg on .444 shooting, .408 from 3, 1.0 rpg, 1.9 apg
'05-'06: 10.9 mpg in 54 games, 5.1 ppg on .455 shooting, .343 from 3, 1.0 rpg, 1.7 apg
Romain Sato (52)
Has not played in the NBA and was waived on 2/24/05
2005
Ian Mahinmi (28)
Has not played in the NBA

Hand down, Kupchak's picks during the contending years produced more in the contending years than Buford's picks.

Trades
Mitch made three trades during the contending years:
9/25/00 - Traded Glen Rice, Travis Knight and the '01 first round draft pick in a four team trade for Horace Grant, Greg Foster, Chuck Person and Emanual Davis. The draft pick turned out to be the #27 and was used by Memphis to draft Jamaal Tinsley. I am not sure what happened to Chuck Person or Emanual Davis (were they waived by the Lakers?) as HoopsHype doesn't have this trade happening.

This was a steal as Rice was about to exercise his option to get out of his contract and Travis Knight was a total waste with 3 years, $10.8 million to go on his contract (he would play one more NBA game). Horace Grant started 77 games for the Lakers and then left as a free agent. Greg Foster only played 451 minutes for the Lakers, but he would be traded later.

6/28/01 - Traded Greg Foster for Lindsey Hunter
Derek Fisher apparently had suffered another injury in the '01 off-season and Hunter was picked up as insurance. Lindsey Hunter started 47 games for the Lakers, but shot only 38.2%. Greg Foster played 6 games for Milwaukee, who mainly did the move to increase financial flexibility. Again, a steal.

6/26/02 - Traded Lindsey Hunter and the #27 pick to Toronto for Tracy Murray and the #20 pick
The #27 pick turned out to be Chris Jeffries and the #20 pick turned out to be Kareem Rush. Jeffries was out of the NBA after two unimpressive seasons. See Rush's statistics above. Hunter only played 29 games for Toronto. Murray only played 192 minutes for the Lakers. A steal, but would have been an incredible steal if Tayshaun Prince had been selected instead of Kareem Rush.

RC Buford:
8/5/02 - Traded Antonio Daniels, Charles Smith and Amil McCaskill for Erick Barkley, Steve Kerr and 2003 second round pick
Daniels would not do well in Portland, but would resume his solid 6th man career in Seattle. Charles Smith would play 3 games for Portland before leaving the NBA. Eric Barkley would be traded shortly. The 36 year old Steve Kerr would average 12.7 mpg in one season with San Antonio before retiring. Overall, a bad trade for both teams.

10/3/02 - Traded a second round pick for Mengke Bateer
Bateer played 46 minutes for the Spurs

10/25/02 - Traded Erick Barkley for future considerations
As Barkley hasn't played in the NBA since, I doubt that San Antonio got anything.

6/27/03 - Traded 2003 #28 pick for future #1 pick
The 2003 pick was Leandro Barbosa, a key reserve for the Suns for the last 3 seasons. The future #1 pick became the #28 pick in 2005, which Buford used to select Ian Mahinmi, who hasn't played in the NBA. Overall, a steal for Phoenix.

7/24/03 - Traded Danny Ferry for Ron Mercer and Hedo Turkoglu
I assume that Danny Ferry was an expiring contract and he never played in the NBA again. Ron Mercer played 39 games for the Spurs and was waived on 2/27/04. Turkoglu played 26 mpg and shot a career low 40.6% for the Spurs. Turkoglu would then leave as a free agent after the '03-'04 off-season. Buford got some value for an expiring contract, but not much.

6/25/04 - Traded a 2005 second round pick for the draft rights to Viktor Sanikidze
Sanikidze has not played in the NBA. The second round pick became the #59 in the draft and was used on Cenk Akyol of Turkey, who has not played in the NBA. A unimportant trade for both teams.

2/24/05 - Traded Malik Rose and two conditional #1 picks for Jamison Brewer and Nazr Mohammed
Malik Rose was an overpaid, undersized back up PF. The conditional picks turned into the #29 pick in the 2006 draft and I can't tell if another is still owed. Brewer was immediately waived. Mohammed averaged 18 mpg in 23 games in the '04-'05 off-season and averaged 17.4 mpg in 80 games in the '05-'06 off-season. The Spurs appear to have picked up a comparable player that is taller and three years younger at the cost of 2 last first round draft picks. Looks like a break even trade.

Overall
All three of Kupchak's trades were steals. Buford has made two bad trades, three unimportant trades, a decent trade and a break even trade. Hands down, Kupchak is the better trader.

Major FA Signings
First, Kupchak's free agent signings:
8/25/00 - Isaiah Rider
'00-'01: 18.0 mpg in 67 games, 7.6 ppg on .426 shooting, .370 from 3, 2.3 rpg, 1.7 apg
29 the season he signed. A tremendous talent but a knucledhead his entire NBA career. Phil watched him closely and eventually gave up on him and he was waived. He played 10 more games in Denver before leaving the NBA for good.

?/?/?? - Mike Penberthy
'00-'01: 16.1 mpg in 53 games, 5.0 ppg on .414 shooting, .396 from 3, 1.2 rpg, 1.3 apg
'01-'02: 4.0 mpg in 3 games, 1.7 ppg on .500 shooting, 0.7 rpg, 0.7 apg
26 the season he signed. He could shot the 3 and not much else.

7/21/01 - Mitch Richmond
'01-'02: 11.1 mpg in 64 games, 4.1 ppg on .405 shooting, .290 from 3, 1.5 rpg, 0.9 apg
36 the season he signed. He had been in decline for a while and was done when the Lakers signed him.

7/21/01 - Samaki Walker
'01-'02: 24.0 mpg in 69 games, 6.7 ppg on .512 shooting, 7.0 rpg, 1.3 bpg
'02-'03: 18.6 mpg in 67 games, 4.4 ppg on .420 shooting, 5.5 rpg, 0.8 bpg
25 the season he signed. Hands of brick. Was a flop with the Lakers. Went on to play with 3 other NBA teams.

7/16/03 - Gary Payton
'03-'04: 34.5 mpg in 82 games, 14.6 ppg on .471 shooting, .333 from 3, 4.2 rpg, 5.5 apg
35 the season he signed. Never understood the triangle, close to uncoachable, a prickly person who the Lakers were happy to trade after this season, but a talent still nonetheless.

7/16/03 - Karl Malone
'03-'04: 32.7 mpg in 42 games, 13.2 ppg on .483 shooting, 8.7 rpg, 3.9 apg
40 the season he signed. Was great when he was on the court, but his body was breaking down and he suffered an untimely injury in the playoffs.

7/28/03 - Horace Grant
'03-'04: 20.1 in 55 games, 4.1 ppg on .411 shooting, 4.2 rpg, 1.3 apg
38 the season he signed. A dinosaur that provided minutes off the bench

10/1/03 - Byron Russell
'03-'04: 13.1 mpg in 72 games, 4.0 ppg on .402 shooting, .384 for 3, 2.0 rpg, 1.0 apg
33 the season he signed. The Lakers hoped he would provide more, but he shot miserably for the Lakers.

Free agent signings has been Kupchak's weakness. It is hard to give Kupchak credit for the signing of Payton and Malone as they made the choice on their own. No free agent provided significant help for more than one season.

Now, Buford's free agent signings:
8/27/02 - Kevin Willis
'02-'03: 11.8 mpg in 71 games, 4.2 ppg on .479 shooting, 3.2 rpg, 0.3 bpg
'03-'04: 7.8 mpg in 48 games, 3.4 ppg on .467 shooting, 2.0 rpg, 0.2 bpg
40 the season he signed. A dinosaur who contributed for two seasons off the bench

11/7/02 - Devin Brown
'02-'03: 3.1 mpg in 7 games, 1.7 ppg on .500 shooting, 1.0 rpg, 0.3 apg
'03-'04: 10.8 mpg in 58 games, 4.0 ppg on .434 shooting, .286 from 3, 2.2 rpg, 0.6 apg
'04-'05: 18.5 mpg in 67 games, 7.4 ppg on .423 shooting, .372 from 3, 2.6 rpg, 1.4 apg
24 the season he signed. My understanding is that Brown was a local boy who begged for an opportunity and then made good on it. Was waived during the '02-'02 season and went to play in Denver. Came back to the Spurs the next season and steadily improved. Left as a free agent and went to Utah.

7/16/03 - Rasho Nesterovic
'03-'04: 28.7 mpg in 82 games, 8.7 ppg on .469 shooting, 7.7 rpg, 2.0 bpg
'04-'05: 25.5 mpg in 70 games, 5.9 ppg on .460 shooting, 6.6 rpg, 1.7 bpg
'05-'06: 19.0 mpg in 80 games, 4.5 ppg on .515 shooting, 3.9 rpg, 1.1 bpg
27 the season he signed. A little better than Samaki Walker, but signed to a much bigger, longer contract. The word last off-season was that the Spurs were willing to trade him for any expiring contract.

7/24/03 - Robert Horry
'03-'04: 15.9 mpg in 81 games, 4.8 ppg on .405 shooting, .380 from 3, 3.4 rpg, 1.2 apg
'04-'05: 18.6 mpg in 75 games, 6.0 ppg on .419 shooting, .370 from 3, 3.6 rpg, 1.1 apg
'05-'06: 18.8 mpg in 63 games, 5.1 ppg on .384 shooting, .368 from 3, 3.8 rpg, 1.3 apg
33 the season he signed. Big Game Rob was a great pick up...if you look only at his playoff performance. In the '04 playoffs, he shot 46.5%, 36.4% from 3 and averaged 6.1 ppg and 6.3 rpg in 21.1 mpg. In the '05 playoffs, he shot 44.8%, 44.7% from 3 and averaged 9.3 ppg and 5.4 rpg in 26.9 mpg. Those numbers are way better than what he put up during the season.

10/31/03 - Jason Hart
'03-'04: 12.5 mpg in 53 games, 3.3 ppg on .447 shooting, 1.5 rpg, 1.5 apg
23 the season he signed. Played for the Spurs in the '01-'02 season, was out of the NBA one season, played for the Spurs, played 25.5 mpg for Chicago in the '04-'05 season, then 12.4 mpg for Sacramento in the '05-'06 season.

7/15/04 - Brent Barry
'04-'05: 21.5 mpg in 81 games, 7.4 ppg on .423 shooting, .357 from 3, 2.3 rpb, 2.2 apg
'05-'06: 17.0 mpg in 74 games, 5.8 ppg on .452 shooting, .396 from 3, 2.1 rpb, 1.7 apg
33 the season he signed. A solid veteran bench presence.

8/4/04 - Tony Massenburg
'04-'05: 11.5 mpg in 61 games, 3.2 ppg on .407 shooting, 2.7 rpg
37 the season he signed. Another dinosaur to provide minutes off the bench.

8/29/05 - Nick Van Exel
'05-'06: 15.2 mpg in 65 games, 5.5 ppg on .397 shooting, .357 from 3, 1.4 rpg, 1.9 apg
34 the season he signed. Nick the Quick was done when he signed up.

9/2/05 - Michael Finley
'05-'06: 26.5 mpg in 77 games, 10.1 ppg on .412 shooting, .394 from 3, 3.2 rpg, 1.5 apg
32 the season he signed. A real steal, but can't give Buford much credit as Finley much credit like you can't give Kupchack credit for Payton and Malone.

Buford's biggest successes were Horry and Barry, with Horry providing value in the playoffs. None of these signings provided the team with a shot of youth.

Minor FA Signings
Just for completeness, here are Kupchack's minor free agent signings during the contending years:
?/?/?? - Jelani McCoy
?/?/?? - Joe Crispin
7/26/02 - Jannero Pargo
8/14/02 - AJ Guyton
8/23/02 - Soumaila Samake
9/18/02 - Guy Rucker
7/24/03 - Jamal Sampson
1/14/04 - Ime Udoka
1/30/04 - Maurice Carter

Here are Buford's minor free agent signings:
11/20/02 - Anthony Goldwire
7/30/03 - Anthony Carter
9/29/03 - Alex Garcia
11/17/03 - Sean Marks
1/9/04 - Charlie Ward
?/?/?? - Shane Heal
3/8/04 - Matt Carroll
8/25/04 - Linton Johnson
10/27/04 - Mike Wilks
3/17/05 - Dion Glover
4/4/05 - Glenn Robinson
8/2/05 - Fabricio Oberto
9/29/05 - Melvin Sanders
11/17/05 - Alex Scales

Overall Evaluation
Kupchak did better than Buford on drafting and trades. Buford did better than Kupchak on free agent signings. Neither GM was able to provide young contributors to take over for aging veterans like Jerry West consistantly did. I would rate Kupchak's performance as slightly better.