Thunder, Favorites to Repeat the Title According to NBA Survey
The NBA’s annual survey, conducted among the offices of the league’s 30 teams, has revealed that the Oklahoma City Thunder are the favorites to defend their title. With an impressive 80% of NBA general managers betting on OKC to win for a second consecutive year, the Thunder would seek to emulate the Golden State Warriors, who managed to repeat in 2018.
Other teams such as the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Denver Nuggets also received some votes, while the Houston Rockets and the New York Knicks each obtained a selection.
The survey also predicted that Oklahoma City and Cleveland would be favorites to win their respective conferences. The Thunder led with 87% of the first-place votes, while the Nuggets and Rockets received 10% and 1% respectively.
In the Western Conference, the most voted teams were, in order, the Minnesota Timberwolves, Warriors, LA Clippers, Los Angeles Lakers, Dallas Mavericks and San Antonio Spurs.
In the Eastern Conference, Cleveland and New York were unanimously selected to finish in the top three. The Cavaliers obtained 63% of the votes for first place, 27% for second, and 7% for third. The Knicks, for their part, received 30%, 53%, and 13%, respectively.
The Orlando Magic was the only additional team to receive first-place votes, with 7%. The Magic was also selected to finish third overall, followed by the Atlanta Hawks, Detroit Pistons, Milwaukee Bucks, Philadelphia 76ers, and Boston Celtics.
Regarding individual awards, Nikola Jokic of the Nuggets was the choice to win the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award with 67% of the votes. Victor Wembanyama of the Spurs was chosen for the second consecutive year as the player general managers would choose to start a franchise, obtaining 83% of the votes.
Amen Thompson of the Rockets received 30% of the votes in the “most likely to have a breakout season” category.
Regarding the best players by position, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Anthony Edwards, Luka Doncic, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Jokic were chosen. The only position with less than 70% of the votes was the forward, where Doncic received 40%.
In the offseason superlative section, the Hawks (53%) were the best choice, followed by the Rockets (27%) and the Nuggets (10%).
The transfer of Kevin Durant to the Rockets was chosen as the offseason move with the greatest impact, while the Magic was chosen as the most improved team this season (47%) and for making the most underrated move by signing Desmond Bane.
The Thunder (83%) were considered the best defensive team in the league.
Cooper Flagg, Mavericks rookie, was the favorite to win the Rookie of the Year award and be the best rookie of this class in five years, while Kasparas Jakucionis, Miami Heat guard, was chosen as the biggest steal of this year’s draft.
In the individual superlatives section, Wembanyama (80%) was chosen as the best defender in the league; Erik Spoelstra (52%) was chosen as the best coach for the sixth consecutive season; Jokic (80%) was chosen as the best passer and the player with the highest basketball IQ, while Antetokounmpo and Wembanyama tied, with 30% of the votes each, for the honor of being the most versatile player in the league, and Stephen Curry was the winner, with 47% of the votes, for being the player you would want to take a shot with the game on the line.
