Detroit Pistons: Ranking the worst GM jobs in basketball

What they have in common

For basically all of the teams listed, there seemed to be a common occurrence that I think is one of the main reasons for all of these teams’ struggles over the past number of years: they all have some of the worst owners in basketball.

Starting from the seventh-ranked Pistons and the worst-ranked Cavs, all teams have owners that do not seem to be making the right calls either with their team or with the people around the team.

Tom Gores has not done anything wrong, but the other two previous owners of the Detroit Pistons, Fred Zollner and Bill Davidson are both in the hall of fame for the work that they have done with the historic franchise.

Kings Owner Vivek Ranadive hired ex-Kings player Vlade Divac, and even game him a contract extension despite all of the losing the Kings have endured since Ranadive become the owner in 2006.

Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor is one of the worst owners in the NBA.

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He somehow managed to frustrate and scare away Timberwolves legend Kevin Garnett, and that relationship does not seem to be getting any better as Garnett said he would not even attend his own jersey retirement ceremony since he does not “do business with snakes.”

Hornets owner and NBA great Michael Jordan has done some good things for the franchise, including rebranding to the Hornets and also using the Jordan brand for the team, but he has consistently struggled to draw any major free agents to Charlotte over his time with the Hornets.

While Suns owner Robert Sarver was technically around the “7 Seconds or Less” era, he has not done anything positive over the past decade-plus. More recently, he has not done much to gain the respect and supports of the Phoenix natives.

Sarver has threatened to relocate the team on multiple occasions if the city did not use tax-payer money to renovate their stadium.

In my opinion, James Dolan is hands down the worst owner and most toxic owner in the NBA. Since he took over in 1997, the Knicks have the league-worst .412 winning percentage and the team has had a revolving door of both coaches and front office personnel.

He has been accused of sexual harassment by formers executives, treated beloved Knicks players and fans poorly, most recently Spike Lee, among many other issues that have come up during his ownership.

While the Cavs are the team to have the most recent success on this list, it is really just because of the presence of LeBron James. While the second stint was a little less bumpy than James’ first time around, Dan Gilbert is the only owner who has lost one of the best players not once, but two separate times.

This proves something: having a winning culture starts at the top. Teams such as the Warriors, Heat, and Spurs have seen success due to their owners being all-in on their team and making the right moves with their franchises.

Back to where this all started, the Pistons are not on the bottom of the food chain when it comes to GM jobs in the NBA, but they still have a lot to work on in order to bring the motor city back to the glory days.

However, there are still bright spots in the team and players that should make Pistons fans excited for the future of the team.