NBA GMs pick Los Angeles Lakers to defend championship in poll

The Los Angeles Lakers will rehearse as NBA champions, according to a survey of NBA general managers.

That prediction was one of many takeaways from NBA.com’s annual survey of the 30 front offices before the start of the new season. The survey consisted of 33 questions, ranging from which player would they choose to start a franchise, to the top player in each position, to the winner of this year’s Most Valuable Player award.

But one of the most uneven responses in the entire survey was to the first question: who will win the title this season?

Eighty-one percent of respondents said the Lakers would repeat in 2021, with the only other team to receive multiple votes being rival LA Clippers, who got 11 percent of the vote. The only other teams selected were the Brooklyn Nets and Miami Heat.

Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, who just signed a five-year supermax extension to stay with the Bucks, has been picked to win a third consecutive League MVP award – something that hasn’t been done since that Larry Bird did from 1984 to 1986..

League officials predict the race will be wide open, however, as Antetokounmpo only received 32% of the vote, while five other players – Dallas Mavericks goalie Luka Doncic (21%), Lakers forwards Anthony Davis and LeBron James (18%)), Nets forward Kevin Durant (7%) and Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic (4%) – also received votes.

Antetokounmpo and Doncic, meanwhile, were also GM favorites when asked which player they would choose to start a franchise. Both players got 43% of the vote, while Davis received 7%. To show the respect Doncic has earned over the past year, Antetokounmpo was the winner of last year’s runaway with 86%.

The league’s general managers voted the best player in each position to be Golden State Warriors point guard Stephen Curry (30%), Houston Rockets shooting guard James Harden (68%), James (57%) at small attacker, Antetokounmpo (46%) to power forward and Jokic (50%) to the center.

They also determined that the Lakers (37%) had the best offseason and noted that goaltender Chris Paul going to the Phoenix Suns (44%) was the best shot and forward Gordon Hayward to the Charlotte Hornets (54%). was the most surprising. .

Additionally, general managers favored Hornets goalie LaMelo Ball (39%) to win rookie of the year and Heat coach Erik Spoelstra (46%) to be named top coach in the league. The most promising young core of players went to the New Orleans Pelicans (41%).