How has Bob Myers fared as GM compared to Chris Mullin?

In light of current GM Bob Myers of the Golden State Warriors’ signing of a three-year extension, now is as good of a time as ever to look back and see how Myers compares to his predecessor, Chris Mullin.

Chris Mullin

Chris Mullin became Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations in 2004. It was in 2009 when it was finally announced that the Warriors would not renew his contract. Mullin’s track record is mixed, like most others, with a set of ups and downs throughout his time working in the front office.

The first place to start when reviewing his career in the front office is to look at his draft picks. He drafted some strong players, such as Andris Biedrins (Well, strong for some time at least), Monta Ellis, Marco Belinelli, and Brandan Wright. Well, maybe strong isn’t the right word — decent is better. However, these players have developed or are developing into solid players, with Ellis potentially becoming a star in Dallas.

On the other side of things, he made plenty of bad draft choices. Names such as Patrick O’Bryant, Ike Diogu, and Chris Taft make the list. If these names don’t ring a bell for you, you are one of the majority. If these names do, you know how these picks panned out. In other words, they were not good. Unfortunately, it is hard to say that Mullin was the best drafter, but he at least managed to mix in some good picks with the bad.

The other category is asset management with contracts and personnel changes. Arguably Mullin’s best moves were acquiring Baron Davis and trading Troy Murphy and Mike Dunleavy for Stephen Jackson and Al Harrington. These two moves propelled the Warriors forward just enough to make a playoff push, a step forward from the lackluster history of the Warriors in the previous years. However, he also had some bad mixed in. Ludicrous contracts to Adonal Foyle, Derek Fisher and Dunleavy are certainly a mark against him.

All said and done, Mullin was okay. He was the best GM the Warriors had had up to this point (which unfortunately isn’t saying much), and was able to somewhat set us up for the present day that we live in.

Bob Myers

Bob Myers took over in 2011, when he began his tenure as the General Manager. In large part due to him, the Warriors have been shaped to become the team they are today.

Myers has made some solid draft choices in Harrison Barnes (who had a strong rookie season but unfortunately succumbed to a sophomore slump) and Draymond Green, the swiss-army knife off the bench. Both these players have plenty of potential, and are absolutely vital components to the roster seen today. Myers also drafted Festus Ezeli, a big man who unfortunately has dealt with some injury woes, who can hopefully be a nice defensive back up to current center Andrew Bogut. On the other hand, some of Myers picks weren’t as good, such as Ognjen Kuzmic and Nemanja Nedovic (hopefully they both still have potential). All in all, as a drafter, Myers seems rather competent, and a step up from Mullin.

On the side of wheeling and dealing players and signing contracts, Myers brings a new level of aggressiveness which is almost impossible to love. In the summer of 2013, he cleared space for a big name signing, which turned into current starting small forwardAndre Iguodala, a player who certainly has taken the team to another level when on the floor. He got the team involved with Kevin Love trade talks, though unfortunately the trigger was never pulled due to unwillingness from both sides to compromise (a move which has certainly received criticism from a number of people). Most of all, he has made the Warriors relevant. He put the right players around star Stephen Curry, and is building a team that can explode at any moment to take the jump to become one of the elite teams in the NBA.

As of right now, it’s hard to disagree that GM Bob Myers has brought more to the table than Chris Mullin. Though Mullin may have began the push into becoming a better team, Myers brought the team there.