NBA Award Watch: Harden, Porzingis and Lillard make their first appearances

With Week 3 in the books, we’re handing out awards to players for their amazing performances, showcasing different skills — on and off the court.

In this weekly column, I’ll start to hand out awards based on the performances of the previous week. Obviously, some weeks I’ll take a look at the major NBA honors, including MVP, Defensive Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year, Sixth Man of the Year, Coach of the Year, Most Improved Player and Executive of the Year. Other than these usual honors, I’ll also hand out awards for the Best Dunk, Dazzling Dime, Perfect Play, Fantastic Fashion and Terrific Tweet.

Let’s go ahead and select winners for the third week in the #NBAAwardWatch.

Executive of the Year

All throughout the offseason, there was one executive that was continuously ridiculed in the media for almost pulling the trigger on every possible move. Regardless of free agency or trade, this general manager had a bevy of assets under his belt, but seemed to be gun shy when push came to shove.

Yet in late August, Danny Ainge added Kyrie Irving via trade and it could forever change the fortune of his franchise. Not to mention he added Gordon Hayward via free agency and Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum via draft.

Their future looks solidified for years to come, even though Hayward is out for 2017-18 with that horrific leg injury. Numerous young players are contributing alongside Irving, giving the Celtics a league-best 9-2 record, including nine straight wins, including a win on Monday over the Atlanta Hawks.

It still might not matter in May against LeBron James, but to set your team up for the long haul like Ainge has, Executive of the Year honors are well deserved.