As difficult as trump may be to work for / defend, I think he could have found more competent people than the entourage he assembled. Maybe all the better people said no, but these people are stupid and/or arrrogant.
I do agree with you. I think had Trump specifically prized competency instead of loyalty and other gut feelings
(he himself as said he operates this way), he probably could have put together a competent and effective administration. But I think it's part that and part what you alluded to - many people probably
did say no. Trump was so controversial and scandal-plagued throughout the campaign that it wouldn't be surprising if many people wanted nothing to do with him. He will be there at least 4 years, and maybe only 4 years, and yet the people who sign on to work for him will likely have much longer careers. Long-term, it would have probably been a bad choice.
But as I was saying before, I think Trump himself makes it impossible for even the best team to run an administration on par with past moderately successful admins. He's too volatile, makes bad decisions, says too many ridiculous things, lies too much and is way too inconsistent.
