Post by Galo on May 13, 2020 23:07:53 GMT -8
00’ Western Conference Executive(s) of the Year (according to Galo)
AND here are the nominees…
GM- JR
Record- 61-21 (1st in West, 1st in Pacific)
Resume- The Jazz finished the regular season with the league’s best record and the only team to capture 60 wins. Two guard Allan Houston is easily the league’s best shooting guard scoring just under 30 a game with astounding percentages from the field and 3 PT land. While, former Gopher Bobby Jackson has taken the reigns of the league’s 3rd highest scoring offense and been highly successful while flying under the radar. Lastly, David Robinson has been very effective at center while at 35 and still being uber effective as a non-scoring option.
Best Move- Jazz/Nuggets creation deal & Clippers/Jazz. JR dropped down in the first round of the creation draft from 18 to 26 while picking up the Nuggets 02’ 1st in return. This landed them Houston while adding another asset to their stash. Pretty astounding value from that point in the draft.
Most Questionable Move- Jazz/Pacers deal. Utah unloaded not just high scoring forward Toni Kukoc but 3 1st rounders including their own 2003 1st for Glenn Robinson. While the Big Dog is just entering his prime at 27, it was a high bounty to pay for the former Boiler Maker. Let’s hope they can stretch out Robinson for another 3 years for Robinson can continue to mesh with Houston.
Editor Rank- 1st. This was the easiest call of all although the all-in move on Robinson will have the jury out in the next 2-3 years. The Jazz have been the most consistent team all year and although they play in the much weaker West, they believe the road to the chip runs through Salt Lake.
GM- Erbes
Record- 54-28 (3rd in the West, 2nd in Midwest)
Resume- The Grizzlies have one of the most defensive efficient teams in the league aside from the Nets and Jazz. They have a bunch of overachievers with their big men including Big Z, Theo Ratliff and Brian Grant. Their most surprising star has been Jalen Rose who is averages 22 points, 7 boards and almost 6 dimes a game. The best part? All of their core pieces are well under 30 years olds so this team will be good for a long time.
Best Move- Jalen Rose and Theo Ratliff in the 2nd round of the creation draft. After making several deals to trade down, the Grizz ended up with two picks in rounds 2 through 8 in the creation draft allowing them get some strong pieces.
Most Questionable Move- Cavs/Grizz deal. The Grizz traded down from the 1st round in order to pick up 2nd through 5th round picks from Cleveland. The Cavs nabbed All-League forward/guard Keith Van Horn at the Grizz spot and who knows how good KVH would have been in a Memphis jersey.
Editor Rank- 2nd. The Grizz have a really talented squad with some good pieces but no superstar like the Jazz have. Although, Jalen Rose is emerging and only 27 years old so maybe he can be dangled for a more powerful piece next year.
GM/Co-GM- darell & frangie
Record- 55-27 (3rd in West, 1st in Pacific)
Resume – The Clippers had a very nice creation draft and made the right decision by taking league MVP Tim Duncan with the 2nd pick in the 1st round. They followed that up 2 nice backcourt selections in Gary Payton and Eddie Jones in rounds 2 and 3.
Best Move- Clippers/Blazers. An inner division move is a rare but with so many teams losing, the Clips picked up a nice young point guard in Jason Williams in exchange for their 01 first, 03 2nd and spare parts. J-Will is a nice but raw point guard that needed work but seemed to be a nice compliment in the LAC backcourt.
Most Questionable Move- Clippers/Pacers. Indy really took LA out back and spanked them on this one. The Clippers not only gave up J-Will but their unprotected 2003 1st for a Pacers package headlined by 35-year old Steve Kerr. While the former Wildcat guard is highly efficient, he might not even be as good as Williams in a few seasons let alone giving up their first. The other pieces, Jahidi White, Cliff Robinson and Travis Knight provide little to no value at this point.
Editor Rank- 3rd. They could have easily been 2nd if not for that last trade and if they can figure out what they’re doing aside from their big 3. Payton and Jones are in their primes so they should be good through 2003 but need to hope they can build around Duncan and not having any big injuries.
GM- Royal
Record- 48-34 (4th in West, 3rd in Midwest)
Resume- The Nuggets are perhaps the most polarizing team in the whole league. They have the most dominant force in the league (Shaquille O’Neal) yet fell short of 50 wins in the very weak Western conference. Defensively, they rank top 10 in steals and are the #1 shot blocking team in the league. However, their offense is just middle of the pack in the league which doesn’t help when they can’t convert on the other end. Roster construction and age might catch up to this team as they have at most a 2-3 year window.
Best Move- Nuggets/Spurs. Denver picked up 2 really underrated big men in Jim Mcilvaine and ‘Big Country’ Bryant Reeves in the same deal for minimal pieces and 3 second rounders. Reeves is a highly effective scoring bigs while McIlvaine is an elite defensive big with his shot blocking ability.
Most Questionable Move- Raptors/Nuggets. Newly minted GM GAME flipped two aging stars in Scottie Pippen and John Stockton for center Shawn Bradley and forward Rasual Butler. Pippen already peaked at 35 while Stockton at 38 is close to retirement. The Nuggets basically gave up one of the league best shot blockers for maybe 2 seasons of these two guys.
Editor Rank- 4th. They probably should have been third but could not over take the Clippers for 3rd in the West and that last trade really hurt them moving forward. They can probably float on Shaq and McDyess for a couple of seasons but this RUN TMC team is built for nostalgia and not longevity at this point.
Honorable Mention-
GM- ashes
Record- 38-44 (7th in the West, 3rd in Pacific)
Resume- The Kings got the biggest steal in the creation draft by taking Point guard* Jamal Crawford with their third round pick in order to pair with their first pick of Kobe Bean Bryant. Although their 2nd rounder hasn’t quite panned out yet in Ron Artest, this team is a couple bigs away from really taking over the West which should be wide open soon.
AND here are the nominees…
GM- JR
Record- 61-21 (1st in West, 1st in Pacific)
Resume- The Jazz finished the regular season with the league’s best record and the only team to capture 60 wins. Two guard Allan Houston is easily the league’s best shooting guard scoring just under 30 a game with astounding percentages from the field and 3 PT land. While, former Gopher Bobby Jackson has taken the reigns of the league’s 3rd highest scoring offense and been highly successful while flying under the radar. Lastly, David Robinson has been very effective at center while at 35 and still being uber effective as a non-scoring option.
Best Move- Jazz/Nuggets creation deal & Clippers/Jazz. JR dropped down in the first round of the creation draft from 18 to 26 while picking up the Nuggets 02’ 1st in return. This landed them Houston while adding another asset to their stash. Pretty astounding value from that point in the draft.
Most Questionable Move- Jazz/Pacers deal. Utah unloaded not just high scoring forward Toni Kukoc but 3 1st rounders including their own 2003 1st for Glenn Robinson. While the Big Dog is just entering his prime at 27, it was a high bounty to pay for the former Boiler Maker. Let’s hope they can stretch out Robinson for another 3 years for Robinson can continue to mesh with Houston.
Editor Rank- 1st. This was the easiest call of all although the all-in move on Robinson will have the jury out in the next 2-3 years. The Jazz have been the most consistent team all year and although they play in the much weaker West, they believe the road to the chip runs through Salt Lake.
GM- Erbes
Record- 54-28 (3rd in the West, 2nd in Midwest)
Resume- The Grizzlies have one of the most defensive efficient teams in the league aside from the Nets and Jazz. They have a bunch of overachievers with their big men including Big Z, Theo Ratliff and Brian Grant. Their most surprising star has been Jalen Rose who is averages 22 points, 7 boards and almost 6 dimes a game. The best part? All of their core pieces are well under 30 years olds so this team will be good for a long time.
Best Move- Jalen Rose and Theo Ratliff in the 2nd round of the creation draft. After making several deals to trade down, the Grizz ended up with two picks in rounds 2 through 8 in the creation draft allowing them get some strong pieces.
Most Questionable Move- Cavs/Grizz deal. The Grizz traded down from the 1st round in order to pick up 2nd through 5th round picks from Cleveland. The Cavs nabbed All-League forward/guard Keith Van Horn at the Grizz spot and who knows how good KVH would have been in a Memphis jersey.
Editor Rank- 2nd. The Grizz have a really talented squad with some good pieces but no superstar like the Jazz have. Although, Jalen Rose is emerging and only 27 years old so maybe he can be dangled for a more powerful piece next year.
GM/Co-GM- darell & frangie
Record- 55-27 (3rd in West, 1st in Pacific)
Resume – The Clippers had a very nice creation draft and made the right decision by taking league MVP Tim Duncan with the 2nd pick in the 1st round. They followed that up 2 nice backcourt selections in Gary Payton and Eddie Jones in rounds 2 and 3.
Best Move- Clippers/Blazers. An inner division move is a rare but with so many teams losing, the Clips picked up a nice young point guard in Jason Williams in exchange for their 01 first, 03 2nd and spare parts. J-Will is a nice but raw point guard that needed work but seemed to be a nice compliment in the LAC backcourt.
Most Questionable Move- Clippers/Pacers. Indy really took LA out back and spanked them on this one. The Clippers not only gave up J-Will but their unprotected 2003 1st for a Pacers package headlined by 35-year old Steve Kerr. While the former Wildcat guard is highly efficient, he might not even be as good as Williams in a few seasons let alone giving up their first. The other pieces, Jahidi White, Cliff Robinson and Travis Knight provide little to no value at this point.
Editor Rank- 3rd. They could have easily been 2nd if not for that last trade and if they can figure out what they’re doing aside from their big 3. Payton and Jones are in their primes so they should be good through 2003 but need to hope they can build around Duncan and not having any big injuries.
GM- Royal
Record- 48-34 (4th in West, 3rd in Midwest)
Resume- The Nuggets are perhaps the most polarizing team in the whole league. They have the most dominant force in the league (Shaquille O’Neal) yet fell short of 50 wins in the very weak Western conference. Defensively, they rank top 10 in steals and are the #1 shot blocking team in the league. However, their offense is just middle of the pack in the league which doesn’t help when they can’t convert on the other end. Roster construction and age might catch up to this team as they have at most a 2-3 year window.
Best Move- Nuggets/Spurs. Denver picked up 2 really underrated big men in Jim Mcilvaine and ‘Big Country’ Bryant Reeves in the same deal for minimal pieces and 3 second rounders. Reeves is a highly effective scoring bigs while McIlvaine is an elite defensive big with his shot blocking ability.
Most Questionable Move- Raptors/Nuggets. Newly minted GM GAME flipped two aging stars in Scottie Pippen and John Stockton for center Shawn Bradley and forward Rasual Butler. Pippen already peaked at 35 while Stockton at 38 is close to retirement. The Nuggets basically gave up one of the league best shot blockers for maybe 2 seasons of these two guys.
Editor Rank- 4th. They probably should have been third but could not over take the Clippers for 3rd in the West and that last trade really hurt them moving forward. They can probably float on Shaq and McDyess for a couple of seasons but this RUN TMC team is built for nostalgia and not longevity at this point.
Honorable Mention-
GM- ashes
Record- 38-44 (7th in the West, 3rd in Pacific)
Resume- The Kings got the biggest steal in the creation draft by taking Point guard* Jamal Crawford with their third round pick in order to pair with their first pick of Kobe Bean Bryant. Although their 2nd rounder hasn’t quite panned out yet in Ron Artest, this team is a couple bigs away from really taking over the West which should be wide open soon.
