Raptors’ GM Colangelo Wins Executive Of Yr. Honour
Posted May 14, 2007 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
He came to a team that was mired in last place and seemed to have missed the playoffs almost as many times as the Leafs. He added key players, re-hired Sam Mitchell, a man who wound up being coach of the year, doubled the number of wins the squad had the year before, watched the players take the Atlantic Division crown and wound up in the post season. It’s small wonder then that Toronto Raptors‘ president and GM Bryan Colangelo has earned the nod for the NBA‘s executive of the year. The prize doesn’t comes as a big surprise – it was rumoured all weekend that the former Phoenix Suns’ boss would take it.
But the announcement became official on Monday when the Sporting News unveiled the honour role. The 41-year-old garnered 29 of the 45 votes, which were all cast by his fellow executives. And it was something of a landslide – Houston’s Carroll Dawson finished second with just nine votes.
Colangelo’s mark on the Raptors is incalculable. The team was in shambles when he arrived, still reeling from the void caused by the loss of superstar Vince Carter. He helped re-sign Chris Bosh, used the Raptors’ number one draft pick to select Italian star Andrea Bargnani, brought over Spanish forward Jorge Garbajosa, acquired Anthony Parker and traded Charlie Villanueva to the Milwaukee Bucks for point guard T.J. Ford.
It’s the second time the head honcho has been honoured with the award. He won it in 2005 when he was still with Phoenix.
