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2015 NBA Award Picks: MVP, ROY, MIP, DPOY, COY

By Trisity Miller

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Executive of the Year

Sep 26, 2014; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward Kevin Love (0), Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) and guard Kyrie Irving (2) pose for a photo during media day at Cleveland Clinic Courts. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports

Winner: David Griffin (Cleveland)

This award was won this past summer when the Cavaliers signed LeBron James and later traded for Kevin Love. But Griffin’s stamp on this season, and opportunity to turn the Cavaliers into true contenders despite having a Big 3 in James, Love, and Kyrie Irving, was his mid-season acquisitions of J.R. Smith, Timofey Mozgov and Iman Shumpert.

Having James, Love, and Irving was never enough and that showed in the beginning of the season and with the assets at hand, Griffin could’ve have better filled the puzzle around them — Shumpert is a nice toy to throw at opposing point guards (Lowry, Rose, Wall, etc.), J.R. Smith is living up to the 3-and-D tag and Mozgov is protecting the rim in a way no player on the roster could do before, allowing the top offense to be complimented with a top defense.

Most importantly, Griffin somehow traded Dion freaking Waiters for a first-round pick. That’s a good enough for David Griffin to win 4-straight EOY awards.

Tom West:

Winner: David Griffin (with LeBron James — Cleveland)

This may not be the most exciting award, but David Griffin has certainly done his part by allowing LeBron James to operate as the ultimate puppet master this year. Since last summer, LeBron has been instrumental in recruiting Kevin Love, James Jones, Mike Miller, Timofey Mozgov, Iman Shumpert, J.R. Smith,and even Kendrick Perkins.

Whether he’s drawn in free agents, or served as the sole reason as to why players want to join the Cavaliers in the first place, LeBron has become the NBA’s first player-GM. With David Griffin structuring the salary cap and overseeing this plethora of moves that have finally turned the Cavs into a title contender, he should be the clear favourite for executive of the year.