This WNBA GM should already be a lock for Executive of the Year

The ability to make a championship caliber team even better by adding the perfect piece is an underrated skill.

Sports executives are both crucial and underrated factors in winning. They are responsible not only for building their teams but also for maintaining them, managing them, and ensuring they have what they need to succeed. In a league as small and as talented as the WNBA, figuring out the perfect combination of players is more of a chess match than simple roster construction. You need to blend skill sets and personalities, and make sure you have enough depth to be able to defeat the other best players in the world every single night.

The New York Liberty may have found the perfect balance in their 2025 squad. That’s saying a lot for a reigning championship team, but this year’s New York roster may be even better than they were last year. The ability to take a championship team and still level up in crucial areas is impressive, but for Liberty General Manager Jonathan Kolb, it’s just part of the chess game he’s been playing for years.

Kolb has been a part of this Liberty team since 2019, when ownership transferred to Joe and Clara Wu Tsai, and is one of the biggest reasons for the ascension of this franchise. It started with drafting Sabrina Ionescu, signing Betnijah Laney-Hamilton, and bringing on Sandy Brondello as head coach. From there, he set his sights on signing Jonquel Jones and Breanna Stewart, acquiring both heading into the 2023 WNBA season. His efforts paid off, of course, with the 2024 WNBA Championship, but Kolb saved maybe his most brilliant move for 2025.

Somehow, he was able to convince the Connecticut Sun to trade Natasha Cloud to the New York Liberty earlier this year — a move that seems to be working both on and off the court. Cloud admitted she almost signed with the Liberty instead of Phoenix when she was a free agent in 2024, but ended up in New York at the perfect time, regardless. It was clear when the fans gave her a standing ovation a few years ago after a gritty and hard-fought first-round playoff series while she still played with the Washington Mystics that they would be happy to welcome her to the Liberty. The way the mutual relationship between Cloud and the Liberty has blossomed just puts a microscope on Kolb’s ability to find talent to fit onto an already powerful roster.

Though Cloud is from Philadelphia and not New York, the city’s fans have embraced her for her grit and personality. Until the WNBA expands to Philadelphia in the future, it seems New York is adopting Cloud as one of their own.

Cloud has been exactly what the Liberty needed this season. An experienced and energetic point guard who can score when needed, but who also impacts the game on every level. Cloud bolsters the Liberty’s defense, can dish it out to others for assists, and knows the balance between playmaking and shot-making. She’s already having a career season in New York, winning her first career Eastern Conference Player of the Week award in May.

Cloud’s 10 points per game this season may not stick out to the casual box score reader, but it’s everything else on top of providing that offensive boost that makes her key to New York’s 8-0 start of the season. She has a defensive rating of 87.7, meaning that the Liberty only allow that many points per 100 possessions during her time on the floor. If the number itself doesn’t mean much to you, just know that it puts her within the 98th percentile of this specific statistic league-wide.

When it comes to Cloud’s other advanced stats — those deeper numbers that try to gauge a player’s overall value to their team — Cloud does not dip below the 84th percentile in any category. That’s career-high numbers for a veteran with over a decade of experience playing in the WNBA. Cloud ranks 5th overall in the WNBA for total win shares at 1.4, another in-depth statistic that estimates the total number of wins a single player produces for their team through their play. For reference, Breanna Stewart currently tops that list at 2.0.

Beyond the statistics, Cloud’s impact on her Liberty team stretches far beyond the court. Through her positive and energetic personality, she seems to be lifting her teammates with her, and is just radiating happiness to be playing for New York. She’s been filmed stopping to make TikTok videos with the Liberty’s all-kid dance crew, she’s often a part of the Liberty’s famous mascot, Big Ellie’s, performances and social media posts. She stops to talk to fans and take pictures, and everyone from the players to the staff to the fans seems to be just as in love with her as she is with them.

What does this have to do with Jonathan Kolb? Well, everything. It’s because of him Cloud is in New York, as he’s worked for years to get her there. He yet again successfully brought in the perfect talent for his team, and championship or not, he deserves a second Executive of the Year trophy for this move alone.