Why we shouldn’t panic if Michael Winger flees the LA Clippers

Per reports, LA Clippers GM has reportedly drawn interest from the Minnesota Timberwolves. Here’s why we shouldn’t panic if he goes.

It’s the end of an impressive season for the LA Clippers. This was expected.

Since acquiring the team in 2015, former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has put together a dynamite front office for the franchise, most notably hiring NBA legend and unofficial icon Jerry West for a consulting position. Though most people do wish to give West credit for the moves the front office has made, it is worth noting that West himself doesn’t have a lot of power over the executive decisions of the club despite having an executive role.

Lawrence Frank, who was internally promoted to become President of Basketball Operations after Doc Rivers stepped down from the role, has been integral for the draft and trade deadline enterprises along with the titularly-mentioned Michael Winger.

Winger, who currently holds the position of General Manager, has reportedly been given permission to interview for the Minnesota Timberwolves to fulfill the vacancy of their President of Basketball Operations position. Wolves owner Glen Taylor compiled a list of desired candidates, and (rightfully so) includes our own Michael Winger.

Winger has had a very successful NBA front office career with multiple franchises. Before joining the Clippers back in 2017, Winger had held an assistant management position for the Oklahoma City Thunder and, prior to that, was employed by the front office of the Cleveland Cavaliers. Even after losing James Harden and Kevin Durant, the OKC crew are a perennial playoff and even top-four contender in the Western Conference, and the Cavs, after losing Lebron James (the first time), underwent a successful rebuild that brought them Kyrie Irving, Tristan Thompson, Kevin Love, and more.

We, as Clippers fans, have easily felt the effect of his prowess in negotiations and player contracts. Despite the initial “What in everything that is good in the world are they doing?!?!” reaction to the shocking Tobias Harris trade in February, the Clippers were able to acquire sharpshooting rookie Landry Shamet and young Marc Gasol-esque sensation Ivica Zubac from the neighboring boys in purple and gold.

The Zubac trade was facilitated by the acquiring of Mike Muscala, who never got to suit up for the Clippers as he was promptly traded next door for the young Croatian. These decisions mirrored the Blake Griffin trade last year, where the Clippers brought in Avery Bradley, Boban Marjanovic, and the aforementioned Harris.

As crucial as Griffin was to the franchise, both as a face of the organization and for his impact in the court, he was really really expensive. The front office quickly realized that an injury-prone Griffin was far too much of a liability for if this team really did want to turn into a stable championship contender. As much as it pains me to say it, I don’t know if I believe that the Lob City Clippers were ever consistent contenders.

Yes, there were a couple years that were really encouraging, but injuries and lack of depth haunted them for their entire tenure. Now, this team is all depth, with Lou Williams and Montrezl Harrell coming off the bench for history-making numbers. They just need a superstar.

Cue this offseason. Even if Winger departs and heads to a larger management role in Minnesota, he is still currently part of LA’s front office. The hunt for superstar free agents hasn’t just begun now during playoff time, but has been building up this whole season. The front office been hungrily sending scouts to nearly every Toronto Raptors game this season.

Why? Duh. Kawhi Leonard.

The Clippers are actually very privileged to have their moves go unnoticed, perhaps in part due to their noisy neighbors getting unwanted attention with LeBron James and Magic Johnson tightrope-walking around what exactly qualifies as “tampering”. The Clippers’ front office has moved in silence and stealth, which is why the basketball world at large is always so shocked to hear about the dexterity of their planning. Naturally it is worth asking, can this building continue without the presence of Winger?

Probably. Again, Ballmer has completely revolutionized this team – both on the inside and how their brand is perceived externally. His passion and overt enthusiasm is unparalleled by any other owner in the league. People WANT to work with him. Even Jerry West credited Ballmer for bringing him on board, referring to him as passionate and down to earth. Are we really to believe the passion and charisma that Ballmer brings won’t be enough to attract people to the front office let alone the team? This franchise could not have gotten luckier with him.

As Doc is a coach of the year candidate, his public image is just as high if not higher than when we won a title with the Celtics in 2008.

West is unanimously considered one of the best league execs ever, and was instrumental in recruiting Kevin Durant to the Warriors after his departure from OKC.

Ballmer… well…. Is Ballmer. He is the embodiment of unrelenting enthusiasm. In fact, the only thing bigger than his enthusiasm might be his wallet. He is using all his own money to finance the team’s departure from Downtown LA to Inglewood.

Winger and the rest of the front office’s astounding work cannot go unnoticed. But this organization has a backbone — both on the court and off — that can and will continue to attract the best in the business to the Clippers.