...etc.
The new HC is a first-time guy...no doubt, HC jobs in the NBA aren't offered to him on the reg, so he probably felt big internal pressure to take this (ugly) deal. He might not ever get another offer again.
One possible trend here is that coaching deals in the NBA (trickling down to the CBB ranks) start to get less lucrative. Having a HCing gig is a big deal, and the employer has some leverage that it isn't using.
But I'll believe it when we see it. I think the vast majority of owners want to win, and paying market rates is just the cost of doing business.
I remember another owner that was pretty chintzy....Donald Sterling.
The NBA owners did not follow his lead of underpaying whenever possible. And the franchise suffered as a result. Players left when they could. Constant turnover of the coaching staff.
But it took a major transgression beyond the scope of management malfeasance to finally get Sterling out.
I wonder how long the modern NBA will let the new Portland owner run the franchise into the ground (if that in fact is what it happens) before stepping in...if it does so at all.