Key Members for All 30 NBA Organizations

In the NBA, the most important figures in an organization do not necessarily have to be the max contract superstars. In fact, they do not even have to be the players themselves. After one of the greatest NBA Finals in recent memory, fans are as excited as ever for the season to finally begin. The following list highlights a single individual who will be crucial to the success of every respective team in the NBA for the upcoming 2013/2014 season:

Eastern Conference

Atlantic Division
 

Boston Celtics: Danny Ainge, General Manager – one of the most respected executives in the game today has a tough job ahead working with a team that’s completely starting over. Will Rajon Rondo still be in green by the end of the year?
 

Brooklyn Nets: Lawrence Frank, Assistant Coach – Jason Kidd will have much to learn from his old head coach as he attempts to garner the respect of his veterans including Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce.
 

New York Knicks: Metta World Peace – the artist formerly known as Ron Artest will bring a much needed hard-nosed style to a Knickerbocker team looking to contend in the East once again.
 

Philadelphia 76ers: Sam Hinkie, General Manager – a former Daryl Morey disciple, Hinkie will likely make many of his decisions this season for the rebuilding Sixer squad based on his knowledge of advanced statistical analytics.
 

Toronto Raptors: Masai Ujiri, General Manager – the ex-Denver Nuggets GM will have a difficult task dealing with a team that doesn’t really seem to be going anywhere.  

Central Division
 

Chicago Bulls: Fred Tedeschi, Head Trainer – one of the main storylines of the season is the return of Derrick Rose from the torn ACL he suffered in the 2012 Playoffs. All indications are that he’s back to himself but Tedeschi is one of the few individual who truly know what we may expect to see from the former MVP
 

Cleveland Cavaliers: Andrew Bynum, Center – the Cavs are making a fairly substantial investment in the injury-plagued big man, hoping that he returns to form after spending more time playing with his hair than playing basketball last year.
 

Detroit Pistons: Andre Drummond, Center – huge upside but the question is whether or not he’ll have room to breakout playing alongside Greg Monroe and the newly acquired Josh Smith.
 

Indiana Pacers: Danny Granger, Small Forward - major health concerns like Bynum, but he’s an All-Star caliber player when healthy. If he can provide some scoring for them they have a great shot to dethrone Miami.
 

Milwaukee Bucks: John Henson, Power Forward – showed glimpse of his monstrous potential last year. Has a chance to form a superb defensive tandem with Larry Sanders.

Southeast Division
 

Atlanta Hawks: Mike Budenholzer, Head Coach – whenever you hire Gregg Popovich’s right-hand man for over a decade you know you made a good choice.
 

Charlotte Bobcats: Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Small Forward – very shaky rookie season after being selected 2^nd overall in the 2012 Draft. With sub-par shooting skills he has all the makings of a vintage Michael Jordan bust.
 

Miami Heat: David Fizdale, Assistant Coach – Erik Spoelstra’s top assistant since 2008. Had several head-coaching interviews this offseason. Was a big influence on the taming of the “Birdman” Chris Anderson last year. Can he do the same with Michael Beasley?
 

Orlando Magic: Rob Hennigan, General Manager – youngest GM in the league at age 30 when he was hired last offseason. Who would’ve thought that the Magic would be the team that received the most from the blockbuster Dwight Howard trade.
 

Washington Wizards: Otto Porter, Small Forward - Georgetown product will be asked to play major minutes right away as a rookie. He should fit in nicely playing alongside the upstart backcourt of John Wall and Bradley Beal.

Western Conference

Southwest Division
 

Dallas Mavericks: Jose Calderon, Point Guard – underrated player with a high IQ for the game, but received a four-year deal on a team that desperately needed to add some youth.
 

Houston Rockets: Chandler Parsons, Small Forward – the man that recruited D12 to Houston. If he can build off last year we may see a star in the making.
 

Memphis Grizzlies: John Hollinger, VP of Basketball Operations - had a large say in the decision to not bring back Lionel Hollins after the franchise’s most successful season. Invented Player Efficiency Rating (PER) – a statistic to used to quantify a player’s total in-game performance.
 

New Orleans Pelicans: Monty Williams, Head Coach - lucky to be back after another losing season. Coaching a very talented squad now with additions of Tyreke Evans and Jrue Holliday.
 

San Antonio Spurs: Kawhi Leonard, Small Forward - broke out in last season’s Playoffs. Has a chance to become an All-Star if he continues to play at a high level.

Northwest Division
 

Denver Nuggets: Brian Shaw, Head Coach - finally has his chance to coach a team after years as an assistant. Team lost a great player in Andre Iguodola so we’ll just have to wait and see if they even stay relevant in the highly competitive West.
 

Minnesota Timberwolves: Flip Saunders, President of Basketball Operations - former T-Wolves head coach. Could this be the year they finally make the Playoffs with a healthy core of Kevin Love and Ricky Rubio.
 

Portland Trail Blazers: Nicolas Batum, Small Forward – had yet another underrated season last year. If LaMarcus Aldridge gets traded he’ll be asked to have an even bigger role.
 

Oklahoma City Thunder: Sam Presti, General Manager - clear now that he really missed with the Harden trade. After an early Playoff exit following the injury to Russell Westbrook, there’s much pressure on them to come out of the West again.
 

Utah Jazz: Denins Lindsey, General Manager - did a terrible job in his first year as GM last season as the team missed the Playoffs and got nothing in return for Al Jefferson and Paul Millsap. If this team doesn’t show improvement he could be gone.

Pacific Division
 

Golden State Warriors: Harrison Barnes, Small Forward – superstar talent after his awesome rookie campaign. It’ll be interesting to see how he adapts as a  sixth man after the Iggy signing.
 

Los Angeles Clippers: Doc Rivers, Head Coach - going to bring toughness to a team that was dominated by physical competition last year. Clearly coaching the new best team in the Staples Center.
 

Los Angeles Lakers: Jeanie Buss – Executive VP of Business Operations - as a Laker fan it pains me to say that this is going to be a very long season. Jeanie needs to have a bigger say in the organization because her conceited brother clearly has no knowledge of the game as seen by his decision to go with D’Antoni over his future brother in-law Phil Jackson.
 

Phoenix Suns: Ryan McDonough, General Manager – New GM who learned much over the years from Danny Aigne. Has already made some nice moves acquiring Eric Bledsoe, and trading away Marcin Gortat after drafting Alex Len.

Sacramento Kings: Vivek Ranadive, Owner -  new owner of a team that was in mired in turmoil all season long under the Maloof Brothers. On the bright side, a new regime is in place and the team can’t get much worse than it was last year.