NBA: Top 5 candidates for Executive of the Year Award in 2017-18

As the 2017-18 NBA season approaches, it’s time to make some predictions about the end-of-season awards. Here are the top five candidates for Executive of the Year.

The NBA is a superstar-driven league, but with a few free agency exceptions, the cultivation of that talent boils down to smart management in the front office. From drafting to making good trades to free agency, managing a roster’s skill-set, salary cap sheet and locker room personalities all at once is not an easy job.

Though the NBA is mostly cyclical in terms of the power balance, the best general managers are able to keep their teams in the playoff picture year in and year out through proper management of their salary cap situation and close monitoring of how their players fit together.

Though it’s easily the least exciting honor of the NBA’s end-of-season awards, Executive of the Year is usually a pretty clear indicator of which team won the offseason and/or trade deadline. GMs at the beginning of the draft order usually have a pretty simple job in selecting the consensus top prospects, but where things really get interesting is around free agency and trade season.

Heading into the 2017-18 season, this offseason saw tons of star players and marquee free agents trade hands, setting up an unusually crowded race for the Executive of the Year. Here’s a look at the top five candidates for the award.

5. Daryl Morey

The Houston Rockets were the only team in the association to make moves this summer that will seriously challenge the Golden State Warriors’ reign, and it’s no surprise the ambitious Daryl Morey was behind it all.

With an MVP candidate in his prime, a coach who’s a perfect fit for the team’s 3-point heavy attack and a bunch of gunners, the Rockets were right on the cusp of pushing beyond “dark horse” status out West. What they needed was another star piece, a little more 3-point accuracy and a boost on the defensive end.

Morey went about addressing those offseason needs like the world’s most diligent parent handling the weekly groceries, checking off every item on the list in perfectly methodical fashion.

The Chris Paul trade is obviously the headliner, and though it’s unfortunate Houston was unable to sign him outright rather than trade for him, they would have needed to shed significant salary to afford him in free agency anyway.

No one knows how it’ll work outside of Mike D’Antoni staggering his minutes with James Harden‘s, but there’s too much talent, playmaking and 3-point shooting for it to not work. And as if CP3 trade and Harden extension weren’t sweet enough, the Rockets also added P.J. Tucker and Luc Mbah a Moute to address the team’s defensive needs.

Will these moves actually make Houston a legitimate threat to the super-team Warriors? Only time will tell. But no one got closer to doing so than Houston this summer, and even if Morey had more to start the offseason with, you have to admire the never-back-down mentality and execution to match it.

4. Scott Layden

Most people don’t even know the name Scott Layden, usually referring to every new Minnesota Timberwolves maneuver as the work of Tom Thibodeau by default. However, in April of 2016, the Wolves brought on Layden as the team’s general manager, so if you’re looking for the architect of Minnesota’s eye-popping summer, look no further.

Though it’s no secret Thibs had been eyeing Jimmy Butler for some time as the team’s president of basketball operations, Layden is the one who pulled off the complete swindle of the Chicago Bulls: Jimmy Buckets and the No. 16 pick (Justin Patton) for Zach LaVine, Kris Dunn and the No. 7 pick (Lauri Markkanen).

Getting Butler might have been a victory for the T-Wolves if Chicago had asked for Andrew Wiggins, but to keep Wiggins and only give up a player coming off a season-ending ACL tear, a underwhelming rookie and the No. 7 pick… all while getting Minnesota’s No. 16 selection in return? That’s Executive of the Year kind of work.

While Morey elevated his team to legitimate title contenders, Layden started with less to work with and ensured his team would return to the playoffs for the first time since 2004 — all with a couple of players 22 years and younger and the frozen Minnesota tundra as his main draws. That’s pretty impressive, and the improvement from the 2017-18 Wolves will be remarkable for a team that only won 31 games last year.

Unfortunately, some GMs simply had even more magnificent summers, even with Layden also working to re-upholster the bench by re-signing Shabazz Muhammad and adding Jeff Teague, Taj Gibson and Jamal Crawford.

3. Danny Ainge

First things first: The Boston Celtics had a tremendous summer, and no one should tell you differently. Did they actually move any closer to the Cleveland Cavaliers for Eastern Conference supremacy in 2017-18? It’s hard to say. But they absolutely improved their championship outlook for the future, getting younger and arguably more talented in the process.

Yes, Danny Ainge had to give up a lot to sign Gordon Hayward and trade for Kyrie Irving. Gone are Avery Bradley, Jae Crowder, Amir Johnson, Kelly Olynyk, Ante Zizic, the shot at the No. 1 draft pick, the Brooklyn Nets pick and in a brutal gut-punch for fans, Isaiah Thomas.

Boston Celtics

But overpaying for Bradley and an injured, aging IT next summer was a risky proposition. Instead, Ainge stuck with the draft pick he wanted (Jayson Tatum) and traded down to where he’d still be available, snagging an additional first-rounder in the process.

Then he made room to sign an in-his-prime Hayward, and brought a younger Kyrie to Boston to spearhead the youth movement. Marcus Morris and Aron Baynes bolster the frontcourt to ensure this Celtics team is still pushing for the top spot in the East, and if Marcus Smart can step up this season, Boston will be a very pesky, much younger iteration of last year’s team.

Yes, they lost quite a bit of defense, a fan favorite and a potentially valuable Nets pick. But no one knows when Thomas will return for Cleveland this season, Brooklyn got better over the summer, and the Kyrie trade could very well push LeBron James out the door in free agency next summer.

By getting younger, adding an extra first-rounder and landing Kyrie Irving, Gordon Hayward and Jayson Tatum, the Celtics not only remained a threat to win the East in 2018, but for the next 3-5 years as well. The only problem there is the Executive of the Year award is based on one season’s results, not long-term prosperity. That hurts Ainge’s case here.

2. Bob Myers

You could argue that the Golden State Warriors had life made easy for them when they added Kevin Durant last summer and went on to win the 2017 title. Of course their free agents were going to want to stick with one of the greatest teams of all time and run it back.

But you can also argue that nobody had a better summer than the defending champs. Noooooobody.

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With Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, Andre Iguodala, David West, Zaza Pachulia, JaVale McGee, Ian Clark, Matt Barnes and James Michael McAdoo all being free agents this summer, the Warriors could’ve easily chalked up 2016-17 as an amazing experience as they struggled to retain their core.

Instead, they kept everyone but Clark, Barnes and McAdoo, potentially turning a once-in-a-lifetime season into a sustainable dynasty. And the way they did it was even more remarkable.

Curry got his long-awaited and well-deserved payday with a super-max contract. Durant was willing to take a steep discount in a gesture that allowed the Dubs to retain the rest of their key bench pieces. Iguodala and Livingston received fair deals despite a limited about of cap space. West, Zaza and McGee all signed on for very little, returning as discounts despite likely having more value elsewhere.

But wait, the Warriors weren’t done! As if bringing everyone back wasn’t enough, they went out and added potentially lethal spot-up shooters in Omri Casspi and Nick Young, bolstering a bench that was already deep enough last year. Oh, and they also got the potential steal of the second round by buying the rights to Oregon’s Jordan Bell.

Sure, the Warriors were in a great position to convince everyone to come back. But that was never a guarantee, Iguodala came very close to leaving, and by adding Young, Casspi and Bell, last year’s all-time team somehow got even better. That’s a terrifying thought, and it’s why Bob Myers would still be deserving as Executive of the Year in 2018.

The only reason he’s not No. 1? One certain GM came out of nowhere with not one, but two blockbuster trades….

1. Sam Presti

You could make a case for swapping Bob Myers or even Scott Layden here, but that really depends on your opinion of Jimmy Butler vs. Paul George. Here’s the case for Oklahoma City Thunder GM Sam Presti getting this spot, however: Neither Myers nor Layden had nowhere near as much pressure on him this summer.

The Warriors have won two titles in the last three years and it was pretty apparent everyone wanted to return, so their impressive summer comes with caveats in this conversation. If the Timberwolves sat idly by this summer, choosing to simply retool the bench, that would’ve been fine. They still had a trio of promising 20-somethings and their development to fall back on.

The Thunder, however, just watched their one-man triple-double show earn MVP honors, knowing full well his teammates weren’t good enough to A) help him advance in the playoffs or B) convince him to sign a mega-extension to remain in OKC beyond the upcoming season.

That meant moves needed to be made, but with such limited wiggle room on the books, how were they supposed to do it? Offloading Victor Oladipo‘s overpriced deal in the most shocking, out-of-nowhere trade of the summer was a pretty damn fine place to start.

You could argue the Thunder got an even better deal for Paul George than the Wolves got for Butler, giving up only Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis in the exchange. Though PG-13 could just be a one-year rental, thereby making him less valuable of an asset than Butler, he’s also the two-way defensive presence and 3-point threat OKC needed.

The trade shows Westbrook this front office is still committed to chasing championships even with Kevin Durant gone. Going from losing one of the game’s top three players to regrouping as a Western contender in the span of one summer is remarkable.

But Presti wasn’t done, swinging yet another blockbuster deal by trading Enes Kanter, Doug McDermott and a 2018 second round pick for Carmelo Anthony. Melo may be 33, but he still put up 22.4 points per game last year and was one of the NBA’s best spot-up 3-point shooters.

Sure, there’s the nightmare scenario where Westbrook doesn’t sign his extension and he, PG-13 and Melo all flee for greener pastures next summer, leaving OKC without a single player from that Westbrook-KD-Harden-Serge Ibaka foursome that was supposed to be the NBA’s next dynasty.

But with his back to the wall, Presti sneakily came away with Paul George, Carmelo Anthony, signed Patrick Patterson to one of the summer’s best bargain deals, added Raymond Felton as a legitimate backup point guard and drafted Terrance Ferguson.

He brought in 3-point shooting to spread the floor for Westbrook, added a two-way star and a go-to scorer to make Westbrook’s life easier and now, the Thunder are one playoff run away from keeping this crew together and building something special.

Next: Complete 2017 NBA offseason grades for all 30 teams

No matter what happens next summer, this summer’s tight maneuvering has to earn Sam Presti serious consideration for the Executive of the Year Award.