Rob Pelinka snubbed for Executive of the Year award
Sacramento Kings general manager Monte McNair won the 2022-23 NBA Executive of the Year award.
The Lakers' general manager, Rob Pelinka, finished in 11th place with four total points, as he got one second-place vote and one third-place vote. Pelinka was snubbed completely, as he should have been one of the top two vote-getters.
Completely reshaping your roster to go from a 13 seed to legit championship contender only gets you 11th in Executive of the Year voting, I guess. pic.twitter.com/J2r2KPTUnM
— Daniel Starkand (@DStarkand) May 3, 2023
He completely turned around the Lakers season with their moves at the trade deadline. LA started the season 2-10, and they were in 13th place in the Western Conference for the majority of the season.
Pelinka completely retooled the roster at the trade deadline.
At the deadline, Lakers acquired:
D’Angelo Russell
Jarred Vanderbilt
Malik Beasley
Rui Hachimura
Mo Bamba
Davon Reed
2024 and 2025 Clippers second-round picks
Lakers traded away:
Russell Westbrook
Thomas Bryant
Juan Toscano-Anderson
Damian Jones
Kendrick Nunn
Patrick Beverley
2027 first-round pick (top-four protected)
2028 second-round pick (less favorable of Washington/LA)
2029 Lakers second-round pick
The Lakers after the trade deadline:
— Ryan Rueda (@iDude14) May 1, 2023
- Got great role players
- Have the best record in NBA
- Go from 13th seed to 7th seed
- Make the play-in and win
- Beat the 2nd seed in the west
What Rob Pelinka did after the deadline was a miracle.
Executive of the Year. 🫡 ✊🏽 pic.twitter.com/slqRVAofNC
The moves completely rebuilt the roster around LeBron James and Anthony Davis. The new players have fit well and they have a ton of depth. The LakeShow is now in the second round of the playoffs and are up 1-0 over the defending champion Warriors. The Lakers have become a championship contender after Pelinka’s moves.
McNair is a deserving winner of the award, as the Kings made great offseason moves to make it to the playoffs for the first time in 16 years. However, Pelinka should have been a top-two vote-getter as he completely turned around the roster.
Pelinka should not have finished in 11th place for the award. It is disrespectful that he finished so low in the award voting.