Exec of Year: Ferry Loses out to Denver’s Warkentien
Written By: Scott | Category: Cleveland Cavaliers | Comments: 10Though Brian Windhorst was all over this via Twitter, Yahoo!’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports the news.
Denver Nuggets vice president of basketball operations Mark Warkentien has been named the NBA’s Executive of the Year, a league source said Saturday afternoon.
Warkentien engineered the early season trade that sent Allen Iverson to the Detroit Pistons for point guard Chauncey Billups, a move that helped turn the Nuggets into one of the top Western Conference contenders.
Forget the guy that put the pieces together that ultimately landed the best record in all of basketball. Couple the decision to not mess with the team chemistry at the trade deadline and facilitating the return of Joe Smith. Sure, that Billups trade was huge for Denver. But I can’t see how it was better than swapping Damon Jones for Mo Williams. The Nuggets gave up a guy who will likely be in the Hall of Fame in Allen Iverson . Again, Ferry gave up Damon Jones. Just saying.
Author: Scott
Scott is a co-founder/editor of Waiting For Next Year who resides in Cleveland, Ohio. Feel free to follow him on Twitter or email him at scott@waitingfornextyear.com.Scott has written 1701 articles for Waiting for Next Year.
Someone must have forgotten to mention to the NBA that Denver also gave away one of their better defensive players in Marcus Camby for essentially nothing to the Clippers at the beginning of the season … so thanks NBA, bang up job once again
I remember one year where Jerry Krause won Exec of the Year for getting Rodman in the trade the year after MJ came back. The Spurs GM came in 2nd place, primarily for being able to trade Rodman. It’s a fickle award.
I can’t argue this, Warkentien was told to cut costs, which he did by trading Camby, but he still made the team better. How often does that happen? The Billups trade was just as great as the Mo trade, he changed the culture of that team. And it wasn’t just that, it was also getting Chris “Birdman” Anderson for the league minimum, he is 2nd in the league in blocks, and also Dhantay Jones for the league minimum, he was the guy responsible for largely shutting down CP3 in the playoffs. While Ferry gave up less to get Mo, Billups did way more for the Nuggs than Mo did for the Cavs, without Billups most people didn’t even have them making the playoffs, and here they are, poised to make the conference finals. Billups will probably finish 5th in the MVP voting. Iverson was a cancer for that team, getting rid of him was crucial to their success. There are good arguments for both sides, but this guy is certainly deserving
i agree with you ricky, it wasnt just that they got billups, but that they dumped AI and actually got a player that turned their team around. ferry had a great year and might have put to bed any chances lebron leaves in two years and THAT is enough for all Cleveland fans.
I have to disagree with Ricky and Adam…and to reiterate the point Scott made in the post, Denver traded a HOF player in Iverson – who also had a huge expiring contract – to Detroit for Billups. Great move, no arguement there, but Damon Jones for Mo Williams was grand larceny…Ferry deserved the award – not Warkentien – for not only the Mo Williams deal, but his whole body of work.
I am interested in one award.
It’s a gold ball and net.
Ricky has it right. The AI trade changed the chemistry of the Nuggets, but they also got Anderson, Jones, and Carter for the league minimum. Denver isn’t winning games because they have the league’s best player, they are winning because they are 8-9 players deep with great chemistry.
No one else in the organization has gotten credit. No all stars. The coach got zero consideration for coach of the year, even though he’s got Denver playing the best defense in the NBA right now. Someone in the organization deserves props, and it might as well be Warkentien who put the pieces in place.
No disrespect to Ferry, but when you have the best player in the NBA, you’re supposed to have the best team.
Also, the Camby deal was a net plus for Denver. You won’t find a single person in Denver who would trade Camby for Anderson, and Anderson is making the league minimum. Camby is putting up slightly better numbers in more minutes for a team that won 18 games all season. That’s addition through subtraction.
@6 While interested in that award, I am also interested in the MVP award that will be given out this week
@ 6 and 9 – While I hoped Ferry would win, nothing will make me happier than an NBA title.