TWWL is reporting that Forbes.com has named Kevin McHale of the Minnesota Timberwolves the top general manager in sports, based on a simple formula taking into account, “performance vs. the performance of their predecessor, and payroll relative to the league median when compared to their predecessor.”
Frankly, I give McHale barely any credit at all for the recent success (read: a few years ago, not now) that the T-Wolves have enjoyed. More of that credit belongs to Kevin Garnett, and McHale ruined the best team they had by getting rid of Sam Cassell and Latrell Spreewell a few years ago, not to mention the awful Wally Szczerbiak trade last season with the Celtics.
Other notable things about Forbes’ list: no baseball GM was in the top 20, the highest being Oakland Athletics GM/Revolutionary Billy Beane at 26th. Dallas Cowboys owner/GM Jerry Jones is 13th, Boston Red Sox GM/Wunderkind Theo Epstein is 30th, and New York Yankees GM/Tool of the Aristocracy Brian Cashman is 61st.
Three NFL GM’s ranked at the bottom of the list, Matt Millen of Detroit, Mike Brown of Cincinnati, and Michael Lombardi of Oakland.
I question the validity of any formula that puts McHale at the top of a GM effectiveness rating. Any thoughts on what could be a more effective formula to gauge this sort of thing?
