Celtics
NBA executives voted to share their thoughts on 50 questions.
Coming off a dominant season that culminated with a title, the Celtics unsurprisingly feature heavily in the annual survey of NBA general managers.
Released on Tuesday, the yearly polling of league executives arrived at several interesting — if somewhat predictable — conclusions.
The first is that GMs seem to overwhelming think the Celtics are favorites to repeat as champions.
In all, 83-percent of those surveyed think the Celtics will win the title and go back-to-back. The Oklahoma City Thunder rank a distant second at 13-percent. This contrasts with a season ago, when the Celtics and Nuggets tied with a 33-percent chance.
Jayson Tatum was listed several times, drawing a seven-percent share for the predicted MVP in the upcoming season. He trails Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Thunder (who totaled 40-percent).
Tatum, 26, was voted “best small forward in the NBA,” topping 2024 NBA Finals opponent Luka Doncic by a significant margin (47 vs. 17-percent). Tatum won the poll a year ago with the same voter share.
Jaylen Brown, meanwhile, received just three-percent of the “best small forward” poll, though he did receive votes for this season’s MVP projection.
Boston’s Jrue Holiday was another popular name in the survey. He tied Bam Adebayo and Rudy Gobert for second place (with a 10-percent share) in the question about the best defensive player in the NBA.
Holiday went one better in the “best perimeter defender” poll, attaining a 43-percent total. This outpaced second place Alex Caruso (20-percent). It’s the second straight season Holiday has been named as best defender. He also notably received seven-percent in the “best leader” category, tying him for fourth (Jalen Brunson of the Knicks won with 23-percent).
As a team Boston also received the “best defense” mantle, notching 57-percent (upping last year’s winning margin of 47-percent).
Regarding coaching, Boston head coach Joe Mazzulla was third in the “best manager/motivator of people” question (his 10-percent was a ways off of Heat coach Erik Spoelstra’s 37-percent.
Notably, the Celtics coaching staff did finish first in one survey question: Sam Cassell tied for the top spot in “best assistant” with 17-percent (finishing equal to Minnesota’s Micah Nori).
In the “Miscellaneous” category, Boston finished fifth among the “most fun to watch” teams. The Pacers, Thunder, Nuggets, and Warriors finished ahead. Celtics fans were recognized for creating the third best home-court advantage in the league (13-percent). The Nuggets (47-percent) and Thunder (17-percent) finished in front.
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(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)