coolhandluke
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Executive of the Year: Isiah Thomas, Knicks.
Lame joke? You bet. Still, I.T. has made life so lovely for so many of this league's general managers, that I had to give the man his change.
Lame joke? You bet. Still, I.T. has made life so lovely for so many of this league's general managers, that I had to give the man his change.
These awards are so strange, mainly because team execs are on the clock for 12 months a year, whereas coaches and players only have to do their public work from October until late spring. For instance, Chicago's John Paxson deserves all sorts of thanks from Bulls fans for creating two consecutive playoff teams while securing boatloads of cap space for next summer and a potential number one pick in this June's draft. But what if he blows the draft pick and whiffs in free agency? Does May's Executive of the Year hit the hot seat sometime next August?
This is why I'd be remiss in not thanking Isiah for changing the fortunes of so many NBA teams. Essentially, Paxson's Bulls have the rights to the next two Knicks first-round draft picks, and Chicago is awash in fiscal flexibility thanks to cap-clearing deals with the Knicks in both 2004 and 2005. Orlando turned its season around once it dumped a moping Steve Francis on New York for Penny Hardaway's giant expiring contract and their newest Stacey Augmon-type, Trevor Ariza.
And Bryan Colangelo? Well, the newly-hired Raptors GM will probably take home his second Executive of the Year award in a few weeks, but Isiah Thomas should never have to buy dinner in Toronto again. Isiah took Stephon Marbury off Colangelo's hands in December 2003, affording him the cap space necessary to sign Steve Nash the following summer. With Nash on board, coach Mike D'Antoni felt secure enough to let his players run and gun, which allowed Colangelo to make brilliant mini-deals for the likes of Eddie House, James Jones and Diaw. Now the Suns have taken home two Pacific Division titles.
After Colangelo jumped to Ontario in February, he dumped the team's biggest cap albatross on (you guessed it) Isiah's Knicks. With Jalen Rose in New York, Toronto is looking at cap space this summer for the first time since 2001, and Colangelo has Zeke to thank.
For all the laughs this year, we all have Zeke to thank. Cheers, mate.
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