Did the NBA GM survey get it right in picking the San Antonio Spurs as NBA Finals champions?
With a good stretch of time to digest the results of the annual NBA GM survey, one thing has stuck out as an example of the changing NBA landscape: the GM’s pick for NBA Finals champion.
For those looking for the entire survey it can be found here, but for those just interested in the NBA Finals results, the San Antonio Spurs were selected as the winner, receiving 46.9 percent of the votes. They were followed by the Cleveland Cavaliers (15.4 percent), the Chicago Bulls (11.5 percent), the Los Angeles Clippers (11.5 percent), the Oklahoma City Thunder (11.5 percent), and the Golden State Warriors (3.8 percent).
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Looking at the numbers, San Antonio is viewed as a heavy favorite throughout the league to return to the NBA Finals for the third straight season, and to come away with their second consecutive title. High expectations for a team that relies on older players as a big part of what they do, but if any team has taught us to keep our mouths shut until the games are played, it’s the Gregg Popovich San Antonio Spurs. This team winning the title would not shock anyone, but they have not won back-to-back titles in the Tim Duncan-era, and given the heavy run this team has seen the past two years, it’s fair to question how they will hold up for another deep playoff run.
The biggest takeaway from the survey may be the return to parity for NBA Finals picks, at least more than we have seen since LeBron James joined the Miami Heat four years ago.
Last year, the Heat garnered 75.9 percent of the votes for NBA Finals champion, so it’s clear that the love has been spread out a bit more this season. Taking the San Antonio Spurs off the board for a second, the next four teams in line are all pretty close in terms of how the GMs view them. The Bulls and the Thunder have been in the thick of the championship hunt in the past, while the Cavaliers welcome back LeBron James who has done his fair share of winning big recently.
The Los Angeles Clippers enter their second season under head coach Doc Rivers, and the talent they carry on their roster is huge. In addition to two star players in Chris Paul and Blake Griffin, the Clippers saw DeAndre Jordan grow into a defensive beast last season. They added Spencer Hawes to their bench this offseason, and he brings scary offensive upside to this club. It’s curious to see the Clippers mentioned as title contenders on the same lines as the Oklahoma City Thunder or Chicago Bulls, considering what the Clippers have done in the playoffs since the arrival of Chris Paul (and Paul’s track record in general).
The Golden State Warriors are certainly capable of turning some heads in the playoffs, but I was definitely shocked to see them as the sixth team listed under the category of NBA Finals champions. Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and the rest of the Warriors have made up a team that can compete with anybody on any given night, but I am not sure they added enough to get out of the beast of a Western Conference.
The final analysis of this survey: parity is on it’s way back into the NBA, at least for a bit.
It’s assumed that the Cleveland Cavaliers will take time to gel, the Oklahoma City Thunder can’t seem to stay healthy, and the Chicago Bulls are resting their hopes on the knees of Derrick Rose. The Los Angeles Clippers have proven talented, but haven’t yet gotten it done in the playoffs, and the Golden State Warriors represent everybody else in the Western Conference playoff picture. The Dallas Mavericks improved this off-season, the Houston Rockets still have two brilliant superstars, and the Portland Trail Blazers are for real. That’s before you even mention the Memphis Grizzlies and Phoenix Suns or even that guy Anthony Davis and his promising young squad lurking as playoff contenders.
And then, you’ve got San Antonio, the often under looked champion, finally getting love as the heavy preseason pick to win it all; just as it should be.