Miami Heat
2015-2016 D720 Executive of the Year
Jun 21, 2016 18:00:34 GMT -5
Allan Houston, Paul Pierce, and 2 more like this
Post by billy on Jun 21, 2016 18:00:34 GMT -5
John Stockon
2015-2016 Executive of the Year
John Stockton has been with the league since the beginning, and has done a lot for the league. But perhaps his biggest accomplishment was getting LeBron James at pick 8 in the initial fantasy draft. He courageously declined his option and was able to resign him to a long term deal.
John's Seattle Supersonics were poised to make a run after finishing a disappointing 8th seed last year and getting bounced in the first series by Drake's San Antonio Spurs. Even after signing Aldridge, Johns team wasn't the best in the league, being outclassed by the Clippers and a few other teams near the top of the power rankings at the beginning of the year. That's when John went into overtime.
He made a lot of moves but I will just highlight a few here I think specifically rounded his team into what would've been considered the most dominant Finals team in history if it had happened in real life.
The most crucial move was his first one, he traded Mike Conley and Noah Vonleh to the Indiana Pacers for Kyle Lowry, who ended up sharing Finals MVP Honours with LeBron James.
The next move he made shored up the depth he had critically lacked last season, bringing in an effective post defender and scorer, Amir Johnson.
My favorite trade, John was somehow able to convince master head coach and trade negotiator Doc Rivers to send him Derrick Favors, a true post monster, for just 2 years of DeMar DeRozan.
And last but not least, the final trade that turned Seattle from a team that had a shot to win it all, to the hands down favorite: Trading away futures prospect Jusuf Nurkic for noted defender Tony Allen. Somehow he got Justin Anderson in that deal as well! Amazing!
These are just a few of the transactions John made en route to an amazing championship run. Not only did he construct an amazing team on paper, but his lineup manipulation was 2nd-to-none. Decisively defeating his best opposition, Steve Jobs' Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference Semifinals in a mind-blowing lineup chess match where there were no rules (Wall & Lowry off the bench?!).
Congratulations, John Stockton for a job well done, and for many more to come.
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Chicago Bulls
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