Oklahoma City Thunder: Favorites to Repeat as NBA Champions
The annual NBA.com survey, conducted among the league’s 30 front offices, has designated the Oklahoma City Thunder as the team to beat next season.
As in previous surveys, the Thunder are the clear favorites to win the championship, with 80% of NBA general managers selecting them for a second consecutive title. If they achieve this, it would be the first time since the Golden State Warriors did it in 2018 that a team repeats as champion.
The Cleveland Cavaliers and the Denver Nuggets received some votes, while the Houston Rockets and the New York Knicks each got a selection.
The survey, which is sent to the 30 teams and does not allow them to vote for themselves or players from their own teams, also predicts Oklahoma City and Cleveland as the favorites to win their respective conferences. In addition to the Thunder, who obtained first place in 87% of the ballots, the Nuggets received 10% of the votes for first place and the Rockets, one.
They are followed, in order, by 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, with the Cavaliers receiving 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 only other team that received votes for first place was the Orlando Magic, with 7%. The Magic were also selected to finish third overall, followed by the Atlanta Hawks, Detroit Pistons, Milwaukee Bucks, Philadelphia 76ers, and Boston Celtics.
Nikola Jokic, Nuggets star, was the overwhelming choice to win the Most Valuable Player award, obtaining 67% of the votes. Victor Wembanyama, of the Spurs, was selected by 83% of general managers as the player they would choose to start a franchise, winning this category for the second consecutive year.
Amen Thompson of the Rockets received 30% of the votes in the category of “most likely to have a breakout season”.
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 position, where Doncic obtained 40%, followed by Jayson Tatum (20), Kevin Durant (17), LeBron James and Kawhi Leonard (7 each).
In the offseason superlatives section, the Hawks (53%) were the best choice for having the best offseason, followed by the Rockets (27%) and the Nuggets (10%). The trade of Kevin Durant to the Rockets was the offseason move with the greatest impact, while the Magic was selected as the most improved team (47%) and for making the most underrated move by signing guard Desmond Bane. The Thunder (83%) were singled out as the best defensive team in the league.
Cooper Flagg, Mavericks rookie, was the big favorite to win the Rookie of the Year award and be the best rookie of this class in five years. Kasparas Jakucionis, Miami Heat guard, was the choice to be the biggest steal of this year’s draft.
In the individual superlatives section, Wembanyama (80%) was chosen as the best defensive player 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 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 with whom one would want to take the last shot of the game.
