Mar 25, 2015, 12:00 AM ET We're continuing our front-office rankings with a look at the league's lead basketball decision-makers -- team presidents, general managers and, in some cases, owners -- the people who have the strongest say when it comes to transactions.
(On Thursday, we'll reveal our coach rankings, and on Friday, we'll break down our owner rankings. Click here for our overall rankings, which we unveiled Tuesday.)
We asked our ESPN Forecast panel to rate every team's basketball decision-maker(s). In particular, we asked the voters to rate each team's front-office management on its guidance and leadership in terms of how it affects overall on-court success, both in the short and long term.
Here's how they stack up:
Rank Team Rating 1 San Antonio Spurs President: Gregg Popovich | GM: R.C. Buford9.87 2 Golden State Warriors GM: Bob Myers | Consultant: Jerry West | Owner: Joe Lacob8.48 3 Houston Rockets GM: Daryl Morey8.26 4 Miami Heat President: Pat Riley | GM: Andy Elisburg8.04 5 Portland Trail Blazers GM: Neil Olshey7.65 6 Atlanta Hawks GM: Danny Ferry (on indefinite leave) -- in his absence, coach Mike Budenholzer and assistant GM Wes Wilcox have guided basketball ops7.61 7 (tie)Dallas Mavericks GM: Donnie Nelson | Owner: Mark Cuban7.48 7 (tie)Oklahoma City Thunder GM: Sam Presti7.48 9 Boston Celtics GM: Danny Ainge7.39 10 Toronto Raptors GM: Masai Ujiri | VP of basketball ops: Jeff Weltman7.26 11 Cleveland Cavaliers GM: David Griffin | Owner: Dan Gilbert7.09 12 Memphis Grizzlies GM: Chris Wallace | VP of basketball ops: John Hollinger | Owner: Robert Pera7.00 13 Indiana Pacers President: Larry Bird | GM: Kevin Pritchard6.91 14 Chicago Bulls VP of basketball ops: John Paxson | GM: Gar Forman6.78 15 Utah Jazz GM: Dennis Lindsey | Senior VP of basketball ops: Kevin O'Connor6.43 16 Milwaukee Bucks GM: John Hammond | Assistant GM: David Morway6.26 17 Philadelphia 76ers GM: Sam Hinkie5.35 18 Phoenix Suns GM: Ryan McDonough | President: Lon Babby | Owner: Robert Sarver5.26 19 Detroit Pistons President: Stan Van Gundy | GM: Jeff Bower5.22 20 Washington Wizards President: Ernie Grunfeld5.17 21 Orlando Magic GM: Rob Hennigan5.09 22 New Orleans Pelicans GM: Dell Demps4.96 23 Los Angeles Clippers President: Doc Rivers4.87 24 Minnesota Timberwolves President: Flip Saunders | GM: Milt Newton4.57 25 Charlotte Hornets GM: Rich Cho | Owner: Michael Jordan4.39 26 Los Angeles Lakers GM: Mitch Kupchak4.35 27 Denver Nuggets GM: Tim Connelly4.04 28 Sacramento Kings GM: Pete D'Alessandro | Advisor: Chris Mullin | Owner: Vivek Ranadive3.91 29 New York Knicks President: Phil Jackson | VP of basketball ops: Steve Mills2.70 30 Brooklyn Nets GM: Billy King | Chairman: Dmitry Razumov2.48
RELATED CONTENT
Overall rankings | Coach rankings | Owner rankings
Young: Is Sam Presti's plan in OKC misunderstood? »
TrueLA: The trouble with Doc as Clippers GM »
Q&A: Larry Bird on building the Pacers and more »
Q&A: Bob Myers on how Warriors' front office works »
#NBAFrontOffice: Teams that stand out in the rankings