When polled about the upcoming 2019-20 NBA season, General Managers around the league gave a lot of praise to the LA Clippers.
Today, the NBA released its annual GM survey. For the 18th season, all 30 General Managers were asked fifty questions about the league. Worth noting, they were not able to vote for their own team nor personnel. After their huge summer, the LA Clippers got a ton of love.
The first (and most important) question posed to the GM’s was who do they think will win the 2020 NBA Finals? A staggering 46% of them voted for the LA Clippers. Second place belonged to the Milwaukee Bucks at 36% with the Los Angeles Lakers finishing a distant third with 11% of the votes.
That has to feel good, right?
There was also more detailed voting where GMs were asked to rank conferences. Based on a percentage of total points, the GM’s had the Clippers sitting in the top spot. Although they did receive the votes to finish first overall, it’s sort of tough to see that as a reality if the team does decide to load manage Kawhi Leonard and Paul George.
Speaking of, that duo received a ton of votes across the board. Both George and Leonard were voted top three in their respective positions. Kawhi, who was the top small forward, also finished third in most likely to win the MVP voting.
To add to the hype, Kawhi was voted the top defensive player in the league with 45% of the votes. The league went one step further and asked who the top perimeter defender is. The results? Kawhi Leonard at number one with 50% of the votes and Paul George at number two with 21%. Yeah, this team is going to be scary defensively. So scary, in fact, that 52% of the league’s GM’s voted them as the best defensive team in the league.
Yes, the acquisition of the two stars this summer really made that much of an impact in the GM’s opinion of the team. Coming off of his 2019 NBA Finals’ performance, it’s no surprise that the league is so high on Kawhi. He was voted as the acquisition to make the biggest impact, finishing ahead of Anthony Davis (acquired by the Lakers) by 46%.
The signing of Leonard, the trade for George (voted the most surprising move), the re-signing of Patrick Beverley and JaMychal Green and the additions of Maurice Harkless and Rodney McGruder helped the Clips to earn the top votes for best overall moves this offseason. 82% of GM’s thought they had the best summer. Not big into percentages? That’s about 24 of the 30 GM’s.
The LA Clippers had a huge summer and the whole league is expecting a lot out of them. The team received more votes for things not even listed out above. With such heavy expectations this summer, the team is going to have to stay focused. It’s an exciting time for ClipperNation and we have just a few days left until we can begin the chase for a title.