A way-too-early look at the award of General Manager of the Year

Alright, so lets get a couple of things out of the way before we embark on this discussion.

- Certain GMs on this list might no be eligible for the GMOTY award when it comes down to it, due to missed lineups, deadlines or kick-out points, for which I have no current info or access, so I might list ineligible guys here unknowingly, however they still deserve recognition for their work;

- This is not a league official review or ballot to the real award itself, just my opinion;

- Let me know if I missed someone, or even yourself, in the comments;

- Trade deadline results may deem this exercise moot lol;

Lets dive in now!

I was wondering who would be in line to receive the award this year based on what they have done for their teams this season and thought it would be fun to take a look at the most compelling cases in my opinion.

Candidates are listed in no specific order:

GM Ethan - Minnesota Timberwolves

One of the best guys in the league you would wanna hang out with. The best thing he does is to find value in most aspects that are important to GMing. 

In his case, it all started with the draft, to think that he did a total reboot and came back, perhaps stronger, in less than a year? That is big-time!

There are teams that are in the middle of a 5-year rebuilding cycle and this guy went to the draft, killed it, maneuvered and came back stronger.

Among his best moves are the total heist, in hindsight, that it was to bet on Jonas Valanciunas and what he has become for this team. The guy got traded in the NBA and has unlimited grenn light to fire and is doing great, resulted in one of the best Cs in the NSL.

Then, went into the free agency period and sneakily got probably a top 3 signing in Dwight Howard to make himself even more dominant. Had a good crop of guys there as well, which resulted in post trades to net Bogdan Bogdanovic and Otto Porter as role players.

Oh, and I did not forget, I just postponed this info, after drafted LaMelo (will never call him Melo, sorry #HoodieMelo) Ball in what was the best pick of that draft, then he might have done it again this past draft in rookie sensation Scottie Barnes. Barnes is way better than advertised and seems destined for stardom already.

Watching Ethan add future superstars, to already established players and hammer out deals has been one of the best GM works of the season and he should be there at the end for your consideration.

It is simple, really, GM Ethan turned a bottom feeder into a true, top 5 contender in a season, yeah.

GM Jesse Dunne - Toronto Raptors

All business, straight to the point, precise movement.

Out of the gate, a totally different approach than our previous candidate, but just as effective this season. The difference in context here is massive, as Toronto has been of the Eastern Conferences top since the league’s inception but the challenge here was that, despite being in all-in mode all the time, the team just couldnt get over the hump and thought it needed more top tier talent to compete. And THAT they did, as a matter of fact, he tripled down the amount of top tier talent his team had the year before. 

What calls my attention the most here is the art of perfecting the trade craft to a point where Jesse has been sending trade picks, assets and multiplying value in trades since the off-season. He has been a stalwart of effort, dedication and commitment to his team and to winning THIS season at every turn. In the process, though, he might have created the leagues next powerhouse team.

First he brought DeMar Derozan in the off-season after he was rotting in oblivion in the desert and managed to provide value enough to pry him to the cold Toronto, a place he is very much familiar in the NBA. 

In free agency, Carmelo Anthony was the main focus, he zigged when everybody zagged and Melo is still good here.

Then, Van Vleet was next in line to rescue him for Dallas and give the team a true #1 PG to spread it around and shoot.

Toronto, which already had Paul George as the centerpiece, was revamped.

Then, one catalyst event happened, Miles Bridges became really good in the NBA, had a breakout year…Then, another franchise changing moment happened, Badwolf decided to resign, which opened up way to Daz, who wasn’t as fond of Zion Williamson, which provided another trade for Jesse with Miles as the centerpiece.

With trades like the one to get Reggie Jackson and a move to put down 99 points on DeMarcus (sounds familiar), Jesse completes his masterpiece and awaits for Zion to stop eating and deciding if he wants to play basketball after all to make this team complete.

This tea was already good, Jesse made them great, all in a seasons worth of fun, what a masterful job.

Honorable mention to this list goes to GM Sheed of the Detroit Pistons for the marvelous job he has done with losing Lowry, a top 30 player last season for spare parts and losing Kyrie Irving for the majority of the season due to plain stupidity and he has steadily kept the Pistons a top 3 force in the East, that is just amazing coaching work and preparedness. Pistons are a constant now.

Hope you enjoyed it and lets see who wins at the end of the season! 

Good luck and congratulations on great works, gents. 

Play on.