NBA GM calls on Brooklyn Nets to win championship, with Kevin Durant as MVP selection

The Brooklyn Nets are named the big favorites to win this season’s championship by league general managers, and star Kevin Durant is picked as the small favorite to win his second MVP award.

In the annual poll of the 30 general managers released on Tuesday by NBA.com, the Nets received 72% of the vote to win the title, placing them well ahead of the only other teams to get votes: the Los Angeles Lakers (17%) and defending champion Milwaukee Bucks (10%).

The Nets and Bucks, unsurprisingly, also dominated the vote in the Eastern Conference, finishing first and second respectively, and were followed by the Miami Heat, Philadelphia 76ers, Atlanta Hawks, Boston Celtics and Indiana Pacers. Likewise, the Lakers were the top pick in the West, followed by the Utah Jazz, Phoenix Suns, Denver Nuggets, Golden State Warriors, LA Clippers, Dallas Mavericks and Portland Trail Blazers.

After a successful comeback from a torn Achilles last season, including his incredible performance against Milwaukee in the Eastern Conference semifinals, Durant was selected as the first pick for MVP, which would be his first since he was. won with Oklahoma City in 2014.

Durant got 37% of the vote, compared to 33% for Mavericks star Luka Doncic. The other players who received votes were Giannis Antetokounmpo (13%), Joel Embiid (7%) and James Harden (7%) and Stephen Curry (3%), with LeBron James receiving none.

Doncic edged out Antetokounmpo by voting which player would be the first choice to start a franchise, getting 43% of the vote against Antetokounmpo’s 40%. The other players who received votes were Durant, James, Anthony Davis, Zion Williamson and Nikola Jokic.

Antetokounmpo was also named best international player, ahead of Doncic and Jokic.

Meanwhile, Curry, Harden, Durant, Antetokounmpo and Jokic were all easily selected as the best player in each of the five positions, all getting at least 57% of the vote. The only change to this squad from last season is that Durant passed James for the honor of being the best little forward in the league.

Miami was selected as the team with the best offseason, with the acquisition of Kyle Lowry being the runaway pick for the best move of the summer, securing 77% of the vote. Only Russell Westbrook at the Lakers (17%) got more than one vote, with Spencer Dinwiddie in Washington and Jonas Valanciunas in New Orleans also receiving votes.

Westbrook to the Lakers was seen as the most surprising move, while the Portland traded Larry Nance Jr. was picked as the most underrated. The Chicago Bulls – having landed DeMar DeRozan and Lonzo Ball in signing and trade deals this offseason – were chosen because the team expected to improve the most this season.

Rockets goalie Jalen Green had a slight advantage to win Rookie of the Year over Pistons goaltender Cade Cunningham (47-40), while Cavaliers forward Evan Mobley was a slight pick ahead of Cunningham ( 33-30) for which player in this year’s draft class will be the best in five years.

Antetokounmpo was also named the NBA’s best defensive player, ahead of reigning defensive player of the year Rudy Gobert, and was also named most versatile defensive player. The Bucks were slightly ahead of the Jazz (40-33) to be the best defensive team in the league.

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra was the best head coach in the NBA, getting 55% of the vote, with Phoenix’s Monty Williams being chosen as the best motivator, Clippers coach Ty Lue the best fitter in game, with Jazz coach Quin Snyder being the top offensive coach and Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau the top defensive coach.

The Hawks got half the votes to be the team with the most promising young core, while James was chosen as the NBA’s most versatile player and the one with the highest basketball IQ, while that Durant was the selection for who would be their first choice to take. a decisive blow.