Who's the best GM in the NBA? Daryl Morey is not an option, since he'd easily win here. Please try to give a brief explanation defending your selection. EDIT- Top 3 is probably a better question, in case Buford runs away with it.
RC Buford and its not even close. Bill Worrell quoted it perfectly when he said, "This Spurs team is just never scrambling around for talent"
Spurs GM. The only odd move was scola for spanoulis (but it worked out for us!). The lakers GM also deserves some credit for that move to get Pau for trash at the time and jump to major contender status with the Celtics.
Buford, Pat Riley (Miami Big 3), and I always thought Pritchard from Portland was a great GM. Damn injuries.
Pat Riley: Lebron, Wade, Bosh. No other GM comes close. This is quite ironic since the Spurs pick up more old guys cut from mid-season or off-season trades than any other team in the NBA. Buford also has not drafted a single star talent since 2001. You can say that the Spurs were at one point the best front office in the NBA. But the days when they managed to steal Manu and Parker were a long time ago. The Spurs have also passed on late-draft gems that Morey gets blasted for passing on like Gasol, Jordan, Lin, etc.
Does Pat Riley get credit? Sure, he drafted Wade, but wouldn't it be wiser to say that James and Bosh pretty much talked "behind the scenes" about signing / playing together? In either case, Buford and the Spurs. Even though their big 3 are old / more injury prone, they still draft gems like Blair and Neal. And aside from the big three, no one on their team seems like a for-sure starter for a team in the NBA. Most important, they're in playoff contention every year.
IDK about that, what did he do that was so special? They all decided to come there all he did was clear cap for them. He hasn't drafted particularly well either (How you doing Michael Beasley?) He's a good FA gm, but even that has some flaws, Mike Miller and Shane Battier are already looking like bad signings.
I think both Pat Riley and Buford benefited from players they already had on the team. Riley had Wade and a great location. Buford had possibly the best coach and pf...It would be hard to screw up with the advantages they both have/had. Recruiting players is a lot easier and I'm not really blown away with their draft selections.
Yea but you can't discredit them because they got the most out of what they had. It is the same argument people have against Phil Jackson, which i find extremely idiotic. No question that Pat Riley and buford are in the top 3.