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NBA general managers expect the Boston Celtics to repeat as NBA champions and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to win his first MVP award.
Those are pretty safe choices, but that is the norm for the annual NBA GM survey, which is now out (credit to NBA.com’s John Schuhmann for assembling the list). Be careful using it for predictions, the GMs are wrong more than you might expect, but it’s a great snapshot of the conventional wisdom around the league. Here are a few of the highlights.
• Boston Celtics to repeat as champions. Boston won the title last year and is bringing back its top seven players, so it’s not a shock the Celtics got 83% of the GM’s votes to repeat as NBA champions. The Oklahoma City Thunder got 13% and the Dallas Mavericks just 3%. No GM was willing to name the Knicks or 76ers to topple the Celtics.
• Celtics to earn top seed in East. Boston lapped the field last regular season, so it’s fair to think they can do it again (even if Kristaps Porzingins is out until around Christmas). The predicted top six in the East (in order): Celtics, Knicks, 76ers, Cavaliers, Bucks, Magic.
• Thunder to earn top seed in West. Oklahoma City was the surprising top seed a season ago then upgraded this offseason with Alex Caruso and Isaiah Hartenstein, meaning this choice was not a shock. The predicted top six in the West (in order): Thunder, Timberwolves, Nuggets, Mavericks, Suns, Grizzlies.
• Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to win MVP. SGA finished second in the voting a year ago and will be the head of the snake on a Thunder team projected to come out of the West, making him a logical choice to win the award. Luka Doncic finished a close second in the voting, then there was a drop off to a tie between Joel Embiid, Nikola Jokic and Jayson Tatum. This is one GM vote that tends to be predictive, as evidenced by Nikola Jokic being the choice a season ago.
• Victor Wembanyama player vast majority of GMs would sign if starting a franchise today. This kind of seems like a no brainer, and the surprise isn’t Wemby getting 77% of the vote, it’s that 33% went another direction. Gilgeous-Alexander and Nikola Jokic each got 10% of the…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/2024-25-nba-gm-survey-165812675.html
Author : NBC Sports
Publish date : 2024-10-08 16:58:12
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