For those of you who have not seen it, I wrote a series of reports on every current NBA GM/Executive (whomever is in control of the team’s moves as far as we know) detailing their best and worst moves, determining a rank of who has been most successful in their tenure. You can read those HERE.
Keep in mind the rankings judge the full tenure of all those involved, including decisions made while with other teams, but ONLY as an executive.
Those were written over the course of the 2012-2013 season, and though the 2013 offseason is not fully over, the majority of the impactful moves have been made, meaning it’s time to look over how things have shaken up since that time.
For those who don’t want to take the time to read through the almost 40 pages in those reports, the GM Rankings at the time were as follows:
1. RC Buford – Spurs
2. Joe Dumars – Pistons
3. Sam Presti – Thunder
4. John Paxon – Bulls
5. Mitch Kupchak – Lakers
6. Danny Ainge – Celtics
7. Pat Riley – Heat
8. Kevin O’Connor – Jazz
9. Donnie Nelson – Mavericks
10. Billy King – Nets
11. Bryan Colangelo – Raptors
12. Geoff Petrie – Kings
13. Neil Oshey – Trail Blazers
14. Danny Ferry – Hawks
15. Chris Grant – Cavaliers
16. Glen Grunwald – Knicks
17. Daryl Morey – Rockets
18. Rob Hennigan – Magic
19. Masai Uriji – Nuggets
20. Lon Babby – Suns
21. Dell Demps – Hornets
22. Bob Meyers – Warriors
23. Chris Wallace – Grizzlies
24. Tony DiLeo – 76ers
25. Gary Sacks – Clippers
26. Donnie Walsh – Pacers
27. John Hammond – Bucks
28. Rod Higgins – Bobcats
29. David Kahn – Timberwolves
30. Ernie Grunwald – Wizards
The ranking system used assigned arbitrary point values to every move made by an executive in terms of impact on the team, with Walsh (-.1), Hammond (-.5), Higgins (-1), Kahn (-2) and Grunwald (-2.2) as the only execs coming in negative. For reference, R.C. Buford’s 10 seasons warranted a rating of 17.
Since that time, Petrie, DiLeo, and Kahn have been relieved of their duties, with Pete D’Alessandro, Sam Hinkie and Flip Saunders replacing them respectively. Also, Bryan Colangelo, Donnie Walsh and Lon Babby have moved to other positions within the organization, with Masai Uriji, Larry Bird and Ryan McDonough replacing them. Tim Connelly replaced Uriji in his former post in Denver.
After evaluating moves in that time, the rankings have readjusted as follows (with new additions’ full names):
1. Buford
2. Dumars
3. Presti
4. Ainge (+2)
5. Paxon (-1)
6. Riley (+1)
7. Kupchak (-2)
8. O’Connor
9. Nelson
10. Morey (+7)
11. Uriji (+8)
12. Larry Bird – Pacers
13. King (-3)
14. Oshey (-1)
15. Ferry (-1)
16. Grant (-1)
17. Hennigan (+1)
18. Demps (+3)
19. Grunwald (-3)
20. Meyers (+2)
21. Wallace (+2)
22. Ryan McDonough – Suns
23. Sam Hinkie – 76ers
24. Flip Saunders – Timberwolves
25. Sacks
26. Pete D’Alessandro – Kings
27. Tim Connelly – Nuggets
28. Higgins (+1)
29. Hammond (-1)
30. Grunfeld
Looking at the rankings, Mitch Kupchak falls two spots because of the failure of the Dwight Howard deal, mortgaging the future on a gamble that didn’t pay off, while Danny Ainge shoots up to #4 for realizing it was time to blow up a dynasty that was aging.
Daryl Morey moves up seven spots to #10 because of the success of the James Harden trade and his posturing for Dwight Howard, though the latter move could knock him down a few spots if it backfires. I suppose he gets a pass for the Lin and Asik deals, at least until they begin to hamper the team.
Uriji is the biggest mover at 8 spots, notably because of his success in Denver, crafting a serious contender before bouncing to Toronto (and the Nuggets have seemingly fallen apart since then).
Movement in the middle is mostly driven by firings and new entries that have no reason to enter the list higher.
At the bottom, Rod Higgins moves up a spot, but more at the fault of John Hammond’s poor offseason than anything Higgins has done himself, though I think the Zeller pick for the Bobcats was the right one. Grunfeld remains at the bottom because of past atrocities, but his drafting history in the last few years may form a team that could salvage his legacy.
Check in for the rest of the summer as the rankings change, and GM reports trickle in over time.
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