The NBA has released the results of a survey they conducted with all 30 general managers. As always, the results are fascinating, predictable and surprising all at once and of course are never dull.
Below are the results.
2005-06 PREDICTIONS
1. Which team will win NBA Finals 2006?
San Antonio 77%
Miami 15%
Others receiving votes: Detroit, Minnesota
2. Which team will win the Eastern Conference?
Miami 73%
Detroit 15%
Indiana 12%
3. Which team will win the Western Conference?
San Antonio 96%
Phoenix 4%
4. Which team will win the Atlantic Division?
New Jersey 92%
Boston 4%
Philadelphia 4%
5. Which team will win the Central Division?
Indiana 58%
Detroit 39%
Cleveland 4%
6. Which team will win the Southeast Division?
Miami 100.0%
7. Which team will win the Southwest Division?
San Antonio 100.0%
8. Which team will win the Northwest Division?
Denver 65%
Minnesota 23%
Seattle 12%
9. Which team will win the Pacific Division?
Phoenix 81%
Sacramento 12%
Golden State 8%
PLAYERS
1. Who will win the 2005-06 MVP?
Tim Duncan 58%
Shaquille O'Neal 17%
Others receiving votes: Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett, Tracy McGrady, Jermaine O'Neal, Amare Stoudemire, Dwyane Wade
2. If you were starting a franchise today and could sign any player in the NBA, who would it be?
Tim Duncan 40%
LeBron James 36%
Shaquille O'Neal 8%
Amare Stoudemire 8%
Others receiving votes: Kevin Garnett, Dwyane Wade
3. Which player forces opposing coaches to make the most adjustments?
Shaquille O'Neal 64%
Tim Duncan 16%
Allen Iverson 8%
Others receiving votes: Earl Boykins, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett
4. Which player is most likely to have a breakout season in 2005-06?
Dwight Howard 46%
Travis Outlaw 9%
Others receiving votes: Chris Bosh, Primoz Brezec, Tyson Chandler, Mike Dunleavy Jr., Kirk Hinrich, Andre Iguodala, Joe Johnson, Wally Szczerbiak, Sebastian Telfair, Dwyane Wade
5. Who is the best point guard in the NBA?
Steve Nash 68%
Jason Kidd 28%
Allen Iverson 4%
6. Who is the best shooting guard in the NBA?
Kobe Bryant 56%
Dwyane Wade 28%
Ray Allen 8%
Others receiving votes: LeBron James, Tracy McGrady
7. Who is the best small forward in the NBA?
Tracy McGrady 48%
LeBron James 40%
Others receiving votes: Ron Artest, Shawn Marion, Dirk Nowitzki
8. Who is the best power forward in the NBA?
Tim Duncan 78%
Kevin Garnett 12%
Others receiving votes: Dirk Nowitzki, Amare Stoudemire
9. Who is the best center in the NBA?
Shaquille O'Neal 84%
Tim Duncan 16%
OFFSEASON
1. Which team made the best moves overall?
Miami 42%
Cleveland 38%
San Antonio 21%
2. Which one player acquisition will make the biggest impact?
Larry Hughes 50%
Joe Johnson 17%
Michael Finley 13%
Others receiving votes: Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Raja Bell, Bobby Simmons, Antoine Walker, Earl Watson
3. What was the most underrated player acquisition?
Raja Bell 23%
Michael Finley 14%
Marko Jaric 14%
Stromile Swift 11%
Others receiving votes: Caron Butler, Antonio Daniels, Damon Jones, Donyell Marshall, Bobby Simmons, Darius Songaila, Nick Van Exel
4. Which team will be most improved in 2005-06?
Golden State 28%
Milwaukee 12%
Cleveland 10%
Indiana 10%
5. Which team had the best offseason?
Miami 38%
San Antonio 32%
Cleveland 12%
Milwaukee 12%
Others receiving votes: Atlanta, New Jersey
6. What was the most surprising move of the offseason?
Joe Johnson to Atlanta 38%
Antoine Walker to Miami 13%
Larry Hughes to Cleveland 8%
Earl Watson to Denver 8%
Others receiving votes: Alston to Houston, Larry Brown leaving Detroit, Kwame Brown to Lakers, Curry to New York, Finley to San Antonio, Phil Jackson returns to Lakers, Simmons to Milwaukee, Vazquez returns to Europe, Jason Williams to Miami
7. What was the least surprising move of the offseason?
Shaquille O'Neal re-signing 20%
Larry Brown leaving Detroit 15%
Ray Allen re-signing 10%
Michael Redd re-signing 10%
Jason Williams to Miami 10%
Others receiving votes: Alston leaving Toronto, Finley waived by Dallas, Stoudemire contract extension, Antoine Walker to Miami, Watson to Denver, Wells traded, Yao contract extension
ROOKIES
1. Who will win the 2005-06 Rookie of the Year?
Andrew Bogut 40%
Chris Paul 36%
Deron Williams 12%
Others receiving votes: Rashad McCants, Nate Robinson, Hakim Warrick
2. Which rookie will be the best player in five years?
Marvin Williams 38%
Andrew Bogut 17%
Gerald Green 13%
Chris Paul 8%
Others receiving votes: Monta Ellis, Raymond Felton, Channing Frye, Danny Granger, Rashad McCants, Martell Webster
3. Which international rookie is most ready to contribute this season?
Andrew Bogut 32%
Sarunas Jasikevicius 32%
Arvydas Macijauskas 16%
Others receiving votes: Martynas Andriuskevicius, Jose Calderon, Ersan Ilyasova, Fabricio Oberto
4. Which rookie is most likely to be a ?sleeper? success?
Nate Robinson 23%
Salim Stoudamire 15%
Francisco Garcia 13%
Danny Granger 13%
Others receiving votes: Brandon Bass, Travis Diener, Joey Graham, Jarrett Jack, David Lee, Sean May, Hakim Warrick, Martell Webster
DEFENSE
1. Who is the best defensive player in the NBA?
Ben Wallace 32%
Ron Artest 20%
Bruce Bowen 16%
Others receiving votes: Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan, Andrei Kirilenko, Tayshaun Prince
2. Who is the best perimeter defender in the NBA?
Bruce Bowen 46%
Ron Artest 27%
Kobe Bryant 12%
Others receiving votes: Andrei Kirilenko, Ruben Patterson, Tayshaun Prince, Earl Watson
3. Who is the best interior defender in the NBA?
Ben Wallace 58%
Tim Duncan 23%
Others receiving votes: Dale Davis, Jeff Foster, Kevin Garnett, Joel Przybilla, Theo Ratliff
INTERNATIONAL
1. Who is the best international player in the NBA?
Dirk Nowitzki 77%
Manu Ginobili 15%
Others receiving votes: Andrei Kirilenko, Peja Stojakovic
2. Which international player is most likely to have a breakout season in 2005-06?
Mickael Pietrus 21%
Samuel Dalembert 8%
Nenad Krstic 8%
Darko Milicic 8%
Others receiving votes: Primoz Brezec, Jose Calderon, Boris Diaw, Pau Gasol, Gordan Giricek, Mario Kasun, Arvydas Macijauskas, Nene, Andres Nocioni, Fabricio Oberto, Mehmet Okur, Peja Stojakovic
3. Who is the best international player NOT in the NBA?
Luis Scola 27%
Fran Vazquez 27%
Others receiving votes: Jorge Garbajosa, Mackael Gelabale, Juan Carlos Navarro, Tiago Splitter
COACHES
1. Who is the best head coach in the NBA?
Larry Brown 33%
Gregg Popovich 25%
Phil Jackson 13%
Jerry Sloan 13%
Others receiving votes: Bernie Bickerstaff, Rick Carlisle, Mike D'Antoni, Scott Skiles
2. Which head coach is the best manager/motivator of people?
Phil Jackson 33%
Gregg Popovich 33%
Others receiving votes: Bernie Bickerstaff, Larry Brown, Rick Carlisle, Mike D'Antoni, Nate McMillan, Doc Rivers, Flip Saunders, Jerry Sloan
3. Which head coach makes the best in-game adjustments?
Larry Brown 54%
Gregg Popovich 21%
Others receiving votes: Bernie Bickerstaff, Rick Carlisle, Lawrence Frank, Flip Saunders, Jeff Van Gundy
4. Which head coach is the best in the last two minutes of a close game?
Larry Brown 46%
Gregg Popovich 8%
Scott Skiles 8%
Jerry Sloan 8%
Others receiving votes: Bernie Bickerstaff, Rick Carlisle, Mike Fratello, George Karl, Phil Jackson, Flip Saunders, Jeff Van Gundy
5. Who is the best assistant coach in the NBA?
Del Harris 21%
Phil Johnson 17%
P.J. Carlesimo 13%
Pete Carril 8%
Others receiving votes: Bill Bertka, Mario Elie, Marc Iavaroni, Jim Lynam, Doug Moe, Eric Musselman, Kevin O'Neill, Tom Thibodeau, Herb Williams
6. Which active player will make the best head coach someday?
Steve Nash 29%
Jason Kidd 17%
Eric Snow 8%
Others receiving votes: Brent Barry, Chauncey Billups, Derek Fisher, Kirk Hinrich, Fred Hoiberg, Grant Hill, Marc Iavaroni, Brevin Knight, Aaron McKie, Andre Miller, Kurt Thomas
7. If you had one game to win, which current coach would you want coaching that game?
Larry Brown 40%
Phil Jackson 16%
Jerry Sloan 16%
Gregg Popovich 12%
Others receiving votes: Bernie Bickerstaff, Rick Carlisle, Mike Fratello, Scott Skiles
MISCELLANEOUS
1. Which team will be the most fun to watch?
Phoenix 60%
Miami 12%
Dallas 8%
Golden State 8%
Others receiving votes: Charlotte, New Orleans/Oklahoma City, Sacramento, San Antonio
2. Which team has the best home-court advantage?
Sacramento 46%
San Antonio 19%
Denver 17%
Others receiving votes: Detroit, Miami, New York, Utah
3. Which player is the most athletic?
LeBron James 23%
Amare Stoudemire 23%
Tracy McGrady 12%
Others receiving votes: Kobe Bryant, Vince Carter, Andre Iguodala, Shawn Marion, Darius Miles, Nate Robinson, Josh Smith, Stromile Swift, Dwyane Wade, Gerald Wallace
4. Which player is the best pure shooter?
Ray Allen 58%
Peja Stojakovic 27%
Others receiving votes: Fred Hoiberg, Allan Houston, Kyle Korver, Dirk Nowitzki
5. Which player is the fastest with the ball?
Allen Iverson 35%
Jason Kidd 19%
TJ Ford 15%
Tony Parker 12%
Others receiving votes: Gilbert Arenas, LeBron James, Stephon Marbury, Sebastian Telfair
6. Which player is best at moving without the ball?
Richard Hamilton 73%
Peja Stojakovic 15%
Others receiving votes: Ray Allen, Fred Hoiberg, Arvydas Macijauskas
7. Which player is the best at getting his own shot?
Kobe Bryant 62%
Allen Iverson 19%
Tracy McGrady 12%
Others receiving votes: Baron Davis, Paul Pierce
8. Which player is the best offensive rebounder?
Ben Wallace 28%
Amare Stoudemire 16%
Reggie Evans 12%
Others receiving votes: Elton Brand, Tyson Chandler, Danny Fortson, Jeff Foster, Dan Gadzuric, Kevin Garnett, Al Jefferson, Shawn Marion, Emeka Okafor
9. Which player is the best passer?
Jason Kidd 52%
Steve Nash 37%
Others receiving votes: LeBron James, Shaun Livingston, Jamaal Tinsley
10. Which player is the best in the open court?
Jason Kidd 32%
Kobe Bryant 18%
Allen Iverson 16%
LeBron James 12%
Others receiving votes: Gilbert Arenas, Steve Francis, Tracy McGrady, Steve Nash
11. Who is the best finisher?
Amare Stoudemire 39%
Kobe Bryant 23%
Others receiving votes: Ron Artest, Allen Iverson, LeBron James, Tracy McGrady, Steve Nash, Shaquille O'Neal, Dwyane Wade
12. Which player does the most with least?
Brad Miller 22%
Ben Wallace 13%
Brian Cardinal 11%
Others receiving votes: Bruce Bowen, Ryan Bowen, Earl Boykins, Elton Brand, Reggie Evans, Manu Ginobili, Kyle Korver, Mark Madsen, Andre Miller, Steve Nash, Paul Pierce
13. Who is the toughest player in the NBA?
Ben Wallace 42%
Ron Artest 27%
Allen Iverson 12%
Others receiving votes: Matt Harpring, Manu Ginobili, Shaquille O'Neal, Amare Stoudemire
14. Which player is the best leader?
Steve Nash 37%
Tim Duncan 25%
Jason Kidd 15%
Kevin Garnett 12%
Others receiving votes: Mike Bibby, Grant Hill, Shaquille O'Neal
15. Which player in the NBA would you want taking a shot with the game on the line?
Kobe Bryant 62%
Ray Allen 15%
Others receiving votes: Chauncey Billups, Sam Cassell, Tim Duncan, Robert Horry, Paul Pierce