Ranking all 30 NBA front offices

Words can't describe the incompetency this front office has displayed since Vlade Divac was hired in 2015.  Shortly after he was hired, Divac made arguably the worst trade in NBA history when he sent Nik Stauskas (their 2014 first round pick) and their 2019 first round draft pick to dump salary in preparation to try to sign Rajon Rondo, Monta Ellis and Wes Matthews that summer (none of whom, mind you, signed with the Kings that summer). That draft pick might be the top pick in this year's draft. Divac has also had some epic draft blunders such as drafting Georgios Papagiannis or even passing on Luka Doncic and Jaren Jackson Jr. to take Marvin Bagley in this past draft. It's been ugly in SacTown and will continue to be ugly until someone competent is hired.

Obviously, the Suns fired general manager Ryan McDonough just days before the season began and haven't named a replacement (although it's widely accepted that James Jones will eventually be named to the position). Thus, the current front office gets an incomplete grade. This poor ranking is a reflection of the job McDonough did. He inherited a borderline playoff team and never improved. He also made some questionable draft picks (Marquese Chriss, Dragan Bender) and had some serious talent (Isaiah Thomas, Goran Dragic) slip out of his grasp in recent years. Bizarre timing on his dismissal, but it was probably inevitable. 

When you consider how mediocre the Grizzlies have been, it's kind of mind-boggling that Chris Wallace is still the Grizzlies' general manager — a position he's held since 2007. That's from the macro-perspective. When you consider the brutal contracts (Chandler Parsons, Mike Conley, Marc Gasol) he's dished out in the past few years and curious coaching decisions he's made (firing Mike Fizdale and hiring J.B. Bickerstaff), it's dumbfounding he still has a job. While the team has an outside chance of making the playoffs this season, it's locked into some contracts that have not and will not age well. A smart front office would look to acquire some future draft picks and/or young assets for Gasol and Conley as soon as possible.

The Bulls have had an up-and-down (but mostly down) past few years from a front office perspective. When Gar Forman and John Paxson hired Fred Hoiberg in 2015, they hoped his innovative offense would help the Bulls rise to the top of the Eastern Conference. For some reason, they then decided to give him the worst shooting backcourt in the NBA (Dwyane Wade and Rajon Rondo). When that failed miserably, they got rid of those two and traded Jimmy Butler for Lauri Markkanen, Kris Dunn and Zach LaVine. They drafted Wendell Carter Jr., re-signed LaVine to a near-max deal and signed Jabari Parker this past summer too. While Markkanen and Carter are solid foundational pieces, Gar-Pax has given Hoiberg yet another team with obvious shortcomings. Unless Markkanen proves to be the next Dirk Nowitzki or Carter turns into Al Horford quicker than expected, this front office is probably not going to be around too much longer.

Here's an anecdote for how general manager Neil Olshey's tenure is going: If you Google "Neil Olshey," the second result that appears (after the Wikipedia page) is fireolshey.com. Why is there so much animosity toward the Blazers' GM? Probably because he destroyed the team's cap flexibility during the summer of 2016 , when he signed Evan Turner to a four-year/$70M deal, Allen Crabbe to a four-year/$75M deal and Meyers Leonard to a four-year/$41M deal. That summer will and should go down as one of the worst summers by a GM in NBA history. 

This is easily the biggest drop in front office rankings between last season and this season. Last summer, head coach and team president Tom Thibodeau pulled off a draft-day blockbuster trade to acquire Jimmy Butler for a cheap price. This summer, Butler demanded a trade, then publicly reiterated his demand last week while also taking the team hostage from its centerpiece, Karl Anthony Towns. All hell has broken loose in Minnesota, and Coach Thibs seems to be comfortable with it. He knows he's probably getting fired at the end of this season, so he's doing everything he can to win this season. It's fine to have that attitude as a head coach, but it's the wrong attitude to have as a front officer decision-maker.

Not much to grade with the Pistons' front office since the team dismissed head coach and team president Stan Van Gundy this offseason and left them no first round picks or cap space to do anything. Although the front office should be commended for hiring the reigning Coach of the Year, Dwane Casey. Thus, it's an incomplete grade for now but a "solid" incomplete at that.

Scott Perry and Steve Mills had some big shoes to fill following such a legendary team president in Phil Jackson...just kidding . Jackson was a train wreck as the Knicks' decision-maker. In Jackson's stead, the Knicks have hired David Fizdale (good), drafted Kevin Knox (very good), signed Mario Hezonja (eh) and signed Tim Hardaway Jr. to a four-year/$71M deal (whoa!). That's decent, but this is probably the most fluid ranking between this season and next. And that's because the Knicks have a legitimate shot to land Kevin Durant next summer.

Long-time team president Ernie Grunfeld has been all over the place during his 16-year tenure with the Wizards. In recent years, he's made a few good draft picks in John Wall, Bradley Beal, Otto Porter and Kelly Oubre (acquired via draft-day trade). He hired an OK head coach in Scott Brooks. He's made a couple of bizarre signings in Dwight Howard and Austin Rivers. And he's made some terrible decisions as well, such as drafting Jan Vesely and signing Ian Mahinmi to a four-year/$64M contract. The main reason they're in the bottom third of the league, though? The Wizards still owe Wall, whose game and dedication to it may have already hit their ceiling, $170M after this season. 

We're only one year into general manager John Hammond's tenure with the Magic, thus, the grade is somewhat incomplete. His major moves so far have included re-signing Aaron Gordon to a four-year/$84M extension and drafting Jonathan Isaac and Mo Bamba. Those all appear to be solid, albeit trend-bucking, moves. The only problem is that he's failed to get even a mediocre point guard on the court to help get these big guys the ball. You can't expect young bigs to develop much when D.J. Augustin is the best passer they've ever played with.

It's still early in the Mitch Kupchak era, but he's made enough decisions to give some semblance of a ranking. First, he hired James Borrego from the Gregg Popovich coaching tree. Next, he drafted the bouncy and talented Miles Bridges. Both of those moves appear to be solid decisions. His next major decision, however, will be the most important one: what to do with Kemba Walker? Walker has the look of an All-NBA guard early this season, but will he ever be good enough to take the Hornets deep in the playoffs? If Kupchak doesn't think so, then he better start working the phones for the best trade offer (and probably should have done so already).

Koby Altman deserves a B-minus/C-plus for his efforts last season. He got crushed on the Kyrie Irving deal, although he started behind the eight ball. He failed to acquire a Kemba Walker-type player to give LeBron James an adequate running mate for the playoffs, but he succeeded in reinvigorating James around the deadline while avoiding trading the team's next most important asset: the Nets' pick. It was an eventful year, and Altman showed the ability and willingness to try things but not get carried away. Now, he's drafted Collin Sexton and signed Kevin Love to a massive extension. Let's see whether the youth movement or playoff aspirations win out in Cleveland.

Pat Riley's spot on these rankings was much better about a week ago when the Heat seemed destined to land Jimmy Butler in a trade from the Timberwolves. Since those trade talks have subsided for now, the Heat's front office surprisingly lands in the bottom half of the league. Riley is obviously a Hall of Fame executive, but he's been sliding by on reputation alone in the post-LeBron era, as he's made questionable use of his cap space on the likes of Hassan Whiteside, Tyler Johnson and Dion Waiters. While he has a couple of nice prospects in Josh Richardson and Justise Winslow, he hasn't landed the proverbial "big one" in free agency or via trade. Perhaps it's a cold streak that he's about to bust out of with a vengeance, or perhaps his hard-driving, no-nonsense mentality doesn't connect with the younger generations. Whatever it is, the Heat need to figure it out and make a major move to get themselves off the current hamster wheel of mediocrity they're running on.

There certainly have been some dark times during the Dell Demps era with the Pelicans. However, his recent performance should give fans at least a small ray of hope as they approach Anthony Davis' pending free agency. In addition to drafting Davis (a no-brainer), Demps has quietly made some smart decisions like hiring Alvin Gentry, trading for Nikola Mirotic and signing Julius Randle. He's made some nice gambles as well like trading for DeMarcus Cousins and signing Rajon Rondo last year. However, like John Horst in Milwaukee, everything comes down to whether he can convince his superstar to stay in free agency. While the Pelicans early success this season has been promising, Davis' signing with Klutch Sports has to have Demps nervous as hell moving forward.

Marc Cuban and Donnie Nelson deserve credit for maintaining a great relationship with their franchise player (Dirk Nowitzki) his entire career. Though the younger generation seems more apt to change teams, doing right by a superstar throughout his career does not go unnoticed around the league. Cuban and Nelson have also nailed the past two drafts by landing Dennis Smith Jr. and Luka Doncic. And while their infatuation with DeAndre Jordan is a little perplexing, signing him to a one-year deal this offseason allows them to try to compete for a playoff spot while simultaneously giving their young playmakers a professional, rim-running center to work with all season. While Cuban has crushed it on the basketball end recently, he gets docked for the Mavericks' ugly problems on the non-basketball side of his business.

Think former Warriors assistant general manager and current Hawks general manager Travis Schlenk has a type? He helped build a championship team around a savvy point guard with unlimited range (Steph Curry), a sharpshooting wing (Klay Thompson) and a versatile small-ball big man (Draymond Green) in Golden State. Now, with his three 2018 first round draft picks, he selected a savvy point guard with unlimited range (Trae Young), a sharpshooting wing (Kevin Huerter) and a versatile small-ball big (Omari Spellman). While the Hawks trio pales in comparison to the Warriors' trio, you have to credit Schlenk for understanding the direction the NBA is going and trying to mold a team around it. You just hope for Schlenk's sake, that Luka Doncic doesn't end up making him look like a fool for passing on him.

Elton Brand is "brand new" (pun intended) to the job, having been promoted months after the Bryan Colangelo Twitter burner account scandal. While he technically wasn't hired until after the draft and free agency, we'll give him credit for the draft-day trade in which the team acquired an unprotected first round draft pick from the Heat. That was a nice move, but the 76ers weren't able to capitalize on their open max salary slot this summer, so Brand's ranking can't be too high just yet. We'll see if he can make something happen this season around the trade deadline.

Since being hired a little more than a year ago, Bucks general manager John Horst has followed a smart blueprint for trying to keep his Hall of Fame talent (Giannis Antetokounmpo) around. First he fired Jason Kidd, whose message had begun to fall upon deaf ears. Next, he hired a successful and well-regarded head coach (Mike Budenholzer). This summer he let a potential malcontent walk (Jabari Parker) and signed shooters to spread the court around Giannis (Brook Lopez, Ersan Ilyasova) and drafted the same (Donte DiVincenzo). It was a successful first year on the job for Horst. Now let's see how he handles Khris Middleton's free agency next summer.

Lawrence Frank and Jerry West took over the reins from Doc Rivers last year and have put on a clinic on how to turn around a franchise's long-term outlook on the run while remaining competitive. Much like the Raptors with DeMar DeRozan, the front office made the tough decision to fully move on from the Lob City core when it acquiesced to a Chris Paul trade to the Rockets, didn't pursue JJ Redick very hard in free agency, traded Blake Griffin and let DeAndre Jordan walk this summer. They've left themselves with a young core built around Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jerome Robinson and Tobias Harris. And here's the key: two max contract spots for next summer when practically half the NBA's superstars will be free agents.

A year ago, everyone in the NBA was critical of Pacers' team president Kevin Pritchard for the return he received in the Paul George trade. Little did people know, Victor Oladipo was about to morph into an All-NBA player and Domantas Sabonis had some serious game. Now, armed with a great core to build around, Pritchard took a couple of calculated risks this offseason, signing Tyreke Evans and Doug McDermott, extending Myles Turner and drafting Aaron Holiday. Is Pritchard smarter than the rest of us, or did he catch a huge break with Oladipo? We'll find out in the next year or two, but for now we have to give him the benefit of the doubt.

When Sean Marks was named general manager of the Nets in 2016, he was handed the keys to a soulless franchise, void of important draft picks and lacking appeal to free agents. Today, he has them in a position where they're not only expected to contend for the playoffs but they're also a preferred destination of one of the league's best players (Jimmy Butler). Since taking over, he hired a good coach (Kenny Atkinson), acquired low-risk, high-reward draft picks (Caris LeVert) and took flyers on talented castoffs (D'Angelo Russell, Spencer Dinwiddie). When he's had his own first round pick, he's nailed that as well (Jarrett Allen). The Nets are finally out from under the failed Kevin Garnett/ Paul Pierce trade, and the future looks bright thanks to the job Marks has done since taking over.

Replacing Masai Ujiri isn't easy, but Tim Connelly has done an impressive job in recent years. Not only did he find a potential Hall of Fame player in the second round with Nikola Jokic, but he's also drafted an impressive surrounding core with Jamal Murray, Gary Harris and, hopefully, Michael Porter Jr. Moreover, he's acquired other contributors in Paul Millsap, Will Barton and Isaiah Thomas. While he's made a few mistakes (like drafting Emmanuel Mudiay), he's deserving of a top-10 spot on this list.

Much like the Jazz roster, Utah's general manager, Dennis Lindsey, is vastly underrated. He identified a star of a head coach in Quin Snyder, a former coaching castoff whose journey to the NBA after being dismissed from Missouri is the stuff of legends . Lindsey also found two All-NBA caliber players deep in the first round with Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell. Finally, he identified a high-end role player off the streets in Joe Ingles and made him a competent replacement for Gordon Hayward somehow. The guy knows what he's doing, and the Jazz's future is bright.

Although it hasn't paid early dividends, Magic Johnson and Rob Pelinka's grand plan to bring Showtime back and build a contender around LeBron James is going to work (assuming James stays healthy). Heck, they've already accomplished the hardest step of all: They got LeBron to commit to a four-year contract. Additionally, the Lakers have the young assets to either groom into elite running mates or trade for another superstar. They also have a solid young coach (Luke Walton) and a max cap slot for next summer. Magic and Pelinka have set themselves up beautifully. Now they just have to execute and acquire the right pieces around The King.

Every time people start to doubt Sam Presti, he seems to pull off a miracle. He did it with the Paul George trade (although Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis ended up being better than expected). He did it with the Paul George re-signing. He did it again with the Dennis Schroder trade, which ridded the team of Carmelo Anthony's contract. Outside of the Harden trade, Presti's been damn near perfect. Hell, look at who he's drafted: Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, James Harden, Serge Ibaka, Steven Adams and Reggie Jackson. If a couple of unfortunate injuries or small breaks had gone differently, Presti could have a handful of rings by now. He's a top-flight general manager who works best with his back against the wall. What more could a team ask for?

Credit Masai Ujiri. The dude has guts. Realizing that the team had a defined ceiling as a "fake" contender, he made two difficult business decisions this offseason: He fired the Coach of the Year (Dwane Casey), and he traded the franchise's best player (DeMar DeRozan) for Kawhi Leonard. As hard as the fans and players took the moves, Ujiri made the right decision in both regards because the job is to win championships, not make people happy. The early returns have been great, as the Raptors won a competitive, playoff-like game against the Celtics in their second game of the season — announcing to the world that they were contenders in the East. In addition to the Leonard trade (which also brought in Danny Green), Ujiri has nailed some draft picks as well, including OG Anunoby, Delon Wright and Pascal Siakam. As long as Nick Nurse can hang as a head coach, look out for the Raptors.

Though it's but a small blemish in the grand scheme of things, the Kawhi Leonard fiasco knocks RC Buford and Gregg Popovich down a spot or two, as these rankings favor recent accomplishments over lifetime achievements. That being said, the Spurs have found success on all general managing fronts during the Popovich-Buford reign — they won five championships, drafted Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker, traded for Kawhi Leonard and even signed LaMarcus Aldridge. With the end in sight, we'll see if RC and Pop have one more championship run in them over the next couple of years.

Though the fruits of his labor have not resulted a championship yet, Daryl Morey is easily a top-five general manager in basketball. His ability to understand and manipulate the cap is second to none. The deal that brought Chris Paul to town was nothing short of magic. His eye for talent — both for coaches and players — is near the top of the league as well. He saw a superstar in James Harden when most people were merely excited that he'd become the Sixth Man of the Year. He also snagged Chandler Parsons in the second round and Clint Capela at the end of the first round. One thing we know for certain: Morey is going to make another big move this season as seen by the opening up of cap room with the recent Ryan Anderson trade. If he makes the right move, Morey might be in the conversation for No. 1 next season.

Much like the aforementioned Bob Myers, Danny Ainge's most important move was hiring the right coach. Having acquired a treasure chest of future unprotected first round draft picks from the Nets, Ainge needed a brilliant basketball mind and mentor to develop the team's future assets. Enter Brad Stevens. Together, the two drafted and developed the likes of Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, Terry Rozier and Marcus Smart. They convinced Al Horford and Gordon Hayward to sign with Boston. They even parlayed a once-in-a-lifetime season out of Isaiah Thomas into Kyrie Irving. If that weren't enough, Ainge still has the Celtics set up with three awesome future draft picks: the Kings' pick (top-one protected), the Grizzlies' pick (top-eight protected) and the Clippers' pick (lottery protected). Incredible.

As much as I want to put Danny Ainge and the Celtics in this top spot for having the younger assets along with the Kings', Grizzlies' and Clippers' future first round picks, I would be remiss if I did not have Bob Myers and the Warriors in the No. 1 spot. After all, the ultimate goal of every great front office is to win championships — which is exactly what the Warriors have done, winning three of the past four titles. While Myers inherited Steph Curry, he was basically responsible for every other player on the roster. He drafted Klay Thompson and Draymond Green. He orchestrated two of the most shocking signings in NBA history (Kevin Durant and DeMarcus Cousins) and two of the more underrated signings in the past decade (Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston). And before all that, he made the most important move of all: He hired Steve Kerr. Myers gets an A-plus all around.