Danny Ferry Named Sporting News’ Executive of the Year

Danny Ferry’s second-place finish in the league’s official Executive of the Year voting halted the Cavs’ attempt of a MVP/Coach of the Year/Executive of the Year trifecta.

Either way, you can’t have a GM who is second in that voting and now first in the Sporting News’ balloting and say that LeBron James has no help around him, like many people still are.

The publication polled 41 league coaches and executives, with Ferry receiving 15 votes. Denver Nuggets VP of Basketball Operations Mark Warkentien, who won the league’ award earlier this month, finished second with eight votes. Orlando Magic GM Otis Smith tied Warkentien for second with eight votes, as well.

On Tuesday, Brian Windhorst of the Cleveland Plain Dealer did a feature story on the architecture behind the Cavs’ roster. While many still criticize the roster as not having enough “big name players” around King James, remember that it has taken six years of LeBron’s career and four years on the job by Ferry to finally have a team that won over 60 games:

[Ferry] had a lot of money to spend in a city without a favorable tax
structure compared to other NBA markets. It was a city that featured
bad weather during the NBA season and hadn’t been to the playoffs in
eight years. There was a revolving door at the coach’s office and
another new coach, who had no experience as the top guy, had just been
hired even before Ferry was in his job. Plus there were different
opinions as to what type of players to surround a still-developing
LeBron James.

What happened was some of the best front office
work in franchise history. Ferry made his share of mistakes early on,
especially with the pressure to spend money and improve quickly to get
James to re-sign. He’s erred on draft picks and free-agent deals. But
he’s also discovered gems, made a series of complex trades that have
upgraded the Cavs dramatically, and found a way to spend owner Dan
Gilbert’s money to get players who fit personally and professionally
around James to make the team a serious championship contender.

The state of the Cavs’ current roster was a process that began last year with the blockbuster three-team, 11-player deal that completely changed the team’s identity and outlook.

Gone were selfish, me-first players like Larry Hughes. Gone were dumb players who had no basketball IQ like Drew Gooden. Gone were over-the-hill busts who didn’t do what they were brought in to do (hit 3-pointers and hit them consistently) like Donyell Marshall. And gone were first-round draft picks (Cedric Simmons and Shannon Brown) who couldn’t play their way into the rotation.

In were defense-first players with championship experience like Ben Wallace. In were selfless and versatile all-around contributers like Delonte West. In was a sharp-shooter who was comfortable coming off the bench in Wally Szczerbiak. And in was a veteran and consistent big man in Joe Smith.

The Mo Williams trade put this team over the top. Getting back Smith even after using him in that trade was icing on the cake.

But while this roster doesn’t wow you on paper, it is custom-built to play to LeBron’s strengths and fit specifically around him. Yes, LeBron makes these players look better than they would otherwise, but that’s the point. His strengths as well as their strengths complement each other so fluidly that the results became 66 wins and a dominant postseason run through the first two rounds.

Contrary to popular beliefs in some corners, James wouldn’t just make any other roster (say, oh I don’t know, the Knicks?) this good simply due to his presence. A Cavs team with a supposed solid sidekick (Hughes), a rugged rebounder (Gooden), a two-time All-Star center (Zydrunas Ilgauskas), and a deep bench spearheaded by a veteran (Donyell Marshall) couldn’t win more than 50 games in a season with James.

The scary part is that the best could still be yet to come. Because Ferry certainly isn’t done retooling this roster for several more runs down the road.