Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James, center, drives between Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green, top, and guard Stephen Curry (30) during the first half of Game 1 of basketball’s NBA Finals in Oakland, California, Thursday, June 1, 2017. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
Less than a week before the highly anticipated opening night of the 2017-2018 NBA regular season, the league’s 30 General Managers have given their predictions for the upcoming tourney.
According to NBA.com’s annual GM survey, the defending champions Golden State Warriors are expected to once again hoist the Larry O’Brien trophy—garnering an astonishing 93 percent of total votes from the league executives.
Coming in at a far second are the team’s bitter rivals, the re-tooled Cleveland Cavaliers, who only managed to score 7 percent from the survey.
The result marked the highest margin in the 16-year history of the survey, the report said.
Last year, 69 percent of GMs correctly predicted that the Warriors would capture the title, while 53 percent said the Cavs would win it all, a season prior.
Meanwhile, the league’s premier superstar, LeBron James, is still pegged by most executives as the front runner for the 2017-2018 NBA Most Valuable Player of the Year Award.
A four-time winner of the league’s most prestigious individual honor, James is expected to carry a bigger load for the Cavaliers after the departure of fellow superstar Kyrie Irving.
Surprisingly, reigning NBA MVP Russell Westbrook wasn’t even in the top 5 selection for GMs. His exclusion is most likely due to the arrival of two ball dominant stars in Oklahoma City—Carmelo Anthony and Paul George—which could mean less touches and a dip in overall statistical production for the explosive guard.
Other categories included “Most likely to have a breakout year” (Karl Anthony Towns), “Best Point Guard in the NBA” (Steph Curry) and “Most Improved Team” (Minnesota Timberwolves), among others.
Check out the full list of categories here. /ra