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06-28-2007, 10:07 AM
Ranking the league's personnel bosses from 1-30
Posted: Tuesday June 26, 2007 1:03PM; Updated: Tuesday June 26, 2007 5:02PM
With but 15 players per roster and five to a lineup, the role of an NBA personnel boss is of paramount importance -- especially when compared to counterparts in the world of major league baseball (which has no salary cap) and the NFL (where a hard salary cap and a host of nonguaranteed contracts allow teams to rebuild on the fly). The NBA is a special breed, as even a three-year run from a GM can make or break a franchise for a decade.
With that fact established, we decided to rank the league's personnel bosses from 1-30, starting from the most promising to the most enervating.
11 http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006_images/nba.rankings/ernie.grunfeld.jpg Ernie Grunfeld, Washington Wizards
Pluses: Grunfeld smartly realized that Gilbert Arenas was more than a good player putting up great stats on a mediocre Warriors team in 2003. He took into account Arenas' age (21) and ability and used nearly all of his cap space to sign the loquacious guard to a contract that the Warriors couldn't match. He also made deals for Antawn Jamison and Caron Butler, who both made the All-Star team with Washington. In previous stops, he drafted Michael Redd in the second round in Milwaukee and laid the groundwork for a Knicks renaissance (based around athletic players like Marcus Camby and Latrell Sprewell) after years of resisting even the hint of rebuilding in New York.
Minuses: Doesn't appear to covet the kind of players who would shine in coach Eddie Jordan's Princeton-like offense. Save for Darius Songaila, Grunfeld hasn't gone after the sort of high-post passer who could create spacing or locate cutters.
Bottom line: Grunfeld has built solid teams in New York, Milwaukee and Washington, but can he put one over the top?
For the whole article go.....http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/kelly_dwyer/06/25/gm.rankings/index.html
Posted: Tuesday June 26, 2007 1:03PM; Updated: Tuesday June 26, 2007 5:02PM
With but 15 players per roster and five to a lineup, the role of an NBA personnel boss is of paramount importance -- especially when compared to counterparts in the world of major league baseball (which has no salary cap) and the NFL (where a hard salary cap and a host of nonguaranteed contracts allow teams to rebuild on the fly). The NBA is a special breed, as even a three-year run from a GM can make or break a franchise for a decade.
With that fact established, we decided to rank the league's personnel bosses from 1-30, starting from the most promising to the most enervating.
11 http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006_images/nba.rankings/ernie.grunfeld.jpg Ernie Grunfeld, Washington Wizards
Pluses: Grunfeld smartly realized that Gilbert Arenas was more than a good player putting up great stats on a mediocre Warriors team in 2003. He took into account Arenas' age (21) and ability and used nearly all of his cap space to sign the loquacious guard to a contract that the Warriors couldn't match. He also made deals for Antawn Jamison and Caron Butler, who both made the All-Star team with Washington. In previous stops, he drafted Michael Redd in the second round in Milwaukee and laid the groundwork for a Knicks renaissance (based around athletic players like Marcus Camby and Latrell Sprewell) after years of resisting even the hint of rebuilding in New York.
Minuses: Doesn't appear to covet the kind of players who would shine in coach Eddie Jordan's Princeton-like offense. Save for Darius Songaila, Grunfeld hasn't gone after the sort of high-post passer who could create spacing or locate cutters.
Bottom line: Grunfeld has built solid teams in New York, Milwaukee and Washington, but can he put one over the top?
For the whole article go.....http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/kelly_dwyer/06/25/gm.rankings/index.html