NO replacing Mo with a competent back up pg next year would be enough for him to win this award for me (and probably only me).
These awards are voted on by sportswriters, right? Could it be that while they may know their team well or even their conference opponents, they don't understand the league well in general? If it is sportwriters, the ignorance is an excellent excuse. It's pretty much the bottom of the barrel in terms of journalism.
Pop and Hornacek were 1-2 for coach of the year, and their GMs are 1-2 for exec of the year? Well, who really deserves the credit for their teams' "overachieving"? Did the coach do an incredible job with the pieces available? Then the GM didn't really do anything special. Is it really a well-built roster? Then the coach simply did what he should have done with what he was given. Logically, they shouldn't both be overly praised. Unless they work for the Blazers, that is.
We didn't have *that* much cap room and when you go from historically the worst bench in the NBA last season to what we have now, I think that's respectable. I probably would have given the award to Olshey. The Spurs did the smart, but easy thing, by staying the course. Phoenix was trying to tank, it just so happened that those moves worked out well for them. You can't sleep on getting a 1st Round pick for Gortat as the Polish Hammer was a UFA after this season. He also fleeced Indiana, getting Green, Plumlee, and a First for Scola. But Olshey acquired a Top 10 center for literally nothing and added a Top 5 Lottery Pick, in Robinson, for nothing. And as much criticism as Mo Williams gets, he's still a steal at 2.5 million and was not signed to a long-term deal. Dorell Wright's had his moments this year as well. Don't forget he picked up CJ McCollum in the draft, who I think will eventually be a Top 5 player from that class. I can't think of anything Olshey missed on given the cap room and resources. We may not have a perfect bench, but it's still an improvement over last season. Lastly, we went from 33 wins to 54 wins and I attribute nearly all of that to the addition of Lopez. RoLo turned LA into a monster, shored up the glass, and has been been a fan favorite since Day One. My Vote: 1 - Olshey 2 - McDonough
Honestly, who cares? You get respect by winning. Until then, I couldn't care less what others think of us. Sheesh, let's try letting go of high school, shall we?
This is a difficult award to hand out since it takes time for some moves to show results. The case for Buford could be made since I believe the Spurs have been able to be successful without paying the luxury tax. He turns players that other teams have given up on and makes them valuable. Hard to say if it is him or Pop that deserves the credit though.
I actually think while Hornacek deserved COY, Phoenix' GM is one of the worst in the league. He tried to build a roster that would compete for 25% of the ping pong ball combinations, and failed miserably. Milwaukee's GM, on the other hand, did an amazing job.
The Suns GM built his roster to tank. Then his coach screwed it up. This is the worst, most dysfunctional tandem in the league.
How did Danny Ainge get more votes than Ernie Grunfeld? Actually, how did Danny Ainge get ANY votes??? The Celtics won 25 games in the East, ffs.
Dumping that turd of a roster on the Nyets for shitload of draft picks. Being a good GM for a year doesn't mean your team wins.
So gutting his roster this season for draft picks in the future is worthy of a first-place vote for Executive of the Year? Fuck, Elgin Baylor should have owned that award in the 80s. Also, the Nets are in the conference semifinals, while the Celtics are likely going to need to move Rondo. Maybe Ainge will win the award next year after dealing Rondo for some expiring contracts and more draft picks.
It wasn't a serious response. Refer to my point about sportswriters who vote on this kind of thing. I think they're among the laziest and dumbest journalists around, who are a pretty lazy and dumb group in their own right. My guess is half the people that voted for Ainge still think KG and Pierce are Celtics.
