2019-2020 GM Survey

[Moranis]

- CBS #2 for "in game adjustments" and tied for 3rd for defensive schemes

That's a big drop from last year though #1 and 53% last year, down to 17% this year.  That's like 10 GM's downgraded their opinion of Stevens.

Disappointed Smart didn't get any Defensive love, no votes for Best Defender, Best Perimeter Defender, or Most Versatile Defender, though did get 1 vote for Toughest.

Kevin Durant getting votes in a couple of categories despite not even expected to play next year.

Kind of wanted to see Kyrie get some votes for Best Leader, just to know some GMs have a sense of humor.  Kind of like when Isaiah got that 1 vote for All Defensive Team a few years ago.

My read in all of this, after looking at the GM survey and the definite lack of love that the C's across the survey, is that the underachieving of last season has affected the general, overall perception of the Celtics. That is everything from the coaching staff, to the front-office and players ....

The most curious one for me was the C's didn't even rank an honourable mention in 'the best young core' category. Surely Tatum and Brown are in the top 5 young cores (if not higher, but lets face it I am biased) .....           

Boston won 49 games and got worse in several areas.  Despite that several GM's still think they are the 2nd best team in the East.

As for the young core, Boston has Tatum and Brown and basically no one else. The other teams on the list have more and/or better young players.

They have Brown, Tatum, Smart, Langford, Timelord, Carsen Edwards, Grant Williams and Tremont Waters, not to mention the phenom named Tacko

I can't imagine Smart is considered young, the rest are bleh (outside of Tatum/Brown).

[Moranis]

Not one GM has the Sixers winning the Finals, I'm okay with this world, though think they have a chance, definitely an intriguing squad.

If my math is right, about 3 GMs pick the Sixers to finish 3rd or 4th.  While 5 GMs have the C's finishing 2nd.

There's hope!

I generally agree with thinking some overrate the 76ers. They lost a legit all-star in Butler and did not get an all-star in. Richardson and Horford are really elite role players, but al's all-star games are behind him. Reddick was also a big (and unexpected) loss.

The thing is they have Embiid (and Simmons).  Philly can lose an All-Star, they still have 2.  It's not like Milwaukee is loaded with top end talent other than Giannis (personally I think a guy like Middleton is closer to Tobias Harris in talent than he is to Ben Simmons).  Plus Milwaukee lost a key player too in Brogdon.

But really what it all comes down to is I think Embiid can just be that dominate, and I think the Sixers are a great match up for the Bucks with the ability to handle Giannis similar to how Toronto did (using the wall approach and help D).

And there's a lot of room for improvement on Philly's end.  If Simmons can develop a shot with a little confidence, if Embiid gets on top of his conditioning, both have the ability to reach the next level of superstadom.  (Simmons going from star to superstar, Embiid going to Shaq levels of dominance).  But of course Giannis can reach that next level too with a reliable jumper.

Not to say Philly doesn't have their warts, and may struggle in the regular season.  Will they have enough spacing, will Horford and Embiid play well together, will Simmons and Embiid play well together?  Will Horford age poorly?  Were Redick and Butler that great of leaders?  Will Simmons get better in the clutch/half court?

I can see things going great in Philly, though I can also see how it might not work.

But Philly has the top end talent in Embiid, and I think they just match up well against Milwaukee.

They were talking about this a bit on the Russilo podcast. Basically, it seems like a lot of people think Brown holds them back. They had a pretty good stat on how many long range jumpers taken by Embiid last season (including 3s) and it was a real lot like 450 or so and he ranked in the bottom ten in the league out of hundreds of players for efficiency on those shots. It seems like there is a thought that Brown coddles those guys (him and Simmons) and/or is not that good a strategic coach which matters a lot in postseason.

When Embiid was on the court they were like +110 against Toronto, when he wasn't they were like -125 (in a lot less minutes).  Now I'm sure coaching has some effect on that, but the simple reality is Embiid is a monster and he wasn't even close to healthy.  A healthier Embiid or even just a bit more balance without him on the floor and the Sixers might have very well been the NBA champions last year.  that is why I think Horford will have a much larger impact to the Sixers than he would have on just about any other team.  Horford can provide a steadying influence such that when Embiid is on the bench, the Sixers won't collapse.

In general, Embiid just alters the game to the positive so much when he on the floor, that if they can keep him healthy in the playoffs they could beat every single team in the league in a series.  I think in that regard he might very well be the most valuable player in the league right now.  Very few players in the league can affect the outcome of a game like he can.  He just has to stay healthy in the playoffs.

[bdm860]

Disappointed Smart didn't get any Defensive love, no votes for Best Defender, Best Perimeter Defender, or Most Versatile Defender, though did get 1 vote for Toughest.

Yeah, that's the one I was looking for.

Well at least one scout is giving Smart some love on D.  From SI's season preview:

Marcus Smart is an elite defender. Draymond [ Green] might be the only wing player better. Maybe. I wouldn’t hesitate to put Smart on a center. The last seven minutes of a game, he’s the best guard defender in the league

[Big333223]

Disappointed Smart didn't get any Defensive love, no votes for Best Defender, Best Perimeter Defender, or Most Versatile Defender, though did get 1 vote for Toughest.

Yeah, that's the one I was looking for.

Well at least one scout is giving Smart some love on D.  From SI's season preview:

Marcus Smart is an elite defender. Draymond [ Green] might be the only wing player better. Maybe. I wouldn’t hesitate to put Smart on a center. The last seven minutes of a game, he’s the best guard defender in the league

TP.

I love seeing that. I think Smart is special and 100% deserves to be spoken about the way people talk about Draymond.