GMOTY - 2014-15

[Skillz]

GMs have until Thurs, June 6 to vote. If you like, you may refer to the results of the leaguewide survey that I someone put out on GMOTY criteria.

-Anyone who votes gets 100 RPs.
-GMs get an additional 200 RPs for posting in this thread and advocating on behalf of a GM. Do not advocate on behalf of yourself!
-Do not vote for yourself.

Things to Consider:

-GM proactivity and creativity
-Success in drafting, trades, FA signings, general team building
-Production in the form of wins, losses and team stats
-Delta in team performance from year to year (or in this case, from draft to end of season).

Winner Gets:

-1,000 RPs
-Ability to add or subtract a year to any player's contract on your team. Must be done within one season.

Tiebreaker:

-If any two GMs are tied in 1st place in voting, we will do a ranked-choice procedure for them + anyone within 2 votes of the leader to determine the winner.
Top

[Skillz]

This was a deep group this year, but ultimately voted for Jordo.

Won 53 games with a +10 point differential despite suffering a ton of injuries, and made the biggest series of big-ball trades to build a true contender. Added Parker, Granger, Moon, Tucker, etc. Kevin Love has turned into a true superstar. He gave a lot of value for all of these fellas, but didn't really send any true blue-chip pieces either.

#2 for me was Ralph. I don't think Darko is very good, and turning Darko + picks into a stud Center like Oden likely gives the Jazz a chance to steadily remain relevant in the West.

#3 for me was Derek. He got Jamal from me for a pretty cheap price imo and maintains an elite roster.

Shouts also to Evan, Hoff, Kipke, Tonger for banner campaigns

[mantypas/CavsCzar]

I voted for Jesse for the sole reason of him trading his two best players on a championship, grabbing a shit ton of assets, wheeling and dealing along the way, and still managing just to be a playoff team in in the West (not too hard IMO given the number of tankers), but a top seed in the West by winning his division, and having a top 5 record in the West with weird guys like CJ Miles, Boban, most of the year of MKG, etc.

Major shoutouts to Jordo for taking some big swings and seeing it payoff with a great point differential, Scoops for not only making the Wade swing, but I thought the Gortat move at the end of the year could pay big dividends in the East playoffs, Ralph for his Oden swing, Tyler for his swing from lottery team to playoff team, and every other team mentioned. Fun season all

[LeBronto]

Jordo got my vote, think the pieces fell into place, he swung big deals, and he built a roster that fit extremely well, tying together the moves he made over the last few seasons (Jordan, Love) with Tony Parker and others (Thabeet MLE snag was good, PJ Tucker a really good fit with a guy like Love) to build a legit contender. He also navigated injuries well while playing in a historically challenging division. Liked the overall year he had and think there's a sustainable multi-year window for the Spurs here as long as Parker's prime lasts.

A lot of other great teams this year too, some interesting ones falling into place, I thought the Suns did a great job quick-pivoting around Jokic and I also like what Miami has done. Pacers really took a leap. Nuggets and Bucks are probably the two title favorites primarily through continuity. Fun season and great job all around

[Hoff]

I voted for Jesse as GMOTY. He won the championship last season and quickly traded his core from that team (sans Boban). From those trades, he gathered prospects and usable players but no stars, and continued to wheel and deal to the 2nd seed in the West with a completely new team.

In a close 2nd was Jordo, seemed like forever ago when Jordo made a bunch of big offseason trades -- turned around a tanker, kept his best prospect, and built one of the most talented SLN teams of all time imo. His PD is better than his record suggests. Overall, great season by Jordo and the team is built for sustainable success.

Third, Tyler. Tyler made a ton of moves that for better or worse got the Suns to the playoffs but most importantly built a team for a long duration. Has a bunch of young studs plus a ton of picks to be a legitimate powerhouse for the next decade.

[Tyler]

I was between Jordo and Greenie. Both made really good swings and improved quite a bit. I think Greenie’s moves all made sense and were super logical, loved the Wade acquisition but think this team might be a year away with Dame being the lynchpin for the success. With that being said, I think setting up your team for future success is probably something not always considered in this award and people can point to win delta and prior seasons point diff, when the Heat probably win 50+ games next year. So shoutout Scoops for laying an awesome foundation in South Beach.

Ultimately, I voted for Jordo just because I think when healthy, this team is beautifully crafted. He’s built a team that maximizes each players strengths. Did he pay a lot for Tony Parker? Yes, but hall of famers on team friendly deals aren’t exactly cheap. Bravo for the balls and it’s fun to see it pay off in the win column.

[Concepts of a Plan]

This is an award I sort of hate. It seems like the general vibe on what constitutes a GMOTY season changes year to year. Some years it’s very much who created the most championship equity. Others it’s long term franchise values, and on very few it’s the person who did the most fun stuff and surprisingly came out ahead (which is the year I won). I say all this because I think this year’s candidates funnily fit into these categories.

Tyler is a guy who created a tremendous amount of long term franchise value and would be my odds on favorite for GMOTY next year, but I’d personally bet on Nav as a dark horse.

Jesse fits in the final category where this team realistically can’t win a title. From afar, it looks like Jesse almost held himself to a constraint of how good can I be with the most mid PG ever. But credit to him, he traded two mega stars for a ton of value then kept flipping into a 51 win team.

Jordo, Evan, and Tong I felt like created the most “championship equity”.
Last year Tong won GMOTY in a landslide, which kind of cracks me up because this is the year he’d actually really deserve it. Last year’s Pacers team was fun, and he made some moves but it had flaws and wasn’t ever going to be great. This year however, he settled on Deron as a PG (I’ve tried it, it works. People just see 3 at TOPG and run for the hills), traded for TMac for basically free then turned him into Eddie Griffin which has given him the best front court in the league. Tong dabbled in fun maligned players like Jerebko, Korolev, and Deron and it worked.

Evan had a team with 3 really talented young guys and Bogut the GOAT. He was willing to move off of Beal (which often is a thing that holds GMs back) for a top ten guy in Wade. Made another aggressive move for Gortat and signed Tony Allen in FA who is a great fit for this squad. It took some time this year but Miami rounded into a really great team and one I wouldn’t be excited about playing.

My vote for the award, Jordo, comes off a year where he made some highly questionable moves and after that experience had a very targeted approach for how to move forward. Tony Parker immediately put him in the mix to be a legit contender. Granger for Moon gave him a real two way wing. PJ Tucker was a shrewd acquisition as a defensive rebounding wing who can help shot funnel to 1st All SLN Kevin Love. I personally think Jordo gave up a ton of value in most of these deals but I just really like the team he’s put together. They won 53 games with a +9 or so differential all while navigating 20 games without Kawhi or Moon.

In the words of Nathan Hale, I only regret that I have one vote to give. Tremendous season by all. Props to the guys who already had filthy rosters and won tons of games like Kipke, Ralph, and Derek.

[heimer]

Jordo!! Put his balls to the wall with the TP trade. A trade like that wins you GMOTY. Put a really nice team together with some Love that didn’t make babies in Phoenix. Phoenix though!! Tyler was wheeling and dealing this year. Had an amazing season with a rookie Jokic and all sorts of other pieces he got on the fly. Really impressed with the Kangz and Pacers as well! So many great teams! Kipke basically lost TA and won 65 games. buncha wizards

[Josh]

Initially torn between Jordo and Tyler here.

Tyler had a near-perfect tear down (made me very jealous) and identified great opportunities to get out of it quickly. The team is already really good and ahead of schedule.

Jordo swung for superstars and created a behemoth. +10 point differential with two stars out for 20+ days is among the best regular season teams in SLN history. Going with Jordo.

These teams make me want to tank for another couple of seasons. My vote should count half because I wasn't paying close attention though. Hope I'm not the tiebreaker

[GrundleSauce]

I considered Jesse, Tyler, and Tonger, all of whom had fantastic seasons:

Jesse is... Jesse. The Lebron of GMs. Coming off a championship, Jesse wheeled and dealed, turning over his squad for a much more sustainable future while still competing. He is the cream of our league. Simple as that.

Tyler's teardown and quick reorientation around Jokic was beautiful. Even f he wins the chip, I'd argue that the real dividends are down the line and that the team is well ahead of schedule thanks to a CRAZY LINSANITY performance in R1. Excellent work!

Tonger made incredible all-in moves that have catapulted him to the top of the East with an excellent runway to maintain his core and continue to build. I love that he's so into the league! Makes me happy!

HOWEVER!

My vote is ultimately for Jordo. Everyone has already said everything that needs to be said about the currently sexiest Man among the Many Men. Great season, my guy!