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NBA: Top 10 Candidates For Executive Of The Year Award In 2016-17

By Gerald Bourguet

May 10, 2016; Oakland, CA, USA; Golden State Warriors general manager Bob Myers speaks during the 2015-2016 NBA Most Valuable Player trophy awarded to guard Stephen Curry (not pictured) at Oracle Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
May 10, 2016; Oakland, CA, USA; Golden State Warriors general manager Bob Myers speaks during the 2015-2016 NBA Most Valuable Player trophy awarded to guard Stephen Curry (not pictured) at Oracle Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports /
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Apr 15, 2015; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Raptors President and General Manager Masai Ujiri gestures prior to the game against the Charlotte Hornets at the Air Canada Centre. The Hornets won 92-87. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports /

7. Masai Ujiri

The problem with Masai Ujiri, who already won the Executive of the Year Award once in 2012-13 with the Denver Nuggets, is that he didn’t really change his roster too much this summer.

The Toronto Raptors‘ rise to prominence in the East is his handiwork, but other than adding Jared Sullinger and re-signing DeMar DeRozan, the team looks pretty similar to last year.

For Ujiri to garner enough votes for this award, Toronto will have to have its best season yet and look like a legitimate title contender, not just the biggest threat to Cleveland’s reign in the East. The Raptors are a great team, but elevating their game to that level is a tall task.

Ujiri deserves as much credit for the Raptors’ ascension as anyone, and to be honest, this team’s ceiling is higher than anything he built in Denver. But if he didn’t win the award when he got rid of Rudy Gay and managed to re-sign Kyle Lowry a few years back, the window may have already closed.