The results of NBA.com’s 11th annual GM Survey are in. NBA.com once again surveyed the General Managers of all 30 NBA teams, collecting their responses to over 50 questions associated with teams, players, coaches and more. Entering the 2012-13 NBA season, GMs predict the Miami Heat will repeat as NBA Champions; LeBron James will once again take home MVP honors; and New Orleans ’ Anthony Davis will claim Rookie of the Year.
The complete results of the survey are available at NBA.com. General Managers were not allowed to vote for their own team or personnel.
Top vote-getters include:
- Miami Heat – NBA Champion (70 percent of the vote)
- LeBron James, Miami – MVP (66.7 percent)
- Anthony Davis, New Orleans – Rookie of the Year (76.7 percent)
- Los Angeles Lakers –Western Conference Champions (60 percent)
- Chicago Bulls – Best Defensive Team (40 percent)
- Brooklyn Nets – Most Improved Team (62.1 percent)
- Oklahoma City Thunder – Best Home-court Advantage (70 percent) & Most Fun Team to Watch (30 percent)
- Gregg Popovich, San Antonio – Best Head Coach (80 percent)
- Chris Paul, L.A. Clippers – Best Point Guard (69 percent) & Best Leader (27.6 percent)
- Kobe Bryant, L.A. Lakers – Best Shooting Guard (66.7 percent)
- LeBron James, Miami Heat – Best Small Forward (73.3 percent)
- Kevin Love, Minnesota Timberwolves – Best Power Forward (30 percent)
- Dwight Howard, L.A. Lakers – Best Center (93.3 percent) & Best Defensive Player (60 percent)
- Kevin Durant, Oklahoma City Thunder – Player to Take the Last Shot with Game on the Line (46.7 percent)
- Steve Nash, L.A. Lakers – Best Basketball IQ (27.6 percent)
- Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City Thunder – Fastest Player with the Ball (36.7 percent)
- Andre Iguodala, Denver Nuggets – Most Underrated Player Acquisition (16.7 percent)
- Klay Thompson, Golden State – Most Likely to have a Breakout Season (13.3 percent)
- Jared Sullinger, Boston Celtics – Rookie Most Likely to be a “Sleeper” Success (17.2 percent)
NBA.com GM Survey – Interesting Facts:
- GMs have correctly picked the Finals winner six out of the previous 10 years including last year’s prediction of the Heat winning it all. This year, the GMs also picked the Heat to repeat with 70 percent of the vote. The Lakers came in second with 23 percent of votes with the Oklahoma City Thunder rounded out the top three.
- Two players have received top honors from the GMs every year since the survey began – Kobe Bryant as the best shooting guard in the league and Dirk Nowitzki as the best international player.
- San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich held the No. 1 spot for the second year in a row as best head coach, as well as the head coach which is the best manager/motivator of his team and the coach which makes the best in-game adjustments.
- The Lakers were voted as having made the best offseason moves with the acquisitions of Dwight Howard and Steve Nash, replacing the L.A. Clippers as the most-talked-about acquisition of Chris Paul last season.
- The GMs voted Nash’s move to the Lakers as the most surprising offseason acquisition with 39 percent of votes, outpacing the Andrew Bynum/Dwight Howard/Andre Iguodala trade which ranked second with 18 percent of votes.