NBA All Decade Awards – Part 1
We’re coming to the end of 2019 and this seems as good a time as any to reflect upon the NBA decade that we’ve just lived.
We’ve seen two dominant teams, a handful of all-time players, some controversies and some of the most beautiful basketball come about from a statistical revolution dictating how the game is now played.
Over the coming weeks, Vendetta Sports Media will be taking a look at who have been the shining lights this decade, on the court, the sidelines and in the front office.
We’re following the NBA’s official calendar and as such, our decade starts in the 2009/10 season, through to the conclusion of the 2018/19 season.
For our teams, the only rule is that we have a somewhat traditional two guards, two forwards and a centre. We’ve placed more emphasis on sustained performance as opposed to a brief, high peak. Finally, winning counts. A lot. Sorry Melo.
Today, we’re taking a look at the Executive of the Decade, the Rookie of the Decade, and our All-Decade 3rd team.
Executive of the Decade
Daryl Morey – Houston Rockets
There are some red hot contenders for this award. Among the Honourable Mentions, Masai Ujiri and Pat Riley can feel particularly aggrieved.
It might seem controversial that the decades best executive is one without an NBA title to his name, however it’s important to remember that the NBA isn’t always a level playing field. For sure, the Rockets have some inherent advantages (no state taxes). But those pale in comparison to some of the bonuses that the LA sides, Miami or New York can offer. You can also throw in that as of late Morey has been working under some pretty punitive ownership restrictions.
It’s also worth remembering where the Rockets were at the start of the decade. They had their Big 2, but Yao Ming was perennially injured and soon to retire, whilst Tracey McGrady was a rapidly fading physical force. This was an ageing side that looked primed for a period of tanking rebuilding through the draft.
Morey is a revolutionary GM. He is famous for his role in the Sloan Conference, which deals with analytics in sport. Morey’s Rockets are, of course, at the forefront of the NBA’s statistical and stylistic revolution. For that influence alone, he could be considered a front runner for this award.
But let’s look at his actual transnational record.
Morey, like all the great GM’s, is a master of finding success on the fringes. To that end, he’s been able to pluck players from outside the NBA who have been huge influences on his squads. On the current roster, players like Danuel House and Gary Clark are key bench cogs. Perhaps the best example of this type of pick up is Patrick Beverley, who set a tone for both the Rox and later the Clippers. He also took a flyer on damaged goods in Mike D’Antoni as coach. It’s worked out well.
The 2018 NBA Executive of the Year winner has been able to swing trades for key contributors in Eric Gordon and Chris Paul (one of the most creative trades you’ll ever see) and later Paul for Russell Westbrook. He’s also worked the fringes of the CBA is creative contracts for Jeremy Lin amongst others.
Morey’s draft record isn’t going to bowl you over, but he has found some gems. Clint Capela at 25, Chandler Parsons and Montrezl Harrell in the 2nd round are big hits. His only lottery picks have been Pat Patterson, Marcus Morris (both 14th picks) and Jeremy Lamb (12th) who was immediately traded.
Ah yes, the Harden trade. On the eve of the 2012/13 season, Morey fleeced the up and coming Sam Presti to acquire one of the greatest offensive players of this or any era. It’s been covered ad nauseam, so no need to rehash it all here, other than to say this is in the pantheon of all time trade wins.
All of this has meant that the Rockets have been able to win 61% of their games (3rd in the NBA) through the decade, whilst rebuilding and without tanking.
He’s had the misfortune of running into an all time team in the Warriors. That doesn’t count against him, here.
Apologies: RC Buford/Gregg Popovich, Pat Riley, Masai Ujiri, Danny Ainge, Bob Myers.
Rookie of the Decade
Blake Griffin – Los Angeles Clippers
‘The Star who jumps over cars’ as TNT’s Ernie Johnson once so excitedly referred to him, took the NBA by storm during his 2010/11 rookie campaign. The world eagerly awaited Griffin’s debut a year earlier, but – in an eerily similar scenario to this seasons star high-flying #1 pick – a knee injury in his last preseason game put things on hold for a year.
Once Griffin took to the floor, he was well worth the wait. The counting stats (22.5 ppg, 12.1 rpg, 3.8 apg) are fantastic for any rookie, but they tell only a fraction of the story.
Griffin was a walking highlight reel as soon as he stepped on to an NBA floor. The closest thing many had seen to Dominique Wilkins in his ability to attack off the dribble as a big man and finish through – and over – traffic, Griffin was captivating.
Playing in all 82 games – sadly, the only season to date he’s been able to do so – he wasn’t able to lead the Clips to the playoffs, winning only 32 games. You can blame the inept ownership/front office set up for a large part of that. This was the season that the team traded away Baron Davis for cap relief (in fairness, they opened up playing time for fellow rook Eric Bledsoe), attaching the draft pick that became Kyrie Irving. In a sliding doors moment, can you imagine Kyrie & Blake teaming up through this decade? Oh my!
There was legitimate debate as to Griffin being the best NBA rookie since a certain Michel Jordan, which was a touch absurd, but goes to show the impact the former high-flyer had at the time.
Apologies: Luka Doncic, Karl Anthony Towns.
All Decade 3rd Team
Dwyane Wade
Championships: 2 MVP’s: 0 All NBA: 4 All Star: 8 All Defense: 1
Notable Statistics: PPG 20.1 RPG: 4.6 APG: 4.7
Wade, the 2010 All-Star game MVP, straddles the decades somewhat. Whilst it’s undoubted that most of his personal prime was late in the previous decade, the bulk of his team success took place early this decade. If there was a 2005-15 awards period, Wade is without question a first teamer.
Wade was instrumental in sewing the seeds that grew into the Heatles, leading to his 2nd and 3rd championships. Wade’s contribution to those teams can get lost amongst the phenomenon that is LeBron James, but through the 2012 playoffs, Wade put up 22.8 points, 5.2 boards, 4.3 assists and his customary 3 stocks as he helped LeBron finally get used to that winning feeling. If Miami had won the 2011 finals, Wade was the likely Finals MVP.
Wade eventually adapted to his declining athleticism by picking his moments, becoming a facilitator and expanding his range. The only shame to late career Wade was his ill fated excursions to the Bulls and Cavs. It was jarring to see him in anything other than Miami black.
Klay Thompson
Championships: 3 MVP’s: 0 All NBA: 2 All Star: 5 All Defense: 1
Other notable achievements: All Rookie in 2012
Notable Statistics: PPG 19.5 3PFG: 2.9 3P%: 41.9%
Klay Thompson both benefits and suffers from being a member of one of the greatest teams of all time.
Thompson, one of the best catch and shoot proponents in NBA history, gets as many open 3’s as he can handle, feeding off the scraps of Steph Curry and Kevin Durant. But therein lies the conundrum – he’s the 3rd option on one of the greatest teams of all time. Is his individual success due to the team, or does the team succeed because of Klay? The truth is, it’s a bit of both.
Thompson has never had the chance to be the main man of offense, so we don’t truly know if he could be the creative hub of a team. His handle has tightened considerably through his career and it’s not inconceivable he could have been prime Ray Allen-esque in the right setting.
On defense, the team definitely benefits from Klay covering for his back court partner. Thompson is a lock down defender, who seemingly never bite’s on pump fakes and uses brilliant anticipation to block a high number of shots for a guard. His microwave qualities are well documented.
Draymond Green
Championships: 3 MVP’s: 0 All NBA: 2 All Star: 3 All Defense: 5
Other Notable Achievements: Defensive Player of the Year in 2017
Notable Statistics: PPG 9.1 RPG: 6.9 APG: 4.9 SPG: 1.4 BPG: 1.1
Draymond Green would be the short priced favourite for Draft Pick of the Decade, if that were an award, with the future Hall of Famer going 35th overall in 2012.
Stats don’t really to Green any justice. He’s the only player in this list to average single figure points for their career. Even when he does put up notable statistical feats, scoring isn’t involved. For example: Green is the only player in NBA history to record a triple double without double figure points.
What Green does bring to the table, is a level of defensive play that nobody else in our All Decade teams can match. The man is a defensive savant and the best in a generation (alongside Larry Bird, perhaps the best ever) at diffusing 2 on 1’s.
Curry might be the lovable face of the Warriors. Steve Kerr the brain. Klay Thompson the tireless legs. Draymond Green is the heart and soul. He is the man that sets the emotional tone – for better or worse – for the greatest team of the decade.
Dirk Nowitzki
Championships: 1 MVP’s: 0 All NBA: 3 All Star: 6 All Defense: 0
Other notable achievements: 2011 Finals MVP
Notable Statistics: PPG 18.3 RPG: 6.09 3P%: 38.3%
Like Wade, Dirk did his best work in the 00’s, but we can’t deny his contributions in the first half of this decade.
The 2011 title was of course the nadir. Dirk was the lone true star on a team full of talented, but retread veterans. He took on the Heat juggernaut and against the odds took home Larry and the Finals MVP.
Whilst the team drifted post championship, making moves that beggared belief, Dirk kept on being Dirk. Whilst he began to slow down around 2014, he was still putting up 18 and 6 a night in 2015/16 as a 37 year old.
Dirk and the Mavs stayed loyal to each other as his career wound down, just long enough to see the next European saviour arrive in town.
Who would have thought that when he arrived as a skinny, uncertain kid, that 20 years later Dirk would do Dallas. And Dallas was well satisfied.
Al Horford
Championships: 0 MVP’s: 0 All NBA: 1 All Star: 5 All Defense: 1
Notable Statistics: PPG 14.9 RPG: 8.1 APG: 3.6 BPG: 1.2 3P%: 37.0%
The quiet achiever of our NBA All Decade squads.
The numbers don’t jump off the page – they never do with Horford. What Horford does, however, is win basketball games. Horford’s teams have made the playoffs in literally every season of his career.
Defensively, Horford is a quieter version of Draymond Green – a defensive genius who relies on sound positioning and incredible anticipation as much as athleticism. On offense, he’s an absolute Swiss Army Knife. He began his career as a low post bruiser with great footwork, evolving to a mid range shooter, facilitator in a whirring Hawks offense, and eventually into an elite stretch 5.
As he ages, he’s not the most dominant physical force, but he’s smart and plenty strong enough to flummox the behemoth that is new teammate Joel Embiid.
