This is triggered by following the lengthy, nuanced discussion that came with the post about the johnson trade. one factor to me stands out in this: role of gm (and thus ownership).

the hawks just hired ferry as their new gm, and look at what he does: gets rid of their albatross contract. no longer can we say the hawks are 6th seed and out in the first round fodder with draft picks in the late teens. if smart, they re-up smith and horford and acquire an all-star level pg and they are a 3 or 4 seed going to the second round, minimum.

what's the biggest frustration and take home in this? ted had a chance to hire a new gm to oversee our rebuild and did minimal due diligence (my assumption, so could be wrong) and instead re-hired the guy who has a losing track record in the east as a gm with the wizards. the hawks, meanwhile, hire a great gm (who has experience in the spurs system--a model if ever one existed) and within a week that gm has opened the flood gate of possibilities, while sacrificing a short-term first round flame out in the playoffs. OKC similarly has a great gm--their issue is now to retain their coach.

while eg has made some decent moves post-abe ownership, just this summer ted had the chance to start fresh. i read his blog about nhl/nba free agency and was not impressed. what ted failed to mention is that his money is not restricted when it comes to spending on a franchise outside of salaried athletes. in other words, ted could spend 6$million a year on a superb gm, and another $10million a year on a superb coach (nothing against wittman--actually, a few things, most of all his lack of winning % as an nba coach), and another $5million combined on training and medical staff and facilities, and on an international scouting team, and even better, on a big man coach--these are in ted's power and his means as a wealthy owner. to build a business portfolio involves learning from the successful models of competitors and investing money to make money. instead, he kept eg. meanwhile, the hawks made a great hire for gm, and that gm created cap flexibility and opened up a new future for their franchise, all in one week. point of this: ted's money can make a difference, as can ted's final decision as owner of the wizards--instead, he hired eg again and hired wittman. to me, this is a big difference in looking at the okc vs. wizards, and now vs. hawks, versions of a rebuild. different ownership, or at least it seems other owners who understand the nuance of the nba much better than our owner, who must be drinking the eg-kool aid.