Bulls GM wins NBA Exec of the Year

By Benjy Lipsman in News on May 10, 2011 6:20PM

The NBA announced this morning that Bulls GM Gar Forman was named Executive of the Year in a tie with Miami Heat president Pat Riley.

Riley managed to lure LeBron James and Chris Bosh to the Heat, while retaining Dwyane Wade to piece together a threesome that many expected to blow out the rest of the league. They won 58 games and are a game away from the Eastern Conference Finals.

Forman and boss John Paxson stockpiled huge amounts of salary cap space with the intention of signing one or two of the free agents that signed with the Heat. Falling back on Plan B, they brought in Carlos Boozer, Kyle Korver, Ronnie Brewer and others. They also hired unproven head coach Tom Thibodeau. Those moves resulted in a Bulls team that jumped from 41 wins to a league-best 62.

While Riley and Forman each received 11 votes for the award, selected by their peers, it's interesting to note that Paxson finished third in the voting with three votes. So while the Bulls franchise has to share the award, they did receive a league-high 14 votes overall. Regardless, the Bulls add yet another piece of hardware to the trophy case. Last week, Thibodeau won Coach of the Year and Derrick Rose was named league MVP.