The Boston Celtics made waves across the NBA this summer when they pulled the trigger on two trades that netted former All-Stars, Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday. And with the regular season just over a week away, that frenetic offseason has put the Celtics in prime position to raise Banner 18 this June, according to an annual survey of NBA front offices.
In the 22nd annual NBA GM Survey released Tuesday, the Celtics received one-third of the predictions from the NBA’s 30 general managers to hoist the Larry O’Brien Trophy in June, tied with the defending champion Denver Nuggets. Holiday’s former team, the Milwaukee Bucks, finished close behind, gathering 24 percent of the GM’s championship predictions. 10 percent of GMs also predicted Boston to have the league’s most efficient offense.
Jayson Tatum finished a distant fourth in the MVP race last season but at least broke into the Top 3 in the prediction polling. 13 percent of GMs think the Celtics’ 25-year-old superstar will win his first career MVP. GMs believe two-time MVPs Nikola Jokic and Giannis Antetokounmpo are more likely to win their third MVPs, the two European players picking up 43 and 20 percent of the votes respectively.
Even if he doesn’t win the Michael Jordan MVP Trophy, Tatum still has the respect as the league’s top Small Forward. 47 percent of the front offices crowned Tatum as the top dog at the 3-spot. Last year, Kevin Durant took home the #1 spot with 45 percent of the vote.
The Celtics’ sterling summer didn’t come without a cost. In order to facilitate the three-team trade that netted Porzingis, Boston had to ship out fan favorite and 2022 Defensive Player of the Year Marcus Smart to the Memphis Grizzlies. The Grizzlies’s addition of the 29-year-old point was voted as the most underrated acquisition of the summer with 17 percent of the vote. Following closely behind was the Dallas Maverick’s signing of former Celtics forward Grant Williams.
The Smart/Porzingis swap also gathered votes as the league’s most surprising move of the offseason, finishing in 2nd with 20 percent of the vote.
Despite the two departures, the Celtics still tied with the Milwaukee Bucks in the category of “Which team made the best overall moves this offseason?”
The Bucks swung for the fences by bringing in 7-time All-Star point guard Damian Lillard, trading away Jrue Holiday, Deandre Ayton, Grayson Allen, Milwaukee’s 2029 unprotected first-round draft pick and unprotected Milwaukee swap rights in 2028 and 2030, the teams said in their release.
Holiday received 13 percent of the votes for the best defender in the NBA, finishing 2nd to Giannis but claimed the title of the game’s best perimeter defender with 50 of the votes.
New Celtics assistants Sam Cassell and Charles Lee also garnered votes for best assistant coaches in the league.
Celtic fans also got a nod. 7 percent of GM’s claimed Boston’s TD Garden provides the best home-court advantage in the league.
The results of the full NBA GM survey can be viewed by clicking here.
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