I was going to say Danny Ferry for successfully producing two #1 picks in the span of less than a decade, but after doing some research, dude came right after LerBon and left right before Kyrie. In short, what a loozarr.
I really like the job Sam Presti has done. I love how he used his capspace earlier on to get Maynor and structure Collison's contract, using Kurt Thomas to get 3 1st rounders (one of which was Ibaka). Sure, he made some mistakes in the draft, Aldrich and Mullens, but drafting Durant, Harden, and Westbrook more than makes up for it. Drafting Jeff Green over Joakim Noah or Marc Gasol was understandable, and he ended up turning Green into Perkins. Remember also that Presti strongly encouraged Buford to draft Tony Parker while he was over there.
Riley had the balls to blowup a championship caliber team prematurely (or so people thought), retool it on the fly, then step-up to the plate, coach it, have them throw pieces of paper into a big bowl, and win a championship. Just like that. Riley transcends GM-dom, he's a basketball immortal. Probably one of the two or three most important and accomplished individuals currently associated with NBA basketball -- this includes players, coaches, GM's, commissioner, refs, whoever.
I agree that he's good, but I was responding to the acquisition of Bosh and Lebron specifically...he obviously has a lengthy resume, but i think bringing the big three together had more to do with Wade courting the other 2 for over a year and the Heat's location. Bosh and/or Wade didnt wan't to go to Cleveland.
Sam Presti is very good, but do not forget the number of high lottery picks he has had to work with. Having said that, he took Westbrook higher than most expected, and he has surrounded his players with a positive environment to play. He is not perfect though, his decision to stick with Brooks as head coach is fair game to criticize. Buford is very good as well, the question is how much of that is Buford and how much is Popovich. He has made mistakes, he dealt Scola for salary relief, and has made a few mistakes handling Jefferson, trading for him and them extending him. Pat Riley cleared the cap space and convinced James and Bosh to come to Florida, he also was involved with drafting Dwayne Wade. However, his choice for head coach is questionable, and thus far he has not done a good job surrounding the big 3.
He positioned the team to be in play for 2 max contracts. If Wade went to Chicago I'd still give the Heat a pretty good shot at landing both Bosh and James. But that doesn't even matter in my eyes, again, he cleared the game, that was the master plan. Genius. Everytime someone questions Riley's abilities he comes out of retirement to prove a point. Next thing you'll know he'll lace up his sneakers and play again, like he did in his Rockets days.. just to teach you guys a lesson.
This is the key. Getting Durant and Westbrook is easy - you just need a high pick in the right years. Getting them to both commit longterm to OKC is a true achievement.
Having lottery picks does not ensure success. Look at Memphis--they picked Thabeet, Conley, and Mayo with their 3 top 5 picks. None of those guys are as good as Westbrook, Harden, or Durant.
