DENVER -- Nuggets vice president of basketball operations Mark Warkentien has been named the NBA's executive of the year after Denver pulled off the unimaginable feat of getting better while shedding millions of dollars in salary and luxury tax.
Warkentien was the architect of the biggest deal in the NBA this season, trading Allen Iverson and his big contract for Chauncey Billups. The move sparked Denver's franchise-tying 54-win regular season and the Nuggets' first playoff series win in 15 years.
"It's really a team honor," Warkentien said, praising Nuggets owner Stan Kroenke. "Stan's leadership and vision for this season, the front office, our coaching staff and players, the video guys that were here, the ones who stayed here all night every night for the past couple of weeks, we've got a ton of tremendous people helping. It's a team honor."
I called it:
I'm not an expert on this, but Mark Warkentien has to be Executive of the Year for bringing in Andersen and trading AI for Billups. The two best decisions of the year and it's probably going to give them the second seed in the West because of it.
