As part of NBA.com's "Summer Dreaming" series, which fantasizes about who will be taking home NBA award trophies next April, Doc Rivers is listed as one of the early favorites to win Coach of the Year.
The article mainly sites Doc's search-and-rescue tactics on DeAndre Jordan from earlier this summer (banana emoji, boat emoji--never forget) as the main reason for his potential CoY status, along with his additional offseason conquests: Lance Stephenson, Josh Smith, and your dad's golf buddy, Paul Pierce. But would Doc really be subject to the Red Auerbach Trophy for his work as a...general manager?
You could argue these offseason moves as coaching, I guess, if you count that hours-long chicken and card game session at DeAndre's Houston home as team-building. Other than that, these moves read all-GM to me.
That said, Doc is gonna have to pull a lot of tricks out of his sleeve if he wants to put his second Coach of the Year trophy on the mantle. He has miles to go before he sleeps and promises to keep with DJ, who will surely require some extra TLC upon his return to the court this season. And don't forget he'll have a couple of saucy personalities to contend with in the likes of Stephenson and Smith, and the challenge of incorporating the rickety yet still productive Pierce into an already packed offense.
But if he can pull all that off, the Clippers will sail right through the playoffs and on to glory. Right, guys? ...Guys?
What could possibly go wrong?