Report: Raptors 905 GM Chad Sanders wins G League Executive of the Year
Though the end of their season was abrupt, the Raptors 905 put together a winning campaign under some trying circumstances. Kudos and congrats to Chad Sanders!
After a 12-3 campaign in the shortened 2021 G League season in the Orlando Bubble — which is, yes, quite a mouthful — the Raptors 905 can add another accolade to their awards cabinet. As reported by ESPN, the team’s general manager Chad Sanders has been named the G League Executive of the Year for 2021.
Raptors 905 GM Chad Sanders will be named the G-League’s Executive of the Year, sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) March 15, 2021
Yes, the 905’s season didn’t quite end the way they wanted it to, with a second round knockout in the playoffs last week, but the team did come together for a successful year, finishing atop the regular season standings. In this effort, Sanders was tasked with assembling a team quickly, plugging holes on the roster caused by the needs of the parent Raptors club, and adjusting to life in the Bubble for the past month or so. Some of the credit here goes to players like Alize Johnson, Henry Ellenson (recently called up), and Jalen Harris excelling over the past 17 games, plus rookie head coach Patrick Mutombo rising to the challenge too, but it’s cool to see Sanders get his due too.
Previously the Raptors 905 had claimed the Coach of the Year honours (in 2017 for Jerry Stackhouse), and a few league and Finals MVPs (for Chris Boucher, Lorenzo Brown, and Pascal Siakam), they’d even won a pair of Defensive Player of the Year awards too (Boucher again, and Eddy Tavares back in 2017). Sanders winning the Executive of the Year Award completes the cycle for the 905, and cements their legacy as one of the best — if not the best — franchise in the G League.
Congrats to Chad Sanders, and congrats once again to the Raptors 905.