Why the Spurs' R.C. Buford Has Never Won Executive of the Year - And Shouldn't Win It This Year, Either

It all began with a simple conversation on twitter started by Spurs blogger Andrew A. McNeill of 48 Minutes of Hell and Heat blogger Raul Takahashi of Hot Hot Hoops:

From: @aamcneill48MoH
Sent: Jan 26, 2011 1:55p
How has RC Buford never been Executive of the Year?
sent via TweetDeck
On Twitter: http://twitter.com/aamcneill48MoH/status/30337966886883329

From: @MIA_Heat_Index
Sent: Jan 26, 2011 3:56p
@Takahoopshi @aamcneill48MoH Nobody gets Exec. of the Year for taking no-brainers with the #1 pick
sent via web in reply to @Takahoopshi
On Twitter: http://twitter.com/MIA_Heat_Index/status/30368525231067137

From: @Takahoopshi
Sent: Jan 26, 2011 4:20p
@MIA_Heat_Index @aamcneill48MoH If you're referring to Duncan in 97', 13 yrs ago, Pop was the GM at the time. Buford since 02'. #threepeat
sent via TweetDeck in reply to @MIA_Heat_Index
On Twitter: http://twitter.com/Takahoopshi/status/30374562625490945

From: @MIA_Heat_Index
Sent: Jan 26, 2011 4:36p
@Takahoopshi @aamcneill48MoH In that case, what's he done 2 deserve the award? Didn't draft Parker/Ginobili; biggest FAs are Barry & Finley
sent via web in reply to @Takahoopshi
On Twitter: http://twitter.com/MIA_Heat_Index/status/30378599852810240

From: @Takahoopshi
Sent: Jan 26, 2011 5:03p
@MIA_Heat_Index That's an untweetable debate I'm sure @aamcneill48MoH can school everyone on but strong contender for a decade+ is admirable
sent via TweetDeck in reply to @MIA_Heat_Index
On Twitter: http://twitter.com/Takahoopshi/status/30385351348461568

From: @MIA_Heat_Index
Sent: Jan 26, 2011 5:05p
@Takahoopshi @aamcneill48MoH Only problem is that it's not a lifetime achievement award. Even if it was, all he's done is keep big 3.
sent via web in reply to @Takahoopshi
On Twitter: http://twitter.com/MIA_Heat_Index/status/30385803850944512

From: @aamcneill48MoH
Sent: Jan 26, 2011 8:08p
@MIA_Heat_Index But if the Spurs continue to win at the pace they do this year, he'll have one. And it will be absolutely justified.
sent via TweetDeck in reply to @MIA_Heat_Index
On Twitter: http://twitter.com/aamcneill48MoH/status/30431961747038208


The whole conversation was about 40 tweets long, but you get the point. Or maybe you don't. What the hell does this have to do with the Miami Heat?

R.C. Buford is an important story for the Heat because I don't think he deserves the Executive of the Year (XoY) award more than Pat Riley does. Let's see what the Wins Produced stats have to say about whether or not Buford has earned an XoY award as Spurs general manager.

This article will use Win Score and Estimated Wins Produced, statistical models created by Professor David Berri from the Wages of Wins Journal, to measure how much a player's box score statistics contributed to their team's efficiency differential and wins. An average player produces an estimated 0.100 wins per 48 minutes (EWP48), a star player produces 0.200+ EWP48 and a superstar produces 0.300+ EWP48. More information on these stats can be found at the following links:

Simple Models of Player Performance
Wins Produced vs. Win Score
What Wins Produced Says and What It Does Not Say
Introducing PAWSmin — and a Defense of Box Score Statistics


All Wins Produced stats in this post are Powered By NerdNumbers.

R.C. Buford was given the title of Spurs general manager in 2002 when he took over for Gregg Popovich (according to wikipedia, so it must be true). Buford has added 64 players to the Spurs roster since then (according to basketball-reference.com) and those players have produced 148.4 wins to-date. The players added to the roster while Popovich was GM have produced 343.9 wins to-date. So Buford's transactions have contributed to 30 percent of the Spurs' wins produced from the 2002-03 season to now.

That's the problem for Buford - he didn't build a great team as GM, he inherited one. The Executive of the Year award seems to be something given to builders and not heirs. 

The spreadsheet below lists the wins produced by players added to the Spurs roster under Buford vs. Popovich and the XoY from each season.

In his first season as GM, Buford had no shot. He added six players to the Spurs roster that only combined to produce 1 win while Joe Dumars was responsible for adding every player to the Pistons except Michael Curry and Chucky Atkins (two of the three worst players on the team that combined for -0.6 wins produced).

In his second season as GM, the players added by Buford produced 0.2 more wins than the players Jerry West added to the Memphis Grizzlies, but West's additions resulted in the Grizzlies earning the franchise's first playoff berth while the Spurs were a perennial playoff contender when Buford became GM.

In 2005, Buford couldn't compete with Bryan Colangelo, who had assembled a 62-win team in Phoenix where he'd been the GM for 10 years, and was responsible for every player added to the roster.

In 2006, Buford couldn't compete with the lengthy tenure of Elgin Baylor who added every player to the Clippers roster that produced 45 wins and advanced to the second round of the playoffs for only the second time in franchise history.

In 2007, Buford lost to Colangelo again. This time, however, Spurs fans like McNeill could have a legitimate gripe since the additions Buford made to the Spurs roster produced 2.7 more wins than the players Colangelo added to the Raptors. Once again, though, the problem is inheritance. Colangelo's

In 2008, Buford was clearly outdone by Danny Ainge and the NBA champion Celtics squad he assembled. Every player on that team was added while Ainge was the Executive Director of Basketball Operations except for Paul Pierce. Score another one for the builders.

In 2009, the Denver Nuggets GM Mark Warkentien's moves proved to be more productive than Buford's by   about 2 wins. Warkentien inherited players like Carmelo Anthony, Nene and J.R. Smith, but the players he added accounted for 47 percent of the Nuggets wins produced while the players Buford added only accounted for 42 percent of the Spurs wins produced.

In 2010, the Milwaukee Bucks GM John Hammond outperformed Buford with his player personnel moves that accounted for 7.7 more wins and 64 percent of the Bucks' production while Buford's contributions continued to hover around 41 percent.

And in 2011... well, the Heat made some moves with Pat Riley as team president that have given him a considerable lead on Buford in terms of wins produced by players he's added to the Heat roster vs. players Buford's added to the Spurs roster. 

The other problem that Buford has is the health of Parker, Ginobili and Duncan. Parker only played in 56 games last season, but has been healthy for all of this season and that's resulted in less starts and minutes for George Hill (a player added to the roster under Buford's tenure). With a healthy Parker, the Big Three that Buford inherited from Popovich are once again leading the Spurs in Wins Produced.

So Buford shouldn't be XoY this season, either. The award should be given to Pat Riley (or Dwyane Wade). But with the Heat Shit List growing longer as the season goes on, I wouldn't be surprised if the Heat are shut out of several post-season awards the team deserves to win.

So if Buford wins XoY this year, it won't be absolutely justified, Andrew. He should hand it over to Popovich, instead. 

And hopefully, Popovich will remember what he told Riley this summer and send it over to Biscayne Boulevard.