Bucks, Celtics dominate annual NBA GM survey

In the NBA's annual GM survey, the Celtics and Bucks were all over the results. They tied for first for best offseason moves, as both teams shook up their rosters with big trades.

Milwaukee's trade for Damian Lillard was voted the one-player acquisition that will make the biggest impact, garnering 47 percent of the votes, while 43 percent of voters said that trade was the most surprising of the summer. Boston's subsequent trade for Jrue Holiday, who the Bucks sent out in the Lillard deal, was voted second in terms of impact, with 13 percent of the votes.

Holiday was also the choice of 50 percent of voters as the NBA's best perimeter defender, while Milwaukee's Giannis Anteotokounmpo was voted the NBA best defender, with 40 percent of the votes — Holiday was second with 13 percent of the votes — and the NBA's most versatile defender (37 percent) and player (45 percent). However, it was Boston that GMs picked as the NBA's best defensive team, receiving 47 percent of the votes.

It should be no surprise then that Boston was co-favorites with the Denver Nuggets to win the NBA title, each getting 1/3 of the votes. Milwaukee was third with 23 percent.

The individual players on these teams also dominated the position rankings. Antetokounmpo was voted best power forward, with 97 percent of the votes, while Boston's Jayson Tatum was the best small forward with 47 percent of the votes. The Greek Freak and Tatum were second and third in the question of "Who will win the 2023-24 MVP?" behind Nikola Jokic.

Lillard was fourth among point guards, getting three percent of the votes, which means one of the 30 GMs voted for him.

It's interesting that while Boston got acclaim for their offseason moves, so did two of the players they sent away. The top choices for "most underrated acquisition" were both former Celtics, guard Marcus Smart and forward Grant Williams.

According to the general managers, we are looking at a Nuggets-Celtics Finals, with the Bucks a strong possibility as well. But take that with a grain of salt. Last year, the general managers had Denver projected fourth in the Western Conference and the Miami Heat fifth in the East, and they met in the Finals.

So don't despair if your team didn't do well in this survey. They're general managers, not psychics.