Brad Stevens, not Leon Rose, wins Executive of the Year

Brad Stevens, President of Basketball Operations for the Boston Celtics, has received the NBA’s Executive of the Year for the 2023-24 season. This marks Stevens’ first win of the award since transitioning from the team’s head coach to the executive position three seasons ago.

Under Stevens’ guidance, the Celtics achieved the league’s best record during the regular season, 64-18. His key acquisitions included Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis, and he successfully unburdened the team of Grant Williams.

The award was decided by a panel of team basketball executives from across the NBA. Rounding out the top three were Sam Presti (Oklahoma City Thunder) and Tim Connelly (Minnesota Timberwolves).

Mostly overlooked in the voting was New York Knicks Team President, Leon Rose. The taciturn Rose finished in fourth place after receiving one first-place vote, six second-place votes, and four third-place votes. I’ve heard that league execs tend to frown on former agents and maybe that’s the issue here. Before taking the Knicks gig in March 2020, Rose had an illustrious career with CAA, where he represented hoopers like LeBron James and negotiated some fat contracts.

One of Rose’s first duties was to hire a new coach, and he brought on TomThibodeau to helm the team. Thibodeau took 2020-21 Coach of the Year honors, and in their four seasons under the Rose-Thibodeau leadership, the Knicks have gone 175-143, and have appeared in the playoffs three times. This season, despite numerous injuries to key players, the Knicks finished second in the NBA Eastern Conference.

Rose is developing a reputation for securing talent at very reasonable prices. He is responsible for signing Jalen Brunson, the team’s best point guard since Walt Frazier, to a four-year, $104 million contract in the summer of 2022. He locked up rapid-riser Miles McBride to a three-year, $13 million deal in December 2023. And he had the foresight to put Donte DiVincenzo on the books for a 4 year, $46.87 million deal. We could go on.

During the 2022-23 campaign, Rose shrewdly flipped Cam Reddish and spare change for Josh Hart, a trade that continues to pay massive dividends. This season, Rose swapped RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley for OG Anunoby, Precious Achiuwa, and Malachi Flynn, then traded Quentin Grimes and Flynn for Bojan Bogdanovic and Alec Burks. Truly, Rose and Thibs have almost completely overhauled the roster, with only Mitchell Robinson and Julius Randle carrying over from the previous regime.

The league might not recognize the work that Rose has done, but Knicks fans do. Take a bow, Leon.

Read the NBA’s official announcement at https://www.nba.com/news/brad-stevens-nba-executive-of-year-2024.