The summer of changes for the LA Clippers continues. They brought in Jerry West to join their front office in hopes of keeping their successful trio together and work towards a title. Unfortunately, Chris Paul elected to leave the team but LA received a big haul in a trade for Paul. J.J. Redick left to join the Philadelphia 76ers, Jamal Crawford was traded and free agents Mo Speights, Luc Richard Mbah a Moute and Alan Anderson all left the team.
A large majority of their roster is brand new and it was a good recovery after losing a potential Hall of Fame point guard in the offseason. But the Clippers changes didn’t end there, they had one more major move in store.
Doc Rivers has been removed from his role as the Clippers president of basketball operations and will only focus on coaching the team. Former assistant coach Lawrence Frank will take over as the lead decision maker for the team going forward.
Following comes from Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
LA Clippers owner Steve Ballmer is returning Doc Rivers to the primary duty of head coach, freeing him of front office responsibilities, the owner told ESPN on Friday.
Rivers, who held the title of president of basketball operations, will continue to have a strong voice in personnel and organizational matters and will partner with Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations Lawrence Frank, Ballmer told ESPN Friday. Frank will now oversee basketball operations, including the general manager.
Both Frank and Rivers will report directly to the owner. Frank and Rivers enjoy a strong personal and professional relationship, which has allowed for them to cement a shared vision on the franchise’s future.
“I’ve owned the team for three years now, and I really better understand what an owner’s responsibility is — and it turns out that running a franchise and coaching are two enormous and different jobs,” Ballmer told ESPN on Friday. “The notion that one person can fairly focus on them and give them all the attention they need isn’t the case. To be as good as we can be, to be a championship franchise, we need two functioning strong people building teams out beneath them. There needs to be a healthy discussion and debate with two strong, independent minded people.
“There are different relationships that a player needs to have with the coach and the front office,” Ballmer said. “Doc put Lawrence in charge of the non-coaching aspects of the front office last year, and he’s done a fantastic job. I want each of them to dig in and do what they do best. Lawrence has come on so strong in that role, and that has helped us go down this path.”
“I want to have a world-class front office that identifies college and pro talent, that works with the agents and that has a long-range strategy that is based upon thinking through the analytics and options available to us,” Ballmer told ESPN.
Doc Rivers and Lawrence Frank both released statements on the restructuring in a press release from the team.
Rivers remarked: “I am committed to the Clippers success and am excited to focus on the coaching side as two thirds of our roster will be new this year. This is a change I discussed with Steve since my bet last year on Lawrence Frank has worked out so well.”
Frank commented that: “After a year in the organization’s front office, I am excited to continue to invest in our front office and I look forward to the opportunity. Steve has charged us with taking the Clippers to the next level, and together with Doc we will do just that.”
