Hoopsworld:Top 5 NBA General Managers...
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Here they are, the top currently-employed GMs in the NBA:
Honorable Mention:
Masai Ujiri, Denver Nuggets – It’s time to start including Ujiri’s name among the NBA’s most talented GMs, even though his sample size of work is still relatively small. The notable strategy for Ujiri has been making sure he keeps his assets in case he’s able to trade them later. He didn’t let Nene leave via free agency a year ago, for example, although it seemed like a strong possibility that he’d do exactly that (and even though the team looked much too young to have a player of his age locked down long-term). Before the end of that first season, however, he had moved Nene for a better fit and younger player in JaVale McGee, who he also was able to extend at a fairly reasonable price.
He also somehow turned Arron Afflalo (another asset he refused to let walk in free agency) and Al Harrington (another veteran with no long-term future on a young team) into all-star and Olympian Andre Iguodala, which was one of the smoother GM moves of the summer. Clearly, Ujiri is one of the league’s hottest new GMs in the league right now.
Ernie Grunfeld, Washington Wizards – While it’s easy to look at last year’s dismal record and write off a guy like Grunfeld, the man’s complete body of work (including what he did just in the last several months) is pretty impressive. This is the man who signed Gilbert Arenas to play alongside Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison. This is also the man who, after it became clear Arenas would never live up to his huge contract extension, found a way to trade that contract for Rashard Lewis. Despite the fact that the Lewis deal was equally bad, he managed to switch that out for Trevor Ariza and Emeka Okafor this summer—two guys much more likely to earn their paychecks than Rashard. In just the last year, he’s cleared the team of Nick Young, JaVale McGee, and Andray Blatche, leaving behind a really interesting core that combines promising youth with talented veterans. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see last year’s second-worst team make the playoffs in 2013, and Grunfeld is a huge part of that.
Donnie Nelson, Dallas Mavericks – While Nelson has only been the GM of the Mavericks since 2008, he’s been with the team for much longer than that. But even his body of work over the last handful of seasons is enough to get him some love as one of the top GMs in the league. It was Nelson who brought in Tyson Chandler, Shawn Marion, and Caron Butler just in time to win the 2011 NBA championship, and this past offseason, when the Mavs missed out on Deron Williams, Steve Nash, and even Jason Kidd, Nelson was able to salvage free agency by hijacking Darren Collison away from Indiana while also signing O.J. Mayo and Chris Kaman and making a winning bid for Elton Brand off of amnesty waivers. He even had a say in the draft-day trade that shipped off Robert Traylor for Dirk Nowitzki.
On the one hand, it’s easy to bring in great players when you’ve got an owner like Mark Cuban bankrolling you, but simply having money to spend doesn’t always equate to championship success. That’s what Nelson has brought to the Mavericks in very short order, however, and that’s why he’s on this list.
Danny Ferry, Atlanta Hawks – He dumped Joe Johnson’s contract, which is the basketball equivalent of pigs flying, so he gets a mention here for that reason and that reason alone. Ferry’s got a history of stripping things clean, but not necessarily for building them back up properly. We’ll have to see how the Hawks look a few years from now to really judge Ferry, but getting rid of that JJ deal was an excellent way to usher in a new era in Atlanta basketball.
The Top Five:
#5 – Danny Ainge, Boston Celtics – Just a few years before we said, “that’s not fair,” in regards to Miami’s Big Three, we said the same thing about Boston’s Big Three of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen. The difference was that Ainge had to trade for two of his guys, and he did it without really giving up anybody that would make Boston regret it. That team of course won the title in 2008, but even this past summer when the team lost Ray Allen to the HEAT, Ainge reloaded with Jason Terry and Courtney Lee to replace him at shooting guard. That, plus drafting Jared Sullinger in the 20′s and managing to hold on to Jeff Green makes 2012-13’s team look even better than the one that made the Conference Finals this past spring. Ainge hasn’t been perfect as a GM, but he’s certainly made championship-caliber moves and has kept this current C’s team breathing when they just as easily could’ve died this past summer.
#4 – Mitch Kupchak, L.A. Lakers – Kupckah has been an integral part of the Lakers’ front office for over 25 years. The moves he’s overseen, however, have included trading for Pau Gasol for what seemed like pennies on the dollar at the time, winning two championships, then acquiring Steve Nash for cruddy draft picks and Dwight Howard for an inferior player in Andrew Bynum. He’s kept the team competitive around Kobe Bryant, while also setting them up for success in the future with Howard. All savvy stuff, and worthy of mention on this list.
#3 – Sam Presti, Oklahoma City Thunder – Four years was all it took to take the Oklahoma City Thunder/Seattle SuperSonics from one of the worst teams in the league to the NBA Finals. Four years, folks. That’s it. He started his tenure by saying goodbye to Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis, but then drafted Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, James Harden, and Serge Ibaka, all of whom have quickly developed into the kinds of players other teams would ? for. He also shipped off Jeff Green for Kendrick Perkins and saved cap space at times when pundits clamored for him to spend it. Even giving Ibaka his extension now while putting off dealing with Harden until next summer was shrewd, and assuming the Thunder participate in the Western Conference Finals in each of the next 8-10 seasons, it’s hard to see a single major mistake Presti has made since taking over four years ago.
#2 – R.C. Buford, San Antonio Spurs – The San Antonio Spurs have won three championships since Buford took over GM duties in 1999, and since then he and his team have been the gold standard for how the rest of the league builds a roster. Finding all-stars like Tony Parker (28th pick in 2011) and Manu Ginobili (57th pick in 1999) late in the draft is one thing, but chasing down all those gem role players year after year is more than coincidence. Most recently, those guys included players like Danny Green, Kawhi Leonard, Gary Neal, DeJuan Blair, and Tiago Splitter, but the list over the course of the last decade-and-a-half is seriously ridiculous. Getting Tim Duncan was lucky, and he’s been a huge part of the team’s success, but Buford’s talent for finding diamonds in the rough has meant a lot for the Spurs, too.
#1 – Pat Riley, Miami HEAT – Maybe it was a foregone conclusion that Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, and Chris Bosh would end up on the same team, but there’s no question that Riley put the exclamation point on whatever vague plans those three guys may have had to play together. Now he adds clearance rack buys in Allen and Lewis on the heels of an NBA championship, and we’re supposed to call him anything but the best? Guys want to win, and nobody sells winning like Riley. That’s why he top dog in the GM game right now.
Comments
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as a laker fan i got hella respect for pat riley, but #1?! gtfoh...
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Danny Ainge dont belong on that list AT ALL, he got a favor from his boy Kevin Mchale in da KG trade when the Lakers offered a 19 year old bynum +Odom for him. the nuggets GM is a BEAST!!!!! flipped melo for a great Package and signed NeNe who is overrated only to flip him for a young athletic Center while getting the best perimeter defender in the league in Iggy during the Dwight trade. no issues with the rest of the list
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#3 – Sam Presti, Oklahoma City Thunder –
#4 – Mitch Kupchak, L.A. Lakers –
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it's funny how Bron, Wade And Bosh got all the negative press for teaming up. and Pat Riley gets all the praise.
Kupchak Manages in a City And a Franchise that sells it self. It's not like it's Denver Or Milwaukee.
Speaking OF Milwaukee, ppl are sleeping on them -
Mitch Kupchak.....that Shaq trade is still paying off 8 years later
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Danny Ainge dont belong on that list AT ALL, he got a favor from his boy Kevin Mchale in da KG trade when the Lakers offered a 19 year old bynum +Odom for him. the nuggets GM is a BEAST!!!!! flipped melo for a great Package and signed NeNe who is overrated only to flip him for a young athletic Center while getting the best perimeter defender in the league in Iggy during the Dwight trade. no issues with the rest of the list
arent you a laker fan..if so, wanna talking about favors? Explain Gasol and now Dwight?
and i agree i dont know about Riley being number one. It was more the players wanting to play together and picking were they wanted to play then anything riley did. -
Pat riley convinced the best player in the nba to leave Cleveland and sign wit the heat
Lebron said afterwards pat rileys presentation blew him away(Walking in and putting his 5 rings on the table and tellin him this is what you can achieve by joining wade and bosh and selling him on their roles,and telling lebron going over the cap and paying luxury taxes and was nothing to them so they would keep adding pieces each year)
Kupchak benefited from rob hennigans incompetence and nash preferring to stay west more than anything
Pat riley sold lebron james and ray allen in 2010 and 2012 to leave teams they played years 7 and 5 years wit and join rivals
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Really dawg? Convinced him to leave Cleveland to come to Miami?
First of all he aint convince ? , Lebron, Wade and them been teammates since the 08 Olympics. Second, saying you gotta convince someone to leave Cleveland for Miami is like saying I gotta convince you to leave Whoopi Goldberg for Meagan Goode. If you have eyes my work is done.
This is Mitch Kupchak. Dude basically Debo's you out of your franchise player like he's Red's bike. It never stops. -
Tommy bilfiger wrote: »Pat riley convinced the best player in the nba to leave Cleveland and sign wit the heat
Lebron said afterwards pat rileys presentation blew him away(Walking in and putting his 5 rings on the table and tellin him this is what you can achieve by joining wade and bosh and selling him on their roles,and telling lebron going over the cap and paying luxury taxes and was nothing to them so they would keep adding pieces each year)
Kupchak benefited from rob hennigans incompetence and nash preferring to stay west more than anything
Pat riley sold lebron james and ray allen in 2010 and 2012 to leave teams they played years 7 and 5 years wit and join rivals
LMAO like thats a hard decision.....especially after Wade and Bosh signed the day b4
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On the amazing ripple effects of the 2004 Shaq Trade
John Krolik Aug 14, 2012, 9:42 PM EDT
Remember the Summer of 2004? The Lakers, who came into the season with Gary Payton, Karl Malone, Kobe Bryant, and Shaq making up 80% of their starting 5, had just lost a “gentlemen’s sweep” to the Detroit Pistons. Kobe Bryant was a free agent. Shaq still had that pre-max monster of a deal, and he wasn’t getting any younger or getting along with Kobe any better.
The Lakers had to make a decision, especially when Kobe forced their hand by saying that he wouldn’t come back next season if Shaq was still on the team. (Revisionist history glosses over this fact, but Phil Jackson’s book The Last Season clearly states that Phil had that exact conversation with Kobe, and Kobe re-signed with the Lakers the day after Shaq was traded. The Lakers were going to have to make a tough decision on Shaq and his huge contract anyways, but come on.)
The Lakers ultimately decided to trade Shaq for Brian Grant, Caron Butler, and Lamar Odom. After that, the following things happened:
- Okay, Brian Grant never really became important.
- The Heat had the best record in the East, a relatively svelte Shaq narrowly lost the MVP vote to Steve Nash, and the Heat took the Pistons to Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals. Meanwhile, Kobe, struggling with injuries, a new coach, and new teammates, had one of the worst seasons of his career, and the Lakers actually missed the playoffs.
- Because they missed the playoffs, the Lakers got the 10th overall pick, and decided to take a risk on high school big man Andrew Bynum. This would become important later. (Meanwhile, the Warriors, who picked Todd Fuller 11th the year Kobe Bryant was drafted 13th, drafted Ike Diogu one pick ahead of Bynum. The Magic took Fran Vasquez directly after Bynum. Again, this would become important later.)
- In 05-06, after the Lakers traded Caron Butler for Kwame Brown, a healthy and motivated Bryant averaged the highest PPG of his career, but the wafer-thin Lakers lost to the Suns in 7 games. Meanwhile, the Heat were able to stun the Mavericks and win the NBA title with Shaq playing a vital role, although Miami clearly would not have come close to winning it all without Dwayne Wade’s historically great finals performance.
- At the 2007-08 trade deadline, the Lakers used Kwame Brown’s expiring contract, which came from the Caron Butler trade, which came from the Shaq trade, to acquire Pau Gasol. The Lakers went to the Finals that year and lost to the Celtics, but won the next two championships with Kobe, Pau, Lamar Odom, and Andrew Bynum (when healthy) leading the way.
- Meanwhile, Shaq, after being traded to the Suns and missing the playoffs, was acquired by the Cavaliers as a “Dwight-stopper,” and ultimately ended up helping end the LeBron era because the Cavaliers’ anti-Magic frontcourt got eaten alive by Boston’s frontcourt as the Celtics beat the Cavaliers in six games. (Yes, LeBron had some bad performances in that series, particularly game 5, but the frontcourt mismatches were a HUGE reason the Celtics shredded the Cavaliers.) You have to admit, the levels of irony here are incredible.
- After the 2010 season, LeBron James announces that he is leaving Cleveland and taking his talents to South Beach. Many people notice.
***PURE SPECULATION COMING UP***
Consider this: If Wade doesn’t have a ring, do you think he would have been able to convince LeBron to leave his hometown team, which was coming off of consecutive 60+ win seasons, and become, for a time, perhaps the most hated athlete in America. (There’s a real possibility of this — LeBron wanted to play with friends/superstars, LRMR had LeBron convinced that everyone would love him no matter what, and Miami does reportedly have nice weather in the winter. Still, I think Wade’s 2006 ring really, really helped LeBron make his “decision.”
***PURE SPECULATION OVER***
- The Heat make the Finals in each of the next two seasons, losing in 6 games in 2011 and winning in 5 games in 2012. If you’re keeping score at home and believe my theory (which may be a stretch), the Shaq trade has now led to the Heat and Lakers winning two championships apiece.
- Cut to the summer of 2012. The Lakers manage to flip Lamar Odom’s trade exception for Steve Nash, and flip Andrew Bynum, the lottery pick they got because the year directly after Shaq left was the one year they were bad enough to make the lottery, gets effectively flipped for Dwight Howard. The Lakers now have a starting lineup of Dwight Howard, Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash, Pau Gasol, and Metta World Peace, and are instant title contenders again.
So there you have it — eight years after the Lakers and Heat made a blockbuster trade for the most dominant center of this era, they each have two championships under their belt, and at least three of those four total championships can be directly traced back to the Shaq trade. On top of that, the two teams may well be on a collision course to meet in the 2013 finals, which makes the whole sequence of events that much more incredible. -
Long azz post ^^^^^ but kupchack is #1 and he has the hardest (n/h) Job
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sdotcarter111 wrote: »Really dawg? Convinced him to leave Cleveland to come to Miami?
First of all he aint convince ? , Lebron, Wade and them been teammates since the 08 Olympics. Second, saying you gotta convince someone to leave Cleveland for Miami is like saying I gotta convince you to leave Whoopi Goldberg for Meagan Goode. If you have eyes my work is done.
This is Mitch Kupchak. Dude basically Debo's you out of your franchise player like he's Red's bike. It never stops.
co-sign everything you said, except the M.Kupchak part. I dont think he debo anything. He go lucky like other GMs have. P.Gasol was a gift and so was D.howard, because Jerz had a better deal on the table then the lakers..so how the f did Orl shook their head "no" at the jerz deal which would of given them Lopez but nod "yes" for the lakers deal, given them back bare peanuts...
come on, that's fishy....it all good either way, i'm just saing i dont think M.Kupchak did that much either, los angeles is just as appealing as it is playing in miami....sun, girls and celebrities (fast cars as well)...it aint that hard to sell a player on that ish...
i could be a GM for miami (heat), l.a. (lakers) or the yankees.....the yanks paper long, so that ish is nothing. miami and l.a. the climate alone does it. -
sdotcarter111 wrote: »Really dawg? Convinced him to leave Cleveland to come to Miami?
First of all he aint convince ? , Lebron, Wade and them been teammates since the 08 Olympics. Second, saying you gotta convince someone to leave Cleveland for Miami is like saying I gotta convince you to leave Whoopi Goldberg for Meagan Goode. If you have eyes my work is done.
This is Mitch Kupchak. Dude basically Debo's you out of your franchise player like he's Red's bike. It never stops.
co-sign everything you said, except the M.Kupchak part. I dont think he debo anything. He go lucky like other GMs have. P.Gasol was a gift and so was D.howard, because Jerz had a better deal on the table then the lakers..so how the f did Orl shook their head "no" at the jerz deal which would of given them Lopez but nod "yes" for the lakers deal, given them back bare peanuts...
come on, that's fishy....it all good either way, i'm just saing i dont think M.Kupchak did that much either, los angeles is just as appealing as it is playing in miami....sun, girls and celebrities (fast cars as well)...it aint that hard to sell a player on that ish...
i could be a GM for miami (heat), l.a. (lakers) or the yankees.....the yanks paper long, so that ish is nothing. miami and l.a. the climate alone does it.
because he deebo'd that ?
kupchak da GOAT
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Lol @ pat riley not convincing lebron to sign wit miami,just like he didnt convince ray allen either
What pat riley did was way more impressive than anything kupchak did.Lakers had no picks to trade to the magic and orlando didn't want bynum.If the sixers and nuggets dont get involved they don't get dwight
Shouts to nash flip flopping on the knicks/being shook of facing the heat in the east,signing old ass jamison and jodie meeks garbage ass tho -
sdotcarter111 wrote: »Really dawg? Convinced him to leave Cleveland to come to Miami?
First of all he aint convince ? , Lebron, Wade and them been teammates since the 08 Olympics. Second, saying you gotta convince someone to leave Cleveland for Miami is like saying I gotta convince you to leave Whoopi Goldberg for Meagan Goode. If you have eyes my work is done.
This is Mitch Kupchak. Dude basically Debo's you out of your franchise player like he's Red's bike. It never stops.
co-sign everything you said, except the M.Kupchak part. I dont think he debo anything. He go lucky like other GMs have. P.Gasol was a gift and so was D.howard, because Jerz had a better deal on the table then the lakers..so how the f did Orl shook their head "no" at the jerz deal which would of given them Lopez but nod "yes" for the lakers deal, given them back bare peanuts...
come on, that's fishy....it all good either way, i'm just saing i dont think M.Kupchak did that much either, los angeles is just as appealing as it is playing in miami....sun, girls and celebrities (fast cars as well)...it aint that hard to sell a player on that ish...
i could be a GM for miami (heat), l.a. (lakers) or the yankees.....the yanks paper long, so that ish is nothing. miami and l.a. the climate alone does it.
false, thats where u prove u know nuffin about running a franchise, that Brook trade would have the Magic paying him $61 million over 4 years for a NON-all star While still tryin to rebuild, that makes NOOOO sense. i was tellin all ya'll cats form jump orlando wasnt interested in that trash deal but once again, they fail to acknowledge the track record of spitting pure facts.
everything else u typed was feelings, u must live in a sucky town like boston lol -
false, thats where u prove u know nuffin about running a franchise, that Brook trade would have the Magic paying him $61 million over 4 years for a NON-all star While still tryin to rebuild, that makes NOOOO sense. i was tellin all ya'll cats form jump orlando wasnt interested in that trash deal but once again, they fail to acknowledge the track record of spitting pure facts.
everything else u typed was feelings, u must live in a sucky town like boston lol
http://tampabay.sbnation.com/2012/8/14/3241827/dwight-howard-trade-lakers-nets-magic
and another link, stating there were other trade deals better then the one they got from the lakers
http://hangtime.blogs.nba.com/2012/08/10/magic-shouldve-done-better-in-howard-deal/?ls=iref:nbahpt1
You can easliy google that ish, and dont act like you know me homie. There's nothing in that deal for me to catch feelings for, i was even one of very few that praise the lakers for the deal, and thought them to be the better team out west...so slow your sh*t on the garbage you speak. -
^^^^^other trades is one thing, you whined about the nets trade. which I very systematically sonned how it was a trash deal. nets should have kept the lottery pick instead of trading for Gerald Wallace and THEN the trade would have been appealing
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^^^^^other trades is one thing, you whined about the nets trade. which I very systematically sonned how it was a trash deal. nets should have kept the lottery pick instead of trading for Gerald Wallace and THEN the trade would have been appealing
"whine"; The *uck you talking about? i suggest you go back and read my post cuz you miss the entire point. Nothing the lakers, magic or nets did affect me any. smh at this clown ass, taken a post, and go way too far. It aint serious so stop acting like someone smacked your sister or some sh*t
