The NBA announced Monday night that LA Clippers President of Basketball Operations Lawrence Frank had finished third in Executive of the Year voting.
During Monday night’s NBA Awards, the NBA announced that LA Clippers President of Basketball Operations, Lawrence Frank, had finished third in the Executive of the Year voting. Frank finished behind only the Denver Nuggets’ Tim Connelly and the Milwaukee Bucks’ Jon Horst.
Frank has maintained a front office role with the LA Clippers since 2016, when he was promoted from the coaching staff to Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations. Since then, he’s been crucial in helping the Clippers stay afloat in the Western Conference and build towards a potential title run in the near future.
It’s hard for us to say exactly how much of an impact Frank has had on the Clippers’ decision-making process since his promotion, but it’s clear that he’s got an excellent track record.
This past offseason, the Clippers acquired studs like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jerome Robinson via the NBA Draft, and signed solid role players to help the team remain competitive in the stacked Western Conference. He also likely played a large role in the Clippers’ decision to trade Blake Griffin and Tobias Harris, two moves that have helped the team acquire future assets and create the cap space necessary to be able to pursue players like Kawhi Leonard this summer.
Perhaps the biggest testament to Frank’s success is the team’s record — despite being in a “rebuilding” period, the Clippers have arguably operated with an “addition by subtraction” sort of mentality and have targeted hard-nosed veterans to keep control of the team’s on-court product while Frank and the rest of the front office prepare for the future of LA Clippers basketball.
During the 2017-2018 season, the Clippers shipped Griffin, their franchise player, to the Detroit Pistons in a shocking deal. LA could have folded on the rest of the year, but continued to fight hard and remained in the playoff race up until the end of the regular season.
A similar story was true of this past season’s Clippers. After trading away Harris, many, again, expected LA to give up hope of making the playoffs in favor of getting another pick in the draft lottery. Instead, the Clippers added players like Landry Shamet, JaMychal Green and Ivica Zubac and closed the season on a 16-7 run en route to a competitive first round meeting with the Golden State Warriors.
No, Lawrence Frank wasn’t named Executive of the Year, but that was never really the goal. He and the rest of the front office have placed the LA Clippers among the league’s most interesting teams, and with big prizes in their plans this summer, he could help bring the franchise a much larger award than Executive of the Year.