2020 Executive of the Year
Jan 1, 2021 16:24:09 GMT
Walt Frazier, Mike Krzyzewski, and 14 more like this
Post by Ian Noble on Jan 1, 2021 16:24:09 GMT
2020 Executive of the Year
Introduction: Commissioner's 2020 Address to the League
2020 Executive of the Year
IAN NOBLE
Boston Celtics
Second Place
Brooklyn Nets
Third Place
Golden State Warriors - Chris Mullin
Fourth Place
San Antonio Spurs - George Gervin
Introduction: Commissioner's 2020 Address to the League
The sun has set on 2020 to end a bizarre year for Dynasty Five, for the NBA and for the whole world. Daryl Morey set the tone early in a tweet criticising China's oppression of the people of Hong Kong (D5 is now banned after that sentence), leading to fears that there might be a reduction in the salary cap for all teams league-wide, but those fears were quickly set aside as drops in the ocean around mid-March when the pandemic arrived and the entire NBA was forced to shut down! Being happily comprised of virtual teams and virtual players however D5 soldiered on and played a full 82 game season and playoffs, although not without some lengthy discussion beforehand! Perhaps as a result of Covid-19, but perhaps because The NBA Bubble lengthened the time the NBA was active, we absolutely blitzed our previous record of 485,000 pageviews, the current count stands at 571,211 for the past 12 months! which I somehow doubt will ever be beaten!
2020 was the season the Charlotte Hornets became only the second team to have not been 1 or 2 seed in their conference to win the championship, beating monster teams in the defending champs Milwaukee, Lebron-led Boston and James Harden's Nuggets on the way. The Sacramento Kings became a success story for the year as salary cap worries were discarded in a blitz of trading by Amare Stoudemire, propelling them to the Eastern Conference Finals! Of course we all know the real battle this season was between Minnesota and Portland in the West.
Multiple leaks revealed that Josh Barber and Walt Frazier could be the same person, Mark Price began a mysterious countdown leading to the return of glorious leader, and former Rockets GM, Charles Barkley, who turns up now and then totalk shitspread the love. Vlade Divac made his delightful annual checkin with this delightful annual thread of insights completely unrelated to anything D5, but credit where it's due to Mr Divac, his enduring legacy, and subsequent Pistons GM Chauncey Billups both of whom kept ahold of the LAC 2020 1st pick Vlade acquired for Kenneth Faried and Matt Barnes four years ago, finally culminating in #2 Anthony Edwards arrival this off season!
Post of the season should be obvious to anyone who thinks about it. I'll give you a moment before you read on. Think about it. There's only one post that was going to win it this season, I'll give you a few seconds... I'll just link to it instead: here it is. Obvious! Did you guess right? The crime families of D5 were identified at last, in May, leading to Alex English possibly giving us a contender for second best post of the year as well with his thoroughly researched and peer reviewed SiaKIM theory. It's the kind of content that has established D5 as the internationally renowned basketball powerhouse we all we know and love. Finally 2020 saw the return of of a man who needs no introduction, Tracy McGrady, king of the Hall of Shame, made some mistakes when he was young and we love him for it!
The single most defining aspect of Dynasty Five in 2020 that has arisen for me personally though is that the quality of GMing has really reached new heights! Gone are the days of an easy lowball for an emerging star that has formed many of the great roster cores in D5's best teams of years past, there is no easy route to the top any more - D5 GMs know their stuff and a great demonstration of that has emerged in our new Discord chat's daily discussions. With the 2021 season just around the corner as OSFA winds down it's worth reflecting that this will be our 10th season! Double-digits! As always it's been an honour and a joy to continue serving as your commish, I promise I'll work on making a sim engine eventually!
The 2020 Dynasty Five Executive of the Year is dedicated to both David Stern, the former commissioner who oversaw the birth of the modern NBA as we know it, and of course the legendary Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna, all of whom died in January 2020. Rest in peace.In memory of Kobe Bryant, 1978-2020
2020 Executive of the Year
IAN NOBLE
Boston Celtics
You probably guessed it, and it feels quite awkward. In fact I even messaged Walt Frazier a week ago asking if it would be "wrong" to award this to myself, having never allowed myself to even be a contender for the award. But this year I hope it isn't a let-down to you all that it's me who is the second newcomer and winner of the EOTY race!
It was trading a collection of youth for Lebron James that I felt really pushed the envelope this year and made me think it was about time to pat myself on the back. Trading for Lebron was the culmination of seven years rebuilding to objectively make my team the highest rated to ever take the court, achieved without relying on the luck of poaching any big name free agents from an unlucky GM, and without trading away a single one of my future first round picks in the process, in fact gaining Charlotte's 2022 first round pick on top of it all. Jedis refuse to use blasters, they're so uncivilised, and I didn't use OSFA or trade my picks!
Brandon Ingram, 2020 Most Improved Player, left for Charlotte in the Lebron trade but an unexpected factor for me this year is 2021's Most Improved Player, Jerami Grant, who happens to have been on my team since I drafted him in 2014! Jerami's emergence this season while now having the second-highest rated team (now one rating point behind Kawhi's Nets) is a hugely unexpected bonus and will propel the average rating of my top six players through the historical roof once he's submitted to the Stock Watch soon enough, along with boosts to Shake Milton, Jamal Murray and Jaylen Brown.
Without waffling on about the entire 14 years I've run the league I'll just flag some of my proudest bits: trading Rajon Rondo for six first round draft picks, Jamal Murray in for Korkmaz, Zagorac and Jerian Grant which led to perhaps the best single-year Rookie Draft haul in D5 history, a cap dump that still makes other GMs angry, trading Josh Jackson for Ingram when everyone thought that was insane, and lastly a big what-if to end the line: Russell Westbrook nearly pairing with Embiid in 2015, but instead going to Charlotte and winning two championships!
I'm a total homer for the players I've drafted, we all know this, and I wont stop posting memes when I should be working on the EOTY or a new sim engine, but over a decade ago I set out with a vision to build a community like never before in the world of fantasy GMing and it really does just keep getting better as time goes on! I hope I've not overstepped the mark here this year, I realise this result will be a little unexpected and GMs might not like it but with Lebron arriving, my rebuild reaching its completion, Jerami Grant's emergence and Hard Cap management in my future it felt like the only chance I could get to objectively put my name ahead of the pack and finally put a gold wreath icon on my profile without feeling like a twat. By all means let me know if you disagree, preferably in meme format.
2019 Team
Joel Embiid
Jaylen Brown
Brandon Ingram
Jamal Murray
Ben Simmons
2020 Team
Joel Embiid
Jaylen Brown
Lebron James
Jamal Murray
Ben Simmons
Joel Embiid
Jaylen Brown
Brandon Ingram
Jamal Murray
Ben Simmons
2020 Team
Joel Embiid
Jaylen Brown
Lebron James
Jamal Murray
Ben Simmons
Second Place
Brooklyn Nets
Only once has the previous year's EOTY been inducted right back up to the upper echelons of the race the year after, and just as in 2018 when James Kay was inducted into second place position after winning the year before, so too does Andrei Kirilenko this year, following up his epic 2019 season to build perhaps what could be considered the most formidable team ever assembled in D5 history.
Let's not waste any time because for this team one move overshadows them all this year - replacing TJ Warren by signing Kawhi Leonard! This was the final piece of the puzzle, the last step of a journey that started, and maybe Josh can confirm this, since at least the day he traded Blake Griffin away for a young Devin Booker in 2016. But signing Kawhi was only enabled by the preparative salary dumps that happened in advance: shedding $7m here, $3m here, and eyeing 2020 free agency a year in advance by signing TJ Warren to a one year deal here. Josh put all the pieces in place so that he could go all-in this year and, with a lot of free agent pitches and a little bit of luck, it paid off just as it did for Chicago in 2016!
Although the Nets now sit atop Kawhi mountain we mustn't neglect that Josh continued his elite trading as usual from the very start, what started as an innocuous mid-season re-tooling effectively ended up turning Al-Farouq Aminu into a free first round pick and Seth Curry, the pick itself then morphing into Isaac Okoro who magically dropped five spots and right into Josh's lap at #10 in the 2020 Draft. Isaac Okoro and Seth Curry in exchange for an expiring Al-Farouq Aminu - honestly it blows my mind whenever I write these things up.
Active in OSFA from the start, Josh managed to get all stars Devin Booker and Kristaps Porzingis to come home as the very first two free agents to sign this off season, then followed it up by re-signing Derrick Rose, poaching DeAndre Jordan on a jealousy-invoking mini-contract, undercutting Miami for a discount Royce O'Neale and then, of course, inking former Finals MVP and NBA Champion, 96 rated Kawhi Leonard.
Mr Barber was voted "Best Trader in the History of D5" for the third year running in 2020! In fact he's won that award each of the three times the annual GM survey has been conducted***, by a wide margin, and it's almost become tradition to recognise that getting on the phone with Mr Barber must be similar to doing the same thing with "Trader" Danny Ainge in real life.
This year the league can only hope and pray that Andrei Kirilenko has finished eating for now. The Nets only enemy is injuries and time, but if anyone can handle those twin demons it's Andrei Kirilenko. Looking back James Kay winning the EOTY in 2018 and following it with a second place position in 2019 directly led to a 2020 championship! Time will tell whether Andrei Kirilenko will follow in his footsteps this year or next!
Trading:
Signing:
Drafting:
Planning:
Signing:
Drafting:
Planning:
2019 Team
John Collins
Kristaps Porzingis
TJ Warren
Devin Booker
Kyrie Irving
2020 Team
John Collins
Kristaps Porzingis
Kawhi Leonard
Devin Booker
Kyrie Irving
John Collins
Kristaps Porzingis
TJ Warren
Devin Booker
Kyrie Irving
2020 Team
John Collins
Kristaps Porzingis
Kawhi Leonard
Devin Booker
Kyrie Irving
Third Place
Golden State Warriors - Chris Mullin
That's right everyone - he's back, the GM with all that gold littering his profile is once again in the EOTY-hunt since his last success in 2016, and in addition to a newly renewed goliath of a squad this season Chris Mullin somehow managed to add not one, not two, but four first round draft picks! How does this guy do it?
It wouldn't be so bad except whenever Mr Mullin makes a draft pick they tend to work out quite well, the best in fact. Mid-way through the second round, picking at #45? No problem, Chris will just pick up Thomas Bryant who has constantly improved each year, is now a solid starter in the NBA. Picking at #30? Chris "Nostradamus" Mullin will just grab block machine and solid Knicks starter Mitchell Robinson who's currently awaiting his next ratings increase. Indeed it was thanks to the success of his picks Chris Mullin became faced with an impending Hard Cap this off season, unable to keep them all, but he navigated the restructuring of his team's salary situation this season with several notable trades, parting with expiring Thomas Bryant for the pick that would become Jaden McDaniels, shipping two of his other 2nd Round steals, Josh Richardson and Richaun Holmes, to Sacramento for an expiring (and to-be-re-signed) Serge Ibaka and two more 2020 first rounders, shedding $10m in this deal, all in a sustained and successful effort to set his team up for a renewed future, led by his roster of legendary superstars and complimented by a constantly emerging host of young talent - this is re-tooling at its best!
This year's picks are looking promising already, Cole Anthony is capitalising on opportunities and gaining extra playing time as a starter now in Orlando, Isaiah Stewart is logging meaningful minutes despite a Pistons roster made up almost entirely of players at his position/s, Jaden McDaniels has his faults but was my personal pick for steal-of-the-late-1st-round this year, and Jahmi'us Ramsey - well it's only been a month of season so far.
Let's not forget this-time-last-year losing Curry and Klay to injury left Lebron James all by himself in the Warriors lineup and was the catalyst for the biggest one-for-one swap in the history of Dynasty Five last year when The King was sent to Charlotte for Kevin Durant, who was also injured for the season, and therefore fit perfectly with the 2019/20 Warriors timeline. Trading for an injured Durant boosted their own draft pick to #15 yielding the aforementioned Cole Anthony, quite a gigantic deal for a GM who spent the entirety of the previous season making no trades at all! Durant also closer fits the age brackets of Steph and Klay and has returned from injury looking like he hasn't missed a step in his game! With Denver deciding to rebuild this season and sending their superstars East the timing is also perfect, the only bit of bad luck being Klay going down with another big injury.
This off season tied all the pieces together for a Golden State comeback with Steph re-signing on Bird Rights, the four young draft picks ready to work their way up through the ranks, Joe Harris and Patty Mills returning and lastly locking in Serge Ibaka in free agency!
He's the most decorated GM in the history of D5 and he's once again proved himself enough to get back into contention here as a finalist! Welcome back to the EOTY race, Chris Mullin!
Trading:
Signing:
Drafting:
Planning:
Signing:
Drafting:
Planning:
2019 Team
Mitchell Robinson
Lebron James
Josh Richardson
Klay Thompson
Steph Curry
2020 Team
Mitchell Robinson
Serge Ibaka
Kevin Durant
Klay Thompson
Steph Curry
Mitchell Robinson
Lebron James
Josh Richardson
Klay Thompson
Steph Curry
2020 Team
Mitchell Robinson
Serge Ibaka
Kevin Durant
Klay Thompson
Steph Curry
Fourth Place
San Antonio Spurs - George Gervin
This year we welcome the first of two newcomers to the Executive of the Year race, Mr George Gervin, who has taken the Spurs of yesteryear and refined them into the emerging Western powerhouse we see today!
For San Antonio it all starts with the frankly mindblowing start to George Gervin's career when he took over the reigns in 2018! These three trades*** show a rookie GM quickly moving Isaiah Thomas and Tyreke Evans for what would eventually become Luka Doncic, likely the most valuable "asset" in the league right now, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the triple-double threat from OKC. In one month George Gervin turned two guys on the career downturn and formed the basis of all that is to come for this young team!
This year through two trades** the Spurs turned Cody Zeller and Keita Bates-Diop into Danilo Gallinari, who opted-out and left the Spurs only for George Gervin to turn that cap space into Tobias Harris, albeit paying like real-life Elton Brand when he did! This season the story in San Antonio was all about maintaining their competitiveness whilst simultaneously generating upcoming cap room for the bumper 2020 crop of free agents by acquiring the highest rated player in this deal, as well as clearing $6m in space, and turning dead money into an expiring Marc Gasol. When OSFA rolled around Mr Gervin was ready, quickly picking up (what a cynic might call) trade-chips but (what a pragmatist might call) veteran talent in the form of big one year deals for George Hill and Marcus Morris. Daniel Theis was picked up on a solid three year deal and Joakim Noah for the vet minimum, and the Spurs have a mix of old and new talent pushing them towards their next playoff berth.
Although it was the trades that brought all the promising youngsters to San Antonio, it was the choice of youngster that really sealed the deal and George Gervin's picks have been impressive each of his three drafts. Not least picking Doncic instead of Ayton, or picking Shai at #12, the following year was a solid pick when Rui Hachimura was selected at #13, and this year Patrick Williams, already putting up some good outings in Chicago in real life, surprisingly dropped four spots for the Spurs where Gervin snapped him up! There's not been a disappointing pick yet which is a minor miracle in the Draft!
All in all there's nothing here we're seeing that doesn't point towards the eventual coalescence of a long standing dynasty, and it's all clearly built around basketball's newest GOAT contender; Luka Doncic. George has established himself as a force already and his knowledge for the game is evident throughout all the daily chats in our Discord channel, often illuminating me and others to prospects so young they've often not even been born yet. Congratulations to George Gervin on his first mention among the finalists for Executive of the Year, but almost certainly not his last!
Trading:
Signing:
Drafting:
Planning:
Signing:
Drafting:
Planning:
2019 Team
Mason Plumlee
Rui Hachimura
Luka Doncic
Seth Curry
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
2020 Team
Mason Plumlee
Tobias Harris
Marcus Morris
Luka Doncic
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
Mason Plumlee
Rui Hachimura
Luka Doncic
Seth Curry
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
2020 Team
Mason Plumlee
Tobias Harris
Marcus Morris
Luka Doncic
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander