lock it up if already posted http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/steve_aschburner/03/18/rockets/index.html?eref=T1
Decent article, but this is the same douche who listed his top 5 candidates for GM of the year back on March 7. Anyone we know missing from this list?... Here is my ranking of the leading candidates for NBA Executive of the Year (the award is voted on by front-office officials): 1. Mitch Kupchak, Lakers: Found a way to keep Kobe Bryant and make him happy, in what looked not long ago like an either-or situation. 2. Danny Ainge, Celtics: The two biggies (Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen) get all the attention, but the moves that brought some role players were critical too. 3. Danny Ferry, Cavaliers: LeBron James had a look in his eyes after Jason Kidd was dealt to the Mavs rather than the Cavs that could have given Cleveland fans nightmares, had it lasted. Ferry's roundup of Ben Wallace, Joe Smith, Wally Szczerbiak and Delonte West brightened LBJ's face and the team's fortunes. 4. Kevin O'Connor, Jazz: Like the franchise itself, O'Connor flies below the radar. Yet acquiring Kyle Korver was a classic surgical move. 5. Joe Dumars, Pistons: For spotting youngsters onto a roster that seems, to casual observers, etched in stone, no one has been better. It's hard to even lob a Darko Milicic comment Detroit's way these days. Worth noting: If Phoenix gets to the Finals, Steve Kerr moves up the list, though it would be too late for the actual Exec voting. ... Kevin Pritchard would lose votes if the Trail Blazers miss the playoffs, but they don't figure to miss much in coming years. Besides, unloading Zach Randolph would win a trophy all by itself some years. -- Steve Aschburner
