Los Angeles Lakers will repeat as NBA champions in the 2020-21 season, according to a survey of NBA general managers. That prediction was one of many findings from NBA.com’s annual survey of the 30 headquarters before the start of the new season.
The survey included 33 questions, ranging from which player would they choose to start a franchise to the best player at each position and who will win this year’s Most Valuable Player award.
Asked who will win the title this season, 81% of those polled said the Lakers would repeat in 2021, and that the only other team to receive multiple votes was rival LA Clippers, which got 11% of the vote. The only other teams selected were the Brooklyn Nets and Miami Heat.
Antetokounmpo, MVP
The forward for the Milwaukee Bucks, Giannis Antetokounmpo, who had just signed a five-year extension to stay with the Bucks, was chosen to win a third award at Most Valuable Player of the consecutive league, something that hasn’t been done since Larry Bird did it from 1984 to 1986..
However, league executives predict it will be an open race, since Antetokounmpo received only 32% of the votes, while five other players: the Dallas Mavericks guard, Luka Doncic (21%), Lakers forwards Anthony Davis and LeBron James (18%). )Nets forward Kevin Durant (7%) and Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic (4%) also received votes.
Antetokounmpo and Doncic, meanwhile, were also favorites among general managers when asked which player they would pick to start a franchise.. Both players received 43% of the votes, while Davis received 7%. To show how much respect Doncic has earned over the past year, Antetokounmpo won last year with 86%.
Top five
The league general managers voted the best player at each position to be the Golden State Warriors point guard Stephen Curry (30%), Houston Rockets guard James Harden (68%), James (57%) at forward, Antetokounmpo (46%) at power forward and Jokic (50%) in the zone.
They also determined that Lakers (37%) had the best offseason and rated point guard Chris Paul traded to the Phoenix Suns (44%) as the best move and to the eaves Gordon Hayward going to the Charlotte Hornets (54%) as the most surprising. .
In addition, general managers favored Hornets guard LaMelo Ball (39%) to win Rookie of the Year and Heat coach Erik Spoelstra (46%) to be named the best coach in the league. The core of the most promising young players was the New Orleans Pelicans (41%).
