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NBA.com released the results of its annual GM Survey on Tuesday, and the Los Angeles Clippers are represented fairly heavily. There are a number of categories, but let's roll through some of the more interesting ones.
Doc Rivers is widely regarded as one of the NBA's better head coaches, but he's noticeably absent from several of the coaching-related questions. Despite coaching the team that owned the league's No. 1 offense in 2014-15, Rivers didn't receive a single vote for the question "Which head coach runs the best offense?". How does this make sense? Steve Kerr, Gregg Popovich and Mike Budenholzer received the most votes, while Rick Carlisle and Brad Stevens were also represented. However, Doc ranked second (behind Pop) in the "Which head coach is the best manager/motivator of people?" category. That sounds about right.
For the "Which active player will make the best head coach someday?" question, Chris Paul took home 25% of the vote, earning him the top spot in this category for the second consecutive year. J.J. Redick was among those also receiving votes. It's hard to argue with this. CP3 is a commanding presence on and off the court, as evidenced most notably by his status as the President of the NBA Players Association. As for Redick, he definitely has the hair for the job.
Chris Paul's name pops up repeatedly throughout the survey. He ranked No. 1 for "Which player has the best basketball IQ?" with 46.4% of the vote. He lapped the field in the "Which player is the best passer?" category, taking home a whopping 71.4% of votes. LeBron James ranked second here, raking in just 10.7%. CP3 was also tabbed as one of the league's best leaders, ranking third behind only LeBron and Tim Duncan.
Who is the best point guard in the NBA? Well, if you ask the league's general managers, that would be Stephen Curry. The reigning MVP earned a whopping 55.2% of the vote. Paul ranked second with 24.1%. CP3 dominated this category last season, earning over 71% of votes. Blake Griffin was ranked as the league's second-best power forward (7.1% of votes) in a category easily won by Anthony Davis (82.1%).
What about DeAndre Jordan? The Clips' big man (and his awesome new 'fro) was also prevalent throughout the survey. He was tied for the third-most votes for "Who is the best center in the NBA?" with Tim Duncan and Anthony Davis, neither of whom truly identifies as a center. Davis was already voted as the NBA's best PF. He can't be both, people.
Jordan tied with Draymond Green, receiving the fifth-most votes for "Who is the best defensive player in the NBA?" D.J. also tied with Anthony Davis for second place in "Who is the best interior defender in the NBA?". And, as one may imagine, Jordan's shocking decision to return to the Clippers after initially agreeing to leave for Dallas ranked No. 1 for "What was the most surprising move of the offseason?". Poor Mavericks. Paul Pierce's decision to join the Clippers also received votes.
What about the Clippers as a whole? Are GMs around the league expecting big things of Lob City this season? Well...not so much.
LAC received zero votes for "Which team will win the 2016 NBA Finals?". They deem Cleveland, San Antonio, Golden State and OKC as more likely champs. The GMs also ranked the Clippers as the Western Conference's fourth-best team behind the Warriors, Spurs and Thunder. No general managers think the Clips are going to get the conference's top seed, either. However, 10.9% of them think the Clips can nab the No. 2 spot.
On the plus side, Doc Rivers's big summer didn't go unnoticed, as the Clippers ranked tied with the Rockets for the second-most successful offseason. Both L.A. and Houston garnered 6.9% of the votes for "Which team made the best overall moves this offseason?" First place was, naturally, the Spurs.
Check out the rest of the survey here.