Danny Ainge finishes 6th for NBA executive of the year


On Monday afternoon, the NBA Executive of the Year Award winner was announced as RC Buford from the San Antonio Spurs. Our very own Danny Ainge finished in 6th place. Ainge received one first place vote, two second place votes and three third place votes. Via Jay King of MassLive.com:

The Celtics president of basketball operations finished sixth in the NBA Executive of the Year award voting, according to results released by the league Monday afternoon. Ainge's finish marks the third straight time he has landed in the top seven for the award, which is decided by the NBA's executives.

The San Antonio Spurs' R.C. Buford narrowly edged the Portland Trail Blazers' Neil Olshey to take home the award. Ainge picked picked up one first-place vote, two second-place votes and two third-place votes to finish behind Buford, Olshey, Bob Myers (Golden State Warriors), Masai Ujiri (Toronto Raptors) and Rich Cho (Charlotte Hornets), in that order.



Great to see Danny Ainge getting some more recognition for how well the Celtics did this year as a team. The team over achieved and exceeded their expectations and the players around on this team were all found to be great fits by Ainge. Personally, I think Ainge deserved to finish higher than Masai Ujiri from the Toronto Raptors and Rich Cho from the Charlotte Hornets. While the Raptors did well this season I don't think their team did anything overwhelming to vault their GM Ujiri to finish above Ainge. Same is true for the Hornets who also got bounced out in the first round. I think the Celtics played well consistently during the season and had a better overall season.

Overall, Ainge is on the right track and hopefully he can finish number one for Executive of the Year next season as we begin one of the most important offseason in recent memory. With a couple star players away from being contenders again, Ainge is right on the cusp of greatness again.

Image Credit: Barry Chin/Globe Staff
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