Should R.C. Buford be in contention for Executive of the Year?

[racm]

It seems that this year doesn't have a runaway winner.

Past few seasons:

2012: Larry Bird - traded for George Hill, signed David West, took a sub .500 8th seed to 3rd seed in the East.
2011: Pat Riley/Gar Forman - Riley brought together James, Wade, and Bosh, while Forman hired Tom Thibodeau and had the Bulls run away with the best record in the league.
2010: John Hammond - also a relatively weak year, but the Bucks went on a great run to end the season after trading for John Salmons at the deadline.
2009: Mark Warkentien - Trading Iverson for Billups got the Nuggets to the Conference Finals.
2008: Danny Ainge - KG/Allen to complement Pierce. 66-16 record.

This season Mitch Kupchak looked to be the frontrunner as he traded for Steve Nash and Dwight Howard, yet the Lakers have underachieved to a 30-31 record. Guys like Sam Presti (whose team didn't skip a beat even after trading Harden) or Daryl Morey (who took a gamble on Harden and looks to be headed to the playoffs, with only TWO players from the 2012 squad left).

I think Buford's case is more of a lifetime achievement award; after all, his moves this season were low key (signed Duncan to a cheaper contract, kept Diaw and Green on reasonable prices, and took in prospects in De Colo and Baynes). His major moves IMHO were last season, where he moved Jefferson's albatross contract for the clutch Stephen Jackson, and picked up Boris Diaw from the waiver wire. The result? 20 straight wins into the playoffs.

Thoughts Spurs fans?

[Mal]

Dude from Rockets got this. He traded for Harden, signed Lin and Asik. A it all clicked, Rockets are playing great basketball, and team have bright future in front of them.

Buford didnt do any significant move, Spurs` system developed whole group, so they are playing very good. How should Buford get award for Parker playing MVP level season and Duncan playing like he is not 36 yrs old.

[racm]

Dude from Rockets got this. He traded for Harden, signed Lin and Asik. A it all clicked, Rockets are playing great basketball, and team have bright future in front of them.

Buford didnt do any significant move, Spurs` system developed whole group, so they are playing very good. How should Buford get award for Parker playing MVP level season and Duncan playing like he is not 36 yrs old.

Didn't everyone have the Rockets in the 30 win group before the Harden trade?

[chapnis]

In contention, won't win because he didn't actually do anything as per usual.

[jesterbobman]

Buford gets screwed over because there's never a season where there is a big move/shock change to the spurs, and intelligently managing long term cap considerations aren't thought of. Some of the ESPN guys were saying before the start of the year that Billy King should be in the running, Because Brooklyn would be better. They are better, but a 50 win team on a 84million budget isn't impressive.

It's hard to see Buford winning this year though, as bringing back the same team doesn't seem like an action a GM took.(It's smart, but it won't earn votes). Probably a slightly better chance next year, when the spurs will have some cap room and a 1st round pick, which adds slightly more chance of an impact move.

For this year, Morey should be at the top. He brought in Guys who advanced stats said were really good, and have complementary games(2 High Usage Guards and a Defensive Centre), and swindled the Kings in the Robinson deal. They're good and really young, and adding a Paul Millsap caliber guy to that rotation, as well as a year of growth from a young core probably makes them a 50+ win team next year.
I'd also note that Rob Hennigan has done really well in a bad situation. He got killed for the Dwight trade(Not taking Bynum straight up) but Vucevic has sustained his per minute play, Nicholson seems good, Tobias Harris(Reddick deal) and Mo Harkless are showing some promise, and they have 3 extra 1sts from the Dwight deal.
Danny Ferry did well in dumping Joe Johnson, and getting Lou Williams at the MLE is great.
Bob Myers(GS) should get credit for resigning Curry(At 11m a year), and getting Jack and Landry as top bench guys.

Tony Di Leo(76ers) and Colangelo(Raptors), should be last. Colangelo for doing Colangelo things, and di Leo for the disaster/idiot move of amnestying the still good Elton Brand and letting Lou Williams go, then using the cap space they created on Kwame Brown and Swaggy P. Bynum trade was a gamble that failed, but there's enough idiocy in that start of free agency sequence to be in the running for worst GM. (I blame Maloofs for Kings situation and dumping Robinson, So Petrie gets a conditional stay of execution.)

[Mal]

Didn't everyone have the Rockets in the 30 win group before the Harden trade?

Yeah, and after trade occured, Rockets are on paced for 45+ win. If making trade that increase your team win amount by 15 or so, wouldnt make you executive of year, then I dont know what would.

[Spursfanfromafar]

For all Morey's mixing, matching, talent addition, etc on the fly, the Houston Rockets have made the giant leap from a perennial no 9 in the WC to possibly No 7/8 by the end of the season. Executive of the Year? Please!

RC Buford, as any Spur, has been under-appreciated and not given his due as being the best FO executive for the better part of the late 1990s and the 2000s. Would be a shame if he is ignored again and the Spurs continue to register the top record in the team by making savvy deals with virtually the same personnel as last season.

[Mal]

For all Morey's mixing, matching, talent addition, etc on the fly, the Houston Rockets have made the giant leap from a perennial no 9 in the WC to possibly No 7/8 by the end of the season. Executive of the Year? Please!

RC Buford, as any Spur, has been under-appreciated and not given his due as being the best FO executive for the better part of the late 1990s and the 2000s. Would be a shame if he is ignored again and the Spurs continue to register the top record in the team by making savvy deals with virtually the same personnel as last season.

You are looking at all of it in wrong way. Rockets where 9th last year, that`s fact. Now they are on pace to be 7/8th, fact. But their GM rebuild whole team. He sent fat ass Lowry to Toronto, amnestied Scola. Also Lee, Dragic, Budinger, Dalembert, they are all gone. Whole team that was 9th last year is gone. 4 out of 5 starting players for Rockets are new to the team. This is whole new team. Morey rejuvenated this team, and yet they are better than year ago. We are talking about absolutely awesome job, that he did.

[spurraider21]

It's gotta be Morey tbh. Buford's biggest moves were resigning players we already had. Morey traded for Harden, signed Lin and Asik, and has the youngest team in the NBA primed to make the playoffs.

[Spursfanfromafar]

You are looking at all of it in wrong way. Rockets where 9th last year, that`s fact. Now they are on pace to be 7/8th, fact. But their GM rebuild whole team. He sent fat ass Lowry to Toronto, amnestied Scola. Also Lee, Dragic, Budinger, Dalembert, they are all gone. Whole team that was 9th last year is gone. 4 out of 5 starting players for Rockets are new to the team. This is whole new team. Morey rejuvenated this team, and yet they are better than year ago. We are talking about absolutely awesome job, that he did.

I don't deny it is a good job. But some of the things that Morey did are not unquestionable. Lin has been middling good. I think Dragic could have been better with Harden. Lee, Dragic, Budinger, Dalembert etc were in any case either expiring contracts or on rookie scale on a non-playoff team and mind you, most of them were recruited by Morey himself in his quest to rebuild the post-TMac/Ming team. In letting them go and getting value for them, Morey was only wiping his own mistakes. He overpaid Luis Scola despite his deficiencies and then had to amnesty him.

Morey also drafted Royce White - a stupid move in retrospect and something that many questioned when it happened. The Rockets have let go of all its previous lottery picks - Patterson, Morris - again a case of wiping a middling legacy of draft strategy (and only Parsons stands out as a draft success for Morey and who is retained along with Motiejunas).

The Rockets' future is quite bright, but I suppose that was never going to be a problem that lost all its heavy contracts some years ago. Heck even the much less appreciated Grizzlies with its dodgy moves (the Pau Gasol trade) has become a contender faster than the Rockets. Or the Clippers for e.g.

And when you combine that with the fact that they are still only first round fodder at best.. Morey is clearly over-hyped.

[BatManu20]

Daryl Morey

[Mal]

I don't deny it is a good job. But some of the things that Morey did are not unquestionable. Lin has been middling good. I think Dragic could have been better with Harden. Lee, Dragic, Budinger, Dalembert etc were in any case either expiring contracts or on rookie scale on a non-playoff team and mind you, most of them were recruited by Morey himself in his quest to rebuild the post-TMac/Ming team. In letting them go and getting value for them, Morey was only wiping his own mistakes. He overpaid Luis Scola despite his deficiencies and then had to amnesty him.

Morey also drafted Royce White - a stupid move in retrospect and something that many questioned when it happened. The Rockets have let go of all its previous lottery picks - Patterson, Morris - again a case of wiping a middling legacy of draft strategy (and only Parsons stands out as a draft success for Morey and who is retained along with Motiejunas).

The Rockets' future is quite bright, but I suppose that was never going to be a problem that lost all its heavy contracts some years ago. Heck even the much less appreciated Grizzlies with its dodgy moves (the Pau Gasol trade) has become a contender faster than the Rockets. Or the Clippers for e.g.

And when you combine that with the fact that they are still only first round fodder at best.. Morey is clearly over-hyped.

Well I didnt say, he didnt commit errors. There also shouldnt be an issue wheter Dragic or Lin would be better. Rockets should be evaluated as they stand today, and how bright their future is. And in such aspects Rockets are Top tier. Pesonally, I though Rockets made mistakes by signing Lin and Asik, but I was proven wrong.

Bufford, as suggested in first post, didnt go with single trade. Resigning Duncan was formality. Spurs dont have any new player. All were signed/drafted/traded for way before this season. RC Bufford shouldnt be even considered. Same as Heat, Thunder, Clippers, Pacers managment. Neither didnt any significant move. If Bufford have traded expiring and picks for Josh Smith, he would be considered. This didnt happen.

[Spursfanfromafar]

Bufford, as suggested in first post, didnt go with single trade. Resigning Duncan was formality. Spurs dont have any new player. All were signed/drafted/traded for way before this season. RC Bufford shouldnt be even considered. Same as Heat, Thunder, Clippers, Pacers managment. Neither didnt any significant move. If Bufford have traded expiring and picks for Josh Smith, he would be considered. This didnt happen.

Well, the proof is in the pudding, as they say. There was no need for the Spurs to tinker with an uber-winning team that has improved to third in defensive efficiency (from 11th last year) with the same team while sacrificing little of the offensive explosiveness (they are tied with fourth in offensive efficiency after being second last season).

The fact that RCB could resign Boris Diaw, Danny Green, Patty Mills and Tim Duncan for clearly high value for money contracts (well not Diaw maybe), and did not over-react to the failings in the WCF last season, suggests that he has done enough to keep the Spurs a contender YET AGAIN this season (after doing so for years).

Morey, OTOH, still has a ways to go.

[DrunkTXLabrat]

i understand morey, but i think sam presti should get it. i respect the rockets overhaul. great they'll make the playoffs and their future looks bright. but i love that haul okc brought in from that harden trade. presti has vision. he has durant. he's gonna win championships. and he is gonna squeeze his dad gum tube of toothpaste. it's shocking, but presti made the okc future brighter this season imo.

i know... hear me out though...

okc has one of the best players in the league. the youngest, quality big 3 in the league. a stacked pool of expiring, expendible, serviceable, young, cheap, high potential, big 3 support players. on top of that, they have picks and they aren't sweating the salary cap!

presti is just gonna keep the revolving door spinning. he's gonna keep brooks and durant, westbrook, ibaka. for support, he's gonna draft, harvest, trade... draft, harvest, trade...etc.

he's gunnin to outdo the spurs pop/duncan era and he's gonna do it too. the only way he doesn't is injury or if lebron rules the throne like mj. presti is gm of the year.

[Kuestmaster]

Every fucking year. Yes.

[racm]

i understand morey, but i think sam presti should get it. i respect the rockets overhaul. great they'll make the playoffs and their future looks bright. but i love that haul okc brought in from that harden trade. presti has vision. he has durant. he's gonna win championships. and he is gonna squeeze his dad gum tube of toothpaste. it's shocking, but presti made the okc future brighter this season imo.

i know... hear me out though...

okc has one of the best players in the league. the youngest, quality big 3 in the league. a stacked pool of expiring, expendible, serviceable, young, cheap, high potential, big 3 support players. on top of that, they have picks and they aren't sweating the salary cap!

presti is just gonna keep the revolving door spinning. he's gonna keep brooks and durant, westbrook, ibaka. for support, he's gonna draft, harvest, trade... draft, harvest, trade...etc.

he's gunnin to outdo the spurs pop/duncan era and he's gonna do it too. the only way he doesn't is injury or if lebron rules the throne like mj. presti is gm of the year.

By keeping Scott Brooks he's not gonna win a ring tbh. They need a coach who knows what offensive schemes and/or defensive rotations are.

#HireSVG

[Captivus]

Spurs can’t win it, like someone said, if you are always leading the league, there’s nothing you can do to be better except getting younger, which they didn’t, at least not as the Rockets did. The Spurs should get a "Life achievement".

I loved what the Rockets did, the players they got, especially Harden and Lin, those are big names in terms of franchise market. Asik, Robinson, Parsons. If White plays 80% the Rockets have a player that can potentially play many positions (he is killing it in 2K13!).

Again, what´s easier, getting an A in school one year, or maintaining the A for many years? That’s my Rockets - Spurs analogy.

[JingleJangleJingle]

the Denver GM has a good shot at winning as well

[EJFischer]

It's kind of perpetually deserved, but Buford should have gotten it last year for the way Leonard/Green ended up (EDIT: and for snagging Boris). Assuming nothing wacky like Aron Baynes suddenly becoming a part of the playoff rotation happens, R. C.'s biggest visible move for this season was the Duncan re-sign. That won't be enough for the award.

I think it has to be Daryl Morey, with Masai Ujiri as a dark horse for being the only one who actually made his team better in the Howard deal.

[Hoops Czar]

You don't win "executive of the year" when your biggest offseason acquisition was Nando De Colo. You also don't win "executive of the year" because of your past. It isn't called "executive of the decade" for a reason.

[FromWayDowntown]

It seems odd that an award would more readily recognize elevation from mediocrity to slightly better than mediocre rather than sustained excellence, but that's the NBA for you.

[Rogbok]

While I do think Morey has a good shot, I do not believe that it should cost you the award by "doing nothing". Doing nothing is as much a decision as trying to make "the big trade or signing" is. The biggest difference is the splash it makes. Now the way the media thinks and votes, it will almost always be the big splash that will likely win it because the media does not truly understand things and wants to only do what sales.

[Pasta Batman]

Buford gets screwed over because there's never a season where there is a big move/shock change to the spurs, and intelligently managing long term cap considerations aren't thought of. Some of the ESPN guys were saying before the start of the year that Billy King should be in the running, Because Brooklyn would be better. They are better, but a 50 win team on a 84million budget isn't impressive.



Exactly. Spurs will never win since they'll never have big name moves, even in previous years. All solid moves, but never enough to garner the attention needed, sadly.

[T Park]

In contention, won't win because he didn't actually do anything as per usual.


agreed, get his ass out of here.

[MSPaint]

If there were an award for Executive Who Makes Relatively Small Moves, And In Doing So Creates A Winning Atmosphere, Keeps The Team (Relatively) On Budget, Acquires Players Who Buy Into Their System So Much They Take Less Money To Resign With The Team, All The While Keeping The Team At Least In Contention Consistently For Over A Decade, then it is his alone. However that award does not exist. Longest run-on ever award though? Maybe.

[Spur Bank]

It's kind of perpetually deserved, but Buford should have gotten it last year for the way Leonard/Green ended up\
Agree with this. It was made all the funnier when Larry Bird, the guy he fleeced (1 yr. of George Hill for Kawhi's rookie contract, despite what some say, was NOT "good for both teams." Pacers got bent over.), won the award.

[jesterbobman]

I don't think that the Kawhi trade can be looked at as terrible for the Pacers. It's an awesome deal for us(Because Kawhi shouldn't have been there at 15) but Indy needed a PG and George Hill has actually been really good for them, and far better than their options at PG in that draft.(Next PG/Guards drafted: Shumpert, Nolan Smith, Reggie Jackson, Norris Cole, Cory) He's a good defensive PG who's been really efficient for them, and they needed to win then($$$). RC did the better work, but Hill for Leonard(at rookie scale contract) is the trade we made, whilst the Pacers were essentially trading #15 for Hill. Hill is easily worth 15.

[Spur Bank]

I certainly get that reasoning, and if we look just at players and ignore contracts, it was good for both sides. But contracts absolutely matter, and when that critical piece is factored in, the Pacers got raped.

[SURGE]

He should have won it last year he got Kawhi for Hill instead of Bird getting Hill for Kawhi

[DrunkTXLabrat]

i agree, bird over buford last year was bs. the league wanted their first mvp, coach, executive of the year so they took their opportunity with bird. they didn't care who actually deserved executive of the year.

[Pasta Batman]

He should have won it last year he got Kawhi for Hill instead of Bird getting Hill for Kawhi

+Boris
+Mills
+Sjax for RJ
+that crazy winning streak

Boom!