Boston Celtics GM Danny Ainge has been named the 2007-08 Executive of the Year. Ainge, a Celtics legend as a player in his own right, completely overhauled the Celts' roster and almost singlehandedly orchestrated the composition (note: not the execution, that honor goes to the coaching staff and players) of the team that achieved the greatest single season turnaround in NBA history. Thanks to Ainge and Co.'s handiwork, the 2007-08 Boston Celtics finished with a league-best 66-16 record. Compare that to the 2006-07 Celts, who went an Eastern Conference worst 24-58, and it's easy to say why Ainge was the clear pick for the award. Ainge signed numerous role players with valuable playoff experience prior to the season and down the stretch (James Posey, Eddie House, Sam Cassell, P.J. Brown) and traded one potential star (Al Jefferson), a bunch of fringe starters and bench guys (Gerald Green, Jeff Green, Ryan Gomes, Sebastian Telfair, Theo Ratliff, Delonte West, Wally Szczerbiak) and draft picks to the Timberwolves and Sonics for two of the game's biggest stars in Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen. To fully comprehend the effects of these moves, here's a comparison between the opening day starters and top 3 backups from 2007-08 and 2006-07:

	2007-08	2006-07
Point Guard	Rajon Rondo	Sebastian Telfair
Shooting Guard	Ray Allen	Delonte West
Small Forward	Paul Pierce	Paul Pierce
Power Forward	Kevin Garnett	Wally Szczerbiak (SF)
Center	Kendrick Perkins	Kendrick Perkins
Bench	James Posey	Al Jefferson
Bench	Eddie House	Ryan Gomes
Bench	Tony Allen	Rajon Rondo

Yeah, we got a lot weaker at the center position by giving up Jefferson and having to rely on Perk as a starter (although Leon Powe has really stepped up in the backup role when Doc puts him in at center)... and we had to give up two first rounders to facilitate the KG deal... but it's nearly impossible to argue that those moves haven't paid off so far. Now if we could just win a road game in the playoffs.