Bringing the blog out from the mothballs for a couple of reasons.

First, check out this clip of the NBA whisperer, Adrian Wojnarowski chatting with Scott Van Pelt about the free agency status of the mercurial Kawhi Leonard.  As of this writing, Kawhi still has not signed with an NBA team.

Why should you, the intrepid HR professional care about this story?  As always, it covers everything that is the apotheosis of the #8ManRotation - the intersection of sports and HR.  Recruiting.  Talent. Compensation.  Decision-making. Opportunity cost.

Here we have three franchises competing for one of the top five players in their field.  Like any organization, they are trying to figure out what is going to attract him to come to their business over a competitor. 

Complicating matters is the presence of the salary cap, the collective bargaining agreement, and the start of free agency.  Kawhi Leonard can only receive the maximum, hence the three finalists for his services (Toronto, the Los Angeles Lakers, and the Los Angeles Clippers), cannot outbid each other for his services.  So, compensation will not be the determining factor.

Further, free agents cannot begin signing contracts until Sunday, July 7 at 6 pm Eastern.  Each of the three teams involved risk missing out on other available top talent by waiting on Kawhi to make his decision.  The opportunity cost of waiting is huge.

Which brings us to the second reason for the post - the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas begins TODAY! For the past nine years, members of the 8 Man Rotation (Steve Boese, Kris Dunn, Lance Haun, Tim Sackett, and I) have made the trek to watch 9 hours of basketball a day, and opine on the HR implications.  Think I am kidding?  Check out this history of posts:

From Steve Boese:
1. Five quick 'Sports and HR' takes from the NBA Summer League 
2. NBA Summer League Part 1 - The Relative Value of Talent  
3.  Observations from the NBA Summer League 2013

From Kris Dunn:
1. My Week at the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, Part 1 (featuring Lessons on Talent) 
2. My Week at the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, Part 2 (featuring Lessons on Talent)
3. My 2016 Vegas Weekend at the NBA Summer League
4. Stuff the Capitalist (aka KD) Likes - The NBA Summer League
5.  My Vegas Weekend with the 8 Man Rotation (featuring How Pro Hoops Misses On Talent...Just Like You 
6.  My Vegas Weekend via Instagram (featuring James Harden and Bro-Packs...)

From Lance Haun:
1. Finding "A" Talent is Overrated

From Tim Sackett:
1. Different Leaders for Different Situations

From Matt Stollak:
1.  Quick Lessons from the 2014 NBA Summer League
2.  Why #HR Should Care About the NBA Summer League 

Look for posts from Steve, KD, Lance, and I in the coming weeks (Tim, as always will be the designated survivor).

Often, a good manager is one that has spent more of his career developing others than being coached him or herself. In the NFL, it is common to see coaching trees develop. Bill Walsh, the legendary coach of the San Francisco 49ers, has seen many of his proteges go onto varying degrees of success, for example:

• Mike Holmgren (won a Super Bowl with the Green Bay Packers)
• George Seifert (won two Super Bowls with the 49ers as Walsh's successor)
• Jim Fassel (his 2000 NY Giants team lost to the Baltimore Ravens in Super Bowl 35)
• Sam Wyche (his 1988 Cinci Bengals advanced to the AFC title game)
• Dennis Green (who took two Minnesota Vikings teams to the NFC championship game (and discovered "teams are who we thought they were))

This coaching tree grew additional branches as the coaches mentioned above developed a coaching pipeline of their own. Dennis Green, for example, saw a couple of his assistants become successful as well:

• Brian Billick (won the 2000 Super Bowl as coach of the Baltimore Ravens)
• Tony Dungy (won the 2006 Super Bowl as coach of the Indianapolis Colts)

With that in mind, what does your organization do to recognize talent development? Have you identified those managers who nurture talent that have helped the organization success in other areas? Do you reward them? What management trees have developed in your organization?