Over half of the league’s GMs (53.6 percent) feel the Cavaliers are going to win the NBA title this season. In addition, every GM believes Cleveland will win the Eastern Conference. The percentage is 96.6, but that’s because Cleveland’s GM couldn’t vote for his own team.
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The debate for which team will win the Western conference was a close battle between the Warriors (51.7 percent) and the Spurs (41.4 percent).
Here are the guidelines, per NBA.com.
There seems to be less confidence in LeBron James winning the league’s MVP award. When the GMs were surveyed last season nearly 70 percent felt he’d take home the trophy. This year that number dropped to 39.3 percent.
GMs seem to like rising Pelicans star Anthony Davis. He was voted by 25 percent of GMs to win MVP and also received 86.2 percent of votes to this question: “If you were starting a franchise today and could sign any player in the NBA, who would it be?”
The GMs admitted they were jealous of San Antonio’s acquisitions during the offseason. Nearly 80 percent felt they made the best moves and nearly 80 percent felt like LaMarcus Aldridge will make the biggest impact out of any free agent move.
Speaking of the Spurs, GMs would love to get Gregg Popovich as 93.1 percent feel he’s the best coach in the league. The only other coaches to receive votes were Atlanta’s Mike Budenholzer and Golden State’s Steve Kerr.
Golden State appeared to have gained some fans amongst the GMs. Last year 57.1 percent said they were the most fun team to watch and that number rose to 93.1 percent this season. Cleveland and Oklahoma City were the only other teams to receive votes in that category.
You can view the entire survey results on NBA.com.
