National Basketball Association

Bucks' Hammond is exec of the year

Published Apr. 24, 2010 1:00 a.m. ET

foxsports

Bucks general manager John Hammond has been selected as the NBA executive of the year after the Bucks finished the regular season with 12 more wins than last year and earned their first playoff berth since 2006.

Hammond received 12 of 30 votes from a panel of fellow NBA executives. Oklahoma City's Sam Presti was second with nine votes and Cleveland's Danny Ferry took third with two votes in results the league announced Saturday.

Despite losing Michael Redd to a season-ending knee injury in January, the Bucks finished 46-36 to earn the sixth seed in the East and a first-round matchup with Atlanta. The Hawks led the series 2-0 going into Game 3 at Milwaukee on Saturday night.

Hammond's decision to select Brandon Jennings with the 10th overall pick of last year's draft paid off when the guard earned a starting spot in training camp and went on to average 15.5 points during his rookie season.

The Bucks have emphasized defense since Hammond hired Scott Skiles as the coach when he took over two years ago, going from from allowing 103.9 ppg in 2007-08 (23rd) to 96.0 ppg in 2009-10 (seventh).

The GM also drafted defensive-minded forward Luc Mbah a Moute in 2008 and brought in veterans such as Carlos Delfino, John Salmons, Jerry Stackhouse and Kurt Thomas.

Charlotte's Rod Higgins, Dallas' Mark Cuban, Memphis' Chris Wallace, New Orleans' Jeff Bower, Portland's Kevin Pritchard, Sacramento's Geoff Petrie and Utah's Kevin O'Connor each received one vote.