It’s close, but Ainge becomes the first member of Celtics to win the award.
L.A. Times: Lakers General Manager Mitch Kupchak finished second in the vote for NBA executive of the year, a near-turnaround from an off-season in which he presided over a franchise that teetered on the edge.
Boston General Manager Danny Ainge won the award, announced by the Sporting News, which polled general managers and other executives from all 30 NBA teams. Ainge received 18 of the 47 votes, Kupchak had 14 votes, and New Orleans General Manager Jeff Bower was third with 12 votes.
Kupchak received voters’ attention in part because of the February trade that landed Pau Gasol and revived the Lakers’ season. He also stood pat when Kobe Bryant wanted to be traded during the off-season and resisted numerous offers for Andrew Bynum.
The Lakers finished with the best regular-season record in the Western Conference.
“I don’t see why he shouldn’t finish first,” forward Lamar Odom said. “Thinking of some of the guys that he picked, people kind of wondered about that. To understand what Bynum was going to do and what he was going to bring, he’s definitely deserving of it. And then, to be able to pull off that Gasol trade was amazing, especially in the middle of the year like that.”
And, Odom added, “He did a great job by keeping this team together.”
Continue reading ‘Kupchak runner-up as NBA’s top executive’
Related Posts: Bynum’s injury turns out to be a blessing, LeBron: Bryant deserves MVP, Kupchak: From Goat to GM of the Year?, Lamar Odom at guard?, As preseason nears, Kobe’s intentions up in the air,
Loading ...
good
I will call him God, if he is able to acquire Ron Artest in the off season.
Mickael Pietrus,Mitch!
Mickael Pietrus,Mitch.
You guys ask too much. He drafted Bynum, Turiaf, Sasha, Farmar, Walton (all players that contribute to this team) and don’t forget about Critt and Marc Gasol who were players that helped bring Gasol. Speaking of Gasol, Mitch stole Pau Gasol and Mitch traded for Ariza (one of the most over-looked trades of the year).
He also stuck to his guns and kept Bynum when so many wanted to trade for Bynum for Kidd (look who has Kidd now. That team isn’t in the playoffs anymore now are they?).
lets not forget kwame brown, brian cook, and my faviorite smush parker…..
What a Dingleberry!!! Every GM makes mistakes are u blind. A good GM is judged on if he builds a Championship Contender and even doubting Kobe is a believer. You should follow kobe which won’t be hard since i know where your nose is.
What did Mitch do with his lemons…. He made lemonade….
Kwame essential to get Gasol, Cook used to get Ariza, and smush was a cheap stop gap until we could shore up the point guard position with Fish and Farmar. If we made the Dingleberry trades u suggested like Odom for Zach Randolph we would be out of the PO right now.
What a surprise. Typical ignorant comment from a dingleberry. You can only view the negative things that Mitch did. You can’t view all the positives nor can you see that the positive’s outweigh the negatives.
Your hero Kobe now praises Mitch. Why can’t you?
Hey guys! Can we still get Kwame back here in L.A. for the vet’s minimum. He can come off the bench to relieve ‘Drew, Turiaf or Mihm. Dude still a big body! Imagine Gasol and Kwame together in the second unit.
they should have an award for both east and west cause mitch really deserved it to
To win a championship the year Ainge wins this award would make it even sweeter. Everytime crybaby Ainge looked at that award he would know that he fell short of his goal and the Lakers would be holding the trophy that he really wants.
and we were all mad he traded shaq lol