Not Exec of the Year?
I'm sorry but anyone who doesn't vote for Danny Ainge as Exec of the Year is out of their mind. While I have argued that some of Danny's success stemmed from good luck, there's no way to deny that he did a masterful job this offseason in turning an absolute disaster of a team into a favorite to win it all. Look at the timeline of the Garnett deal: Ainge looked like he had a deal but KG said he didn't want to go to Boston, Ainge then rolled the dice and acquired Ray Allen, he then went back and got the KG deal done.
And let's not gloss over that last one: he got the KG deal done. The Boston Celtics did not have the best offer on the table for Kevin Garnett. At least four or five teams likely had better shots at getting KG but none of them were willing to pull the trigger. While other teams haggled over stumbling blocks like Luol Deng or Andris Biedrins, the Celtics were willing to make a deal that sent a likely future All-Star talent to get the Big Ticket.
The main rival for the crown is, fittingly, the Lakers' Mitch Kupchak. If Ainge's success hinged on some lucky breaks, Kupchak's was divined by the hand of God. His first key acquisition literally walked in on his own. Unless Kupchak had something to do with building great hospitals in the Los Angeles area, you can't give him any credit for bringing Derek Fisher in. The next move, Pau Gasol, fell into his lap. I really can't imagine that Kupchak initiated that call. If he did somehow talk Chris Wallace into giving away Pau then OK, give him the award but really all Kupchak did was have an expiring contract (which he had acquired years earlier for Caron Butler) and an owner who was willing to take on a max contract. So basically, the reason people would be voting for Kupchak is because he knew how to answer a phone.
Of course, some people then argue that he should win for the trades that he didn't make. In hindsight, Kupchak did the right thing by not trading Bynum because the Gasol deal fell in his lap. But without the ridiculous Gasol deal, I'd still argue that he made a major mistake by not dealing Kwame and Bynum for Garnett. Could you imagine Kobe, KG and Odom together? They could stick Ronny Turiaf at center and race to the NBA title. As for not trading Kobe, most rumors had him going to Chicago if The Bean himself didn't put the kibosh on it, demanding that Deng not be part of the deal. Also, you could make the exact same arguments for Ainge. He could have traded Pierce a few times and he could have dealt Big Al for Iverson or a few other aging superstars. Crediting GM's on the trades they didn't make is like crediting George Bush for the countries he didn't invade.
In the end, Danny took a team that almost everyone said was dead in the water after not getting a top #2 pick and turned them into the top team in the league. Ainge wheeled and dealed his way into contention, Kupchak's team basically fell into his lap. Danny Ainge is the Executive of the Year. No doubt about it.
