The Annual NBA GM Survey Is Out And Some Of The Results Will Surprise You

Zach Beeker. Getty Images.

I love this survey. Every year it's an immediate must read for me. It's one thing for people outside of the NBA to give their rankings and predictions, but those are mostly for clicks and to troll online. What I love about the GM survey is we get to have a look into how people involved with the league think. Some of the results were about what you should expect, but there were some interesting nuggets in there. Let's have a look

We may as well start with the big one, and frankly it's hard to debate the response at this moment in time. Do I like having to type that sentence? Of course not, but fair is fair. If you're the defending champs, you get the respect. That's even more true when you also improve your roster. OK let's move on because I'm about to vomit.

Sounds like GMs are done taking the Sixers cheese. I don't really have a problem with how they have the East ranked. Maybe I swap Miami and Boston but look the Heat won the ECF so that's fine by me. The shocking part is where they have the Raptors. I thought last year they proved that they could win without Kawhi, I get losing Gasol/Ibaka…but a 6 seed? For a team that won over 50 games last year? That was a surprise. It seems odd to have more confidence in the Pacers who have two stars coming off injury over someone like the Wizards who just added an MVP caliber player, but maybe they're 8th or something.

In the West, it's not all that different from what we saw last year. The big riser is the Mavs, but they've been getting hype all offseason so that didn't surprise me. I do think it's interesting that the Warriors are so low, even without Klay. They had a good offseason and if they remain heathly that defense should be good enough for a top 5 seed. Remember, the Mavs and Blazers cannot stop a nosebleed defensively. You can see how competitive this conference is going to be when teams like MEM/NO aren't in the playoff picture. 

Considering the Thunder are now SGA's team, I can see why he's at the top with MPJ who should also get an improved role with the Nuggets now that Jerami Grant is gone. I'm looking at De'Aaron Fox though. He got the max extension this offseason, so now it's time to take the legit leap into All Star caliber production. He may not make it because the West is stacked with guards, but he should still be able to put up the numbers. It's sort of a prove it year for him after he did not take the leap last year.

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I do think a sneaky dark horse candidate is Jamal Murray though. Given what we saw in the bubble that was pretty much the definition of a breakout performance. If he replicates that consistently this season, he's the choice.

Maybe it's just me, but when people talk about the best PG in the league, I feel like Steph Curry still gets disrespected. You get a lot of Dame, or Kyrie, or Luka, but last time I checked Steph Curry was still alive. GMs clearly know how good he is and as long as he's in the league I don't see how he shouldn't own the top spot. His defense is now passable, he has the best range in the league and he's won MVPs. End of discussion. 

Even the GMs couldn't believe the Hornets gave Hayward 120M. I'm actually surprised that Wall/Westbrook ranked ahead of Jerami Grant. While the trade was a shock, was it surprising? The money lined up, they both asked to be traded. Jerami Grant turned down the same money from a contending team in the West that he just had a great year with…..to join the Pistons. How does that make any goddamn sense. 

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Hey Brad got some votes! Hard to argue with how this list shakes out though. I will say it's interesting that Pop still got so much love despite missing the playoffs and Kerr fell off due to injuries and missing the playoffs. I also think Rick Carlisle forever gets slept on yet the Mavs never really tank and he's one of the best in game adjustment coaches the league has.

Now this list shocked me. I guess the question is what do they consider "young"? Like, the Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid are still young. Is it 24 and under or something? I'm not sure how you could put the Hawks on the same level as the Celts/Nuggets who are both in the top 3 of their conference and have made deep playoff runs. I also don't know how Luka can be one of the best players in the league and playing next to a unicorn and be so far below the Hawks. 

I'm not sure I would have Luka in my top 4. Yeah, he had that one bucket against the Clippers this posteason, but his clutch numbers are sneaky dogshit. I think that's more perception than actual production. You could throw someone like Tatum, Booker, Beal, Kyrie, Murray, etc in there and I think it's a stronger list. I certainly wouldn't have him over CP3 who is one of the best clutch time shooters in NBA history and was without a doubt the best clutch player last year. 

Thankfully the season starts next week so we don't have to wait long to see just how accurate these results might be.