The Los Angeles Lakers will repeat themselves as NBA champions, according to a survey of the NBA’s general managers.
That prediction was one of the many findings of NBA.com’s annual survey of its 30 corporate offices ahead of the start of the new season. The survey included 33 questions, ranging from which player they would choose to start a franchise to the best player in each position and who wins the Most Valuable Player award this season.
But one of the most disparate responses in the entire poll was the first question, who will win the title this season?
81% of those polled said the Lakers would repeat in 2021, and that the only other team to get multiple votes was rival LA Clippers, who got 11% of the vote. The only other teams selected were the Brooklyn Nets and Miami Heat.
Milwaukee Bucks power forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, who had just signed a five-year supermax extension to stay with the Bucks, was chosen to win a third consecutive MVP award, something that hasn’t been done yet. since Larry Bird did it in 1984-86.
League executives, however, predict it will be an open race as Antetokounmpo got just 32% of the vote, while five other players: Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic (21%), Lakers attackers 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, are also favorites among general managers when asked which player they would choose to start a franchise. Both players got 43% of the vote, while Davis got 7%. To show how much respect Doncic has earned over the past year, Antetokounmpo was the overall winner last year with 86%.
The league’s general managers voted for the best player in each position: Golden State Warriors point guard Stephen Curry (30%), Houston Rockets guard James Harden (68%), James (57%) forward, Antetokounmpo (46%) in power forward and Jokic (50%) in center.
They also found that the Lakers (37%) had the best offseason, ranked point guard Chris Paul overtook the Phoenix Suns (44%) as the best move and Gordon Hayward signed with the Charlotte Hornets (54%) as the most. surprising.
Additionally, GMs preferred Hornets guard / guard LaMelo Ball (39%) to win Rookie of the Year and Heat coach Erik Spoelstra (46%) to become the league’s top coach. The most promising young core players were the New Orleans Pelicans (41%).