In last season’s NBA App GM Survey, the defending champion Milwaukee Bucks were not the favorite to repeat. Instead, the favorite was the Brooklyn Nets — the team that had just lost to the Bucks in Game 7 of the conference semifinals.
This year, the Bucks lost in Game 7 of the conference semis. Now they’re the title favorite for the first time in the 21-year history of the GM Survey.
They’re not an overwhelming favorite, though. In fact, this is just the third time in the last 13 years that no team has received at least 50% of the GM’s votes to win the title. The Golden State Warriors, LA Clippers and Boston Celtics also received multiple votes from the league’s decision-makers.
While the Eastern Conference appears to be stronger than it’s been in the last 20 years, GMs see more parity in the West, where nine different teams received votes (and all nine received multiple votes) to finish in the top four. While the Bucks received 72% of the GM’s votes to win the East, the Warriors and Clippers tied atop the West, each garnering 48% of the votes.
Luka Doncic (23 years old and entering Year 5) and Giannis Antetokounmpo (27 and entering Year 10) are the league’s biggest franchise cornerstones, the only two players to receive votes for the player GMs would most like to start a franchise with. They were also the top two vote-getters for this season’s MVP pick, followed by two-time runner-up Joel Embiid and two-time winner Stephen Curry.
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Orlando Magic rookie Paolo Banchero is the heavy favorite for Rookie of the Year, receiving 79% of the vote, the fourth highest rate in the history of the survey. Erik Spoelstra, meanwhile, has been tabbed as the league’s best coach for the third straight year.
The GMs responded to 50 different questions about the best teams, players, coaches and offseason moves. General managers were not permitted to vote for their own team or personnel. Percentages are based on the pool of respondents to that particular question, rather than all 30 GMs.