Jun 21, 2011; Minneapolis, MN, USA: Minnesota Timberwolves president David Kahn answers a question during a press conference at Target Center. Mandatory Credit: Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports

Win at all costs. Only the strong survive. The good keep getting better.  Work smarter not harder. These are commonly used mottos by many sports franchises; it spans the entire scope of all sports around the globe. But, it’s not just sports, its businesses also.

Businesses large or small, it doesn’t matter. Every company wants to be successful, they want to be the best. The ability of a company to be successful falls on the CEO. This is why you hear about CEO’s moving from company to company, just like a free agent in sports. Just like free agents in sports, these moves cost businesses/cooperation’s millions and millions of dollars for that one individual.

When a CEO changes companies, or a new CEO is hired, it can have a huge impact on a business before the CEO ever works a day. Stocks go up, or down depending on these hires.

The parallels between successful Fortune 500 companies and that of successful sports franchises are strikingly similar.  Conversely, the comparisons of poorly run companies and bad sports teams are also very similar.

Ask any successful CEO what they attribute their success to and you will likely hear the same answer. That answer is, their team or staff under them. Ask the managers of those teams what make them successful, and you’ll likely again hear the same thing, their staff under them. It often sounds like the modest/cliché answer to give, but, in reality it is the honest truth.

A CEO may have their finger prints all over a company, but they can’t personally train all of the employees in the company, or oversee every individual that works for the company. The CEO relies upon great personnel under them and guides the operation with information provided to them by those individuals and their departments. But, at the core is a great supporting cast, and every great CEO has an innate ability to get the right people under them to make those departments successful.

A sports franchise is no different. It will sound cliché, but in the NBA, the San Antonio Spurs are the epitome of the successful business model. R.C. Buford could arguably be the greatest GM of all time in the NBA. How so? Well if copying is the ultimate flattery, then the Spurs get flattered year after year, and for every good reason. Their approach to winning in the NBA is that of the ultimate business model.

They do it with a solid organization and infrastructure. It’s not just players, or coach, it goes much deeper. It is the entire structure of the organization, finance department, scouting, player, video, entertainment, sales, marketing, and finally, the coaching and players.

There are more current personnel in the NBA that have come from the Spurs organization, or a branch of the R.C. Buford tree, than any other team or GM in the NBA.

So many NBA teams seem to be more about free agency, and show no concern of building through the draft. In a league that is getting closer and closer to a hard cap, similar to the NFL, teams will have to start adapting a different philosophy if they are to stay competitive in the NBA year after year.

If the NFL has taught us anything, it is how to win in a salary cap league. It’s building through the draft. In order to be good in the draft, a team has to have a great scouting department. So even if a team drafts good, they have to cultivate their talent, which requires a top notch player development department. Once the young talent develops, the team will need to manage the money it takes to keep talent in the organization, and that is where a financial guru comes in.

Examples of basketball teams with a solid infrastructure. The Oklahoma City Thunder, Golden State Warriors, Houston Rockets and the Denver Nuggets all seem to have solid business models in place.

You might ask about the NBA heavy hitters; New York Knicks, Los Angeles Lakers, Miami Heat, Boston Celtics or even the high spending New Jersey Nets. Simple, look at the financial flexibility any of them have, or “home grown” players on the roster. Furthermore, look at the draft situation each of these teams hold for the upcoming years.

Conversely, there are some bad teams in the NBA that would prove they are void of any sort of business model. The Sacramento Kings and Phoenix Suns are two prime examples of no organizational direction for the company moving towards.

Other than the Spurs, The Oklahoma City Thunder are another prime example of a team that has great infrastructure. Sam Presti, a R.C. Buford disciple, has assembled a powerhouse of an orginization in the NBA. With Jeremy Lamb, Perry Jones III, Daniel Orton, Reggie Jackson and DeAndre Liggins all having 1 year of experience or less, they have plenty of young talent. Plus they have multiple 1^st round picks in this season’s draft. With Presti’s past success in the draft, Oklahoma will be in the same situation for years to come.

The Thunder could be the New England Patriots of the NBA. They continue to pile up talent and when it gets to be either a little old or a little expensive, they ship it out for picks and continue the cycle.

As a Timberwolves fan, 0ne can only look at successful teams and their great business models achieve success year after year and just imagine what could have been. If this team had a solid business model in place and a great infrastructure going into the 2009 draft. It has been well documented how bad the Wolves (David Kahn) blew the 2009 draft. Not only 2009, but, who can tell me what happened to the 3 picks in the 2010 draft. A total of 9 1^st round picks in 3 consecutive drafts, and there are only 2 players left on the roster. That’s a 22% success rate. I don’t know about you, but that would get me fired from my job if I produced a 22% success rate.

There is really no way to judge the player development aspect of the Wolves. So there is the financial department of the Wolves. They currently have $59 million on the books for next season and that’s without Chase Budinger and Nikola Pecovic on the roster. Knowing that Pek will be in the $12 million dollar range, and Chase will need in the $2-$3 million range for a total of $15 million. That puts the Wolves in the $74 million range, which would be the 9^th highest payroll in the NBA for the 2012-2013 season.

With all the talk of bringing back Kahn or finally going in a different direction. One thing is for sure, regardless of the injuries this past season, it is clear Kahn hasn’t set the team up to succeed for years to come. And with what could have been, Kahn can only be considered a failure for what he’s achieved considering what he had at his disposal to start. Considering that he went into the 2009 draft with no head coach, it also seems like Kahn went into the draft with no plan, and it doesn’t seem like there has been a plan ever since.

Apr 14, 2013; Denver, CO, USA; Denver Nuggets guard Ty Lawson (3) with the ball during the second half against the Portland Trailblazers at the Pepsi Center. The Nuggets won 118-109. Mandatory Credit: Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports

In this small-ball series the Warriors have a golden opportunity to steal game 1 in Denver as the Nuggets are waiting on starting power forward Kenneth Faried to return from a sprained ankle sustained Sunday against Portland. Without Faried, the Nuggest went small against the Bucks and Suns with Wilson Chandler in his stead and Anthony Randolph picking up some power forward minutes off the bench. The Nuggets expect Faried to return by game 2, so the Warriors’ opportunity is there on Saturday.

Nuggets probable starting lineup:

PG Ty Lawson

SG Evan Fournier

SF Andre Iguodala

PF Wilson Chandler

C Kosta Koufus

Besides the Faried ankle injury, the Nuggets have lost Danilo Gallinari to a torn ACL on April 4th and only welcomed starting point guard Lawson back to the lineup a week ago from a partial tear in his right plantar fascia.

The depth of the Nuggets will be on display as they hope to continue the roll that has seen them lose only 4 games since February 14th.

Warriors probable starting lineup:

PG Stephen Curry

SG Klay Thompson

SF Harrison Barnes

PF David Lee

C Andrew Bogut

The battle of former and would-be Wolves lottery picks, Curry and Lawson will be the marquee matchup. Curry is fresh off setting the single-season 3 pointers made record while Lawson is fresh off a foot injury. Whether Iggy ends up defending Thompson or Barnes could set up interesting cross-matchups. Bogut and Koufus should wrestle down low while Lee will be free to do as much damage as he can until Faried returns.

The benches will play a huge role in this series as Jarrett Jack shouldn’t get many opportunities to punk Andre Miller, as both coaches use their backup point guards to free their starters as big-time scorers in the clutch. Should JaVale McGee have his head screwed on right, there are major opportunities for him to do damage against the Warriors’ paper thin frontcourt.

Bogut has been on the floor just under 25 minutes in 32 games this year; but as long as he is, he provides the defense, toughness and size the Warriors need. The problem is, Festus Ezeli and Draymond Green are his backups should the Nuggest slash their way into the paint and get the Golden State bigs in foul trouble. Also, Carl Landry shouldn’t do the Nuggets like he does the Wolves.

Prediction: Denver in 6.