Oklahoma City Thunder, favorites to repeat as NBA champions
According to the annual NBA.com survey conducted among the league’s 30 front offices, the Oklahoma City Thunder are the favorites to defend their title next season.
As in previous surveys, the Thunder are seen as the team to beat, with 80% of NBA general managers selecting them to win for the second consecutive year. If they succeed, it would be the first time since the Golden State Warriors did it in 2018.
The Cleveland Cavaliers and the Denver Nuggets also received some votes, while the Houston Rockets and the New York Knicks each got a mention.
The survey, which is sent to the 30 teams and prohibits teams from voting for themselves or their own players, also predicts that Oklahoma City and Cleveland will be favorites to win their respective conferences. The Nuggets received 10% of the first-place votes and the Rockets, one.
Other teams mentioned were: 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 received 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 chosen to finish third, followed by the Atlanta Hawks, Detroit Pistons, Milwaukee Bucks, Philadelphia 76ers, and Boston Celtics.
Nikola Jokic of the Nuggets was the clear choice to win the Most Valuable Player award, with 67% of the votes. Victor Wembanyama of the Spurs received 83% of the votes as the player general managers 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 “most likely to have a breakout season” category, which aligns with his position as the favorite to be the Most Improved Player of the season.
Regarding the positions of the best players, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Anthony Edwards, Luka Doncic, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Jokic were chosen for their respective positions. The only position with less than 70% of the votes was small forward, 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 chosen for having the best offseason, followed by the Rockets (27%) and the Nuggets (10%).
The Rockets’ trade for Kevin Durant was chosen as the offseason move with the biggest impact. The Magic were chosen as the team with the most progress (47%) and for making the most underrated move by acquiring guard Desmond Bane. The Thunder (83%) were selected as the league’s best defensive team.
Cooper Flagg, Mavericks rookie, was the heavy favorite to win the Rookie of the Year award and to be the best rookie in this class in five years. Kasparas Jakucionis, Miami Heat guard, was chosen as the biggest steal in 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, as the most versatile player in the league, and Stephen Curry was the winner, with 47% of the votes, as the player you would give the ball to for the last shot.
