Celtics' Brad Stevens voted NBA Executive of the Year by his peers

Brad Stevens was bold. He added Kristaps Porzingis to the front line, a risk considering Porzingis' injury history, but it could not have worked out much better. Then, when the opportunity presented itself, he swooped in and added Jrue Holiday to form the best defensive backcourt in the league and add to a stacked roster. In the process of all that he sent out Marcus Smart, Robert Williams, Grant Williams and Malcolm Brogdon — all of it was a risk.

Those moves — and everything he did to build the Boston Celtics into the best team in the NBA this season — earned Brad Stevens the NBA Executive of the Year Award.

Stevens won handily with 16 of the 29 first-place votes of other NBA presidents/GMs, finishing with 101 points (the media do not vote on this award). Second place was the Oklahoma City Thunder's Sam Presti with four first-place votes and 47 points.

Third place went to Tim Connley of Minnesota (who also was the architect of this Denver roster, before he left for the Timberwolves).

Stevens is in his third season as the head of the Celtics' front office after spending eight years as the team's coach. The team he assembled this season went 64-18, the best mark in the NBA by seven games (14 games above the second-place Knicks in the East), along with a +11.7 net rating, The Celtics are one win away against Miami to advancing to the second round of the playoffs.