Denver's Mark Warkentien may be most deserving of his NBA Executive of the Year Award. But his background is interesting. Prior to joining Denver, Warkentien worked for 10 years with the Portland Trail Blazers, and was involved with the team's play acquisition in the "Jail Blazers" tenure. Prior to that, he worked 11 years at UNLV with Jerry Tarkanian. While there, he was named as the legal guardian for Lloyd Daniels. The NCAA cited UNLV with 29 rules violations in recruiting Daniels.
Now THAT'S a resume.
The more I think, the more I believe Danny Ferry got "LeBron-ed" in not winning the award. As in, "How hard can it be for them to win, they've got LeBron?"
There's some truth here, of course. Any team that starts with LeBron James has an advantage. But Ferry still made enough smart moves this year to earn the award.
But since he didn't, at least he can look back and say he played for Duke, and was never once photographed in a hot tub with a known gambler.
If background is a criteria Ferry definitely doesn't deserve the award as he cost the Cavs a title or two back in the '80s with his flop of an early playing career, then as g.m. he immediately blew $30 million on bums like Hughes and Donyell.
Or is the smear job just a joke?
Maybe Ferry played for Duke and was never once photographed in a hot tub with a known gambler, but he also played for Cleveland and was photographed in a hot tub with Chris Mills.
OK, if you want to debate the point between Warkentien and Ferry, then just leave them out of the equation and give it to Otis Smith by default. Or whoever. It's a dumb award anyway. Another one of the NBA's many tributes to itself. Any excuse to churn out another press release.
I mean, Wayne Embry won this award in 1998. Then the next season, Gund canned him. Did Embry's front office IQ and his magical moves suddenly go from totally Einsteinian to total retard within the span of a few months?
It's like a bowling trophy you once got in a recreational league. It's sitting there on your mantle, but what's the point.
Pat, just curious on Mark's resume, why you don't mention his Cavs connection. He was actually the interim GM put in place after Paxson was fired and before Ferry was hired. If my memory is correct he actually ran the Cavs draft in 2005, not that there was a draft (believe the pick was traded in the infamous Jiri Welch deal that year).
Actually, not that it matters, but that 2005 first-round pick ended up being the fabulous Sean May, the pick of which was traded eight years earlier to Phoenix for Wes Person. The pick was subsequently dealt to Charlotte. Welsch nor Paxson had anything to do with it.
But do you know who *did* had something to do with it? The very guy who won the NBA Executive of the Year in the very season in which he made the Person trade.
Like I said, this award is just another empty NBA publicity tribute to itself.
By the way, Welsch stunk in a major way, and Paxson was often a dufus, but that ended up being a trade that didn't hurt the future at all. But of course, that has never has stopped any of the Ferry loyalists from trying to disparage Paxson with it. It ended up being a low 24th selection, and Steve Kerr was selling it to the highest bidder for up to $3 million. If it was really, really, really wanted by Ferry, and obviously it wasn't, Ferry could have bought it back from his old buddy Kerr.
And the reason it was not pointed out here that Warkentien spent the 2004-05 season with the Cavs as director of player personnel and interim general manager is because he was once photographed in a hot tub with Big Z. No Northeast Ohio sportswriter will ever spill those beans.
i've always considered paxson's dumping of shawn kemp right up there with moses parting the red sea.
Probably because I didn't know this. Is it true?
Here you go Pat:
http://www.nba.com/cavaliers/news/warkentien_article_050509.html
Like a bowling trophy you received in a recreational league, perhaps, but there are a lot of die hard Browns fans who wish the gm for the Browns had done a tenth of the job Ferry has done. Yes, he has Lebron, but how many titles were won in Minnesota with Garnett? How many titles did Jordan win without Pippin? They all have to have the surrounding cast to win it all and that's where gm's such as Ferry prove their worth.