The NBA is still LeBron James‘ league, and everyone else is just working in it.
The reigning Most Valuable Player and two-time champion was overwhelmingly picked to repeat both those feats this season in a survey of every NBA general manager. More than three-quarters of the GMs said Miami would three-peat, and nearly 70 percent said James would add a fifth MVP trophy to his mantel.
If Doc Rivers thinks the Clippers could be the best team he has ever coached, the rest of the NBA does not seem to agree. The Clippers only appeared in the survey as “Also receiving votes” on the question of which team would win the title, with only the Pacers and Spurs — at 6.9 percent each — registering on the list.
There is good news and bad news for Celtics fans. The bittersweet news is that three out of four GMs think the Nets will run away with the Atlantic Division, spurred by the additions of Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett. But 27.6 percent say Celtics rookie Kelly Olynyk will be the biggest steal of the draft. We assume those eight GMs aren’t from teams that passed on the Gonzaga big man.
