Top Five NBA GM's???

[Reason]

in your opinion?

Top Five GM's (IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER):

some of these are based on performance (whether you like kupchak or not he is automatically vaulted to this echelon on the strength of raping the grizzlies for pau gasol) and some of these are based on stirring up a cuisine with what you got no matter how little you have in the pot:

1. otis smith. he completely ethered mark cuban and the mavs by backhandedly implying he wouldn't match marcin gortat's offer sheet which led to the mavericks comfortably allowing bass to sign an offer sheet - WITH THE MAGIC! - which they did NOT match b/c they assumed they would get gortat...then all of a sudden smith pulls the carpet out and matches on gortat too after getting a relative discount on bass for four years! so slick and so sick. plus the rashard lewis contract doesn't look as bad as it used to (you can only name a handful of surefire scorer/shooters who have that combination of length/speed), the decision to draft a project in howard over a sure thing college player of the year in emeka is underrated and huge, jj redick might actually match the value of his pick, he was able to get something for turk instead of losing him for nothing and even get a young big man in return in ryan anderson, etc.

2. mitch kupchak

3. daryl morey. his drafts recently have been amazing in terms of efficiency. he has a mix of stat-crunching, scouting, and a commitment to collecting players who mesh that is uncanny. the fa signing of ariza which was really a de facto trade of ron artest for trevor ariza was brilliant. you're telling me you are getting multiple years younger, decades less crazy, longer, faster, and better decision-making at the same position with a better shot and at this point equally effective if not better defense (doesn't gamble as much)??? btw, people who still think artest is the same defender who once won defensive player of the year need to get their eyes reexamined.

4. joe dumars and danny ainge get consideration but i'm leaning towards dumars. i hate the marbury and subsequent rasheed wallace signings. pj brown fell into ainge's lap in the title year. ainge gets a plus after his rondo and glen davis moves proved quite valuable in the playoffs last year. dumars has ONLY two errors, but they are SO bad that they overshadow all the amazing shit he's done. darko milicic and allen iverson will haunt this guy's career if he never wins another title. dumars' draft this year in terms of value per pick might be the best of the nba though. getting stuckey where he got him was big, getting rid of wallace once his prime ended was very smart, etc.

5. kevin pritchard. can't argue with this guy. oden is not his fault and that is really his lone glaring issue. in fact, he might be the top dawg gm in the game right now. just check out this RIDICULOUS history since he took over as the de facto gm in 2006 and the official one in 2007...seriously, read these deals - how complicated they are, how many players/teams were involved, how big contracts were involved, and just be amazed at how he turned this franchise around:

A deal prior to the 2006 NBA Draft which sent Sebastian Telfair and Theo Ratliff to the Boston Celtics in exchange for the #7 pick in that year's draft and Raef LaFrentz.
A draft-day deal which sent Tyrus Thomas (the team's draft choice at #4) and Viktor Khryapa to the Chicago Bulls in exchange for the #2 pick, LaMarcus Aldridge
A second draft-day deal which sent the #7 pick in the draft, Randy Foye, along with cash considerations, to the Minnesota Timberwolves in exchange for the #6 pick, Brandon Roy. Roy would end up being named Rookie of the Year, and would be selected as an All-Star the following two seasons (2008, 2009).
A third draft-day deal in which the team acquired the rights to the #27 pick in the draft, Sergio Rodriguez, from the Phoenix Suns in exchange for cash.
The Blazers sent forward Zach Randolph to the New York Knicks, along with guards Fred Jones and Dan Dickau, in exchange for Steve Francis, Channing Frye, and a trade exception.
The team subsequently used the trade exception to acquire forward James Jones and the rights to the #24 pick in the draft, Rudy Fern

[Gregg Popabitch1]

sam presti and RC Buford.

[Reason]

sam presti and RC Buford.

after this offseason, rc buford definitely belongs and deserves mention

presti is certainly up there too

[Gregg Popabitch1]

sam presti and RC Buford.

after this offseason, rc buford definitely belongs and deserves mention

presti is certainly up there too

Buford wasn't titled as GM but he was the one that scouted Manu Ginobilli and Tony Parker and brought them to Pop's attention. He also was behind the signings of Stephen Jackson, speedy claxton, bruce bowen, hedo turkoglu, brent barry, fabricio oberto, and robert horry.

[Req]

1. otis smith. he completely ethered mark cuban and the mavs by backhandedly implying he wouldn't match marcin gortat's offer sheet which led to the mavericks comfortably allowing bass to sign an offer sheet - WITH THE MAGIC! - which they did NOT match b/c they assumed they would get gortat...then all of a sudden smith pulls the carpet out and matches on gortat too after getting a relative discount on bass for four years! so slick and so sick. plus the rashard lewis contract doesn't look as bad as it used to (you can only name a handful of surefire scorer/shooters who have that combination of length/speed), the decision to draft a project in howard over a sure thing college player of the year in emeka is underrated and huge, jj redick might actually match the value of his pick, he was able to get something for turk instead of losing him for nothing and even get a young big man in return in ryan anderson, etc.

also signed Vince Carter ensuring that his team won't be making the finals for another 3 years or so

[Orale Holmes]

1. otis smith. he completely ethered mark cuban and the mavs by backhandedly implying he wouldn't match marcin gortat's offer sheet which led to the mavericks comfortably allowing bass to sign an offer sheet - WITH THE MAGIC! - which they did NOT match b/c they assumed they would get gortat...then all of a sudden smith pulls the carpet out and matches on gortat too after getting a relative discount on bass for four years! so slick and so sick. plus the rashard lewis contract doesn't look as bad as it used to (you can only name a handful of surefire scorer/shooters who have that combination of length/speed), the decision to draft a project in howard over a sure thing college player of the year in emeka is underrated and huge, jj redick might actually match the value of his pick, he was able to get something for turk instead of losing him for nothing and even get a young big man in return in ryan anderson, etc.

also signed Vince Carter ensuring that his team won't be making the finals for another 3 years or so