NBA GMs survey: Bucks not favored to win title; where Giannis, Lillard rank among players
The NBA released its annual survey of general managers, and despite the fact the team made a major offseason trade with the acquisition of all-NBA point guard Damian Lillard, the Milwaukee Bucks were not considered the favorite to win the 2023-24 championship.
In fact, the team that ended up with former Bucks point guard Jrue Holiday – the Boston Celtics – are co-favorites to win the title along with the defending champion Denver Nuggets. Each team earned 33% of the GM votes.
The Bucks were third at 23%.
Boston received 53% of the votes to win the Eastern Conference with Milwaukee finishing second with 43% of the vote.
Damian Lillard’s impact on Bucks
Interestingly, the Lillard deal was considered to be the most impactful move by 47% of the voters. He is also considered the fourth-best point guard in the league. The Bucks tied with the Celtics as the team considered to have made the best overall moves (23%).
The three-team deal that brought Lillard to Milwaukee and initially sent Holiday to Portland (and also included Phoenix) was considered the most surprising offseason move with 43% of the league’s general managers.
Lillard also tied Golden State’s Chris Paul for fourth in the voting for the best leader in the league. Los Angeles’ LeBron James was the top vote-getter with 27% of the votes.
Lillard was third behind Golden State’s Stephen Curry (37%) and Phoenix’s Kevin Durant (27%) for the player general manager’s wanted taking a shot with the game on the line.
More: The trade for Damian Lillard is an echo of past championship moves for the Milwaukee Bucks
Where did Giannis rank in MVP voting?
Milwaukee’s incumbent superstar, Giannis Antetokounmpo, is widely considered the league’s most versatile player (45% of the vote) but fell behind Denver’s Nikola Jokić as the MVP favorite by the GMs. Jokić, also a two-time MVP, ran away with the vote at 43% while Antetokounmpo had 20%.
Antetokounmpo finished third behind Jokić (33%) and San Antonio rookie Victor Wembanyama (23%) as the player GMs would sign if they were starting a franchise today. Antetokounmpo was the top choice one year ago.
He also tumbled from first to third as the best international player in the league, behind Jokić and Dallas’ Luka Dončić.
More: Adrian Griffin connecting with Giannis Antetokounmpo first step in reaching high standard
But, general managers felt Antetokounmpo is the league’s best defender and its most versatile defender. Last season was the first time Antetokounmpo did not make an all-defensive team since 2017-18.
He is also considered the league’s best power forward with 97% of the vote.
Antetokounmpo was also a top vote getter in the following categories:
Most athletic player (2nd, 24%)
Player that forces opposing coaches to make the most adjustments (3rd, 13%)
Best interior defender (6th, 7%)
Any other Bucks receive votes?
Brook Lopez tied with Minnesota center Rudy Gobert for second as the league’s best interior defender with 17% of the vote, falling behind reigning Defensive Player of the Year Jaren Jackson Jr.
Khris Middleton finished fourth in the voting as the best player moving without the ball.
The team will change up its schemes under first-year head coach Adrian Griffin, but the Bucks finished third in the “best defensive team” category and tied for fifth of teams that will have the most efficient offense. Griffin finished tied for fourth among new or relocated coaches to make the biggest impact and assistant Terry Stotts finished tied for second as the best assistant in the league.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: NBA GM survey: Where do Bucks, Giannis and Damian Lillard rank?
