The annual preseason poll of NBA general managers is out, and LeBron James is the consensus pick to claim the league’s most valuable player award.
James was the big winner in the polling, winning the top selection in seven categories overall. LeBron was picked as the league’s most best small forward (61 percent), best leader (43 percent), most versatile (55 percent) best basketball IQ (64 percent), best passer (36 percent) and the player who forces the most coaching adjustments (48 percent.)
Meanwhile, 93 percent of GMs polled picked the Golden State Warriors to repeat as NBA champions. That’s the highest consensus for a preseason championship pick in the poll’s history. In fact, GMs overwhelmingly picked the Warriors and Cavaliers to meet in the Finals for the fourth straight season.
The top five MVP votes were Kevin Durant (29 percent), Kawhi Leonard (11 percent), James Harden (7 percent) and Steph Curry (4 percent).
The Oklahoma City Thunder’s trade for Paul George was praised as the best acquisition of the summer, while the Thunder were also praised for the best overall moves of the offseason, with the Celtics, Timberwolves, and Rockets behind them in the vote.
Karl-Anthony Towns was picked as the league’s best center and also the player most likely to have a breakout season. He also was voted the player GMs would start a franchise with, getting 29 percent of that vote.
Gregg Popovich was the big winner as coach, getting 82 percent of the vote for best coach, 62 percent for best manager of people, and 41 percent of the vote for best defensive schemes. His best player, Leonard, repeated as winner of best defensive player and best perimeter player as well.
Other picks for preseason awards included Lonzo Ball winning 62 percent of the vote for Rookie of the Year, Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo getting a nice 69 percent vote for the league’s best international player, and Dennis Smith Jr. of the Mavericks getting picked as biggest NBA Draft steal.
None of these are real awards just yet, of course, but it’s nice to see where the league consensus is at before the start of the season.
