If their performances in four of five preseason games are any indication, it will be a long 2019-20 NBA season for the Golden State Warriors. And the 18th annual NBA.com GM Survey released on Thursday, Oct. 17, won’t do much to boost the team’s morale. But the team’s prospects in context of its new-look roster did not shade the esteem with which the teams’ managers hold the Warriors’ stars.
Case in point: Stephen Curry.
The league’s GMs consider him to be the best point guard in the NBA, awarding him a decisive 90% of the votes, with Damian Lillard in a distant second with 7% and LeBron James in third, with 3%. Last year, Curry was voted the best, but with 57% of the votes, meaning his skills have vastly improved or the NBA’s other point guards have fallen off their game.
With the players in the NBA last season panning Curry’s ballhandling skills in an anonymous players’ survey as overrated, if not weak, the outcome of the GM survey should serve as sweet comeuppance to the naysayer players who anonymously named Kyrie Irving the best ballhandler.
Curry did well in other categories, too.
Here are the complete results:
Where Curry ranks per the league’s GMs
Best point guard
Stephen Curry (Warriors) — 90%
Damian Lillard (Portland Trail Blazers) — 7%
LeBron James (Los Angeles Lakers) — 3%
Curry ranked first in 2018-19, with 57% of the votes.
Best pure shooter
Stephen Curry (Warriors) — 86%
Klay Thompson (Warriors) — 11%
J.J. Redick (New Orleans Pelicans) — 4%
Curry won this category in 2018-19, with 73% of the vote.
Favorite to win MVP
Giannis Antetokounmpo (Milwaukee Bucks) — 52%
Stephen Curry (Warriors) — 10%
Anthony Davis (Lakers) — 10%
Kawhi Leonard (LA Clippers) — 10%
Nikola Jokic (Denver Nuggets) — 7%
James Harden (Houston Rockets), LeBron James (Lakers) and Damian Lillard (Trail Blazers) also received votes.
Last year, LeBron James won this category with 30% of the votes.
Player who should take the shot when the game is on the line
Stephen Curry (Warriors) — 44%
Kevin Durant (Brooklyn Nets), Damian Lillard (Trail Blazers), Klay Thompson (Warriors) in a three-way tie for second place — 11% apiece
Kyrie Irving (Nets) and Kawhi Leonard (Clippers) in a tie for fifth place — 7%
James Harden (Rockets) and LeBron James (Lakers) also received votes.
Kevin Durant, then with the Warriors, won this category in 2018-19 with 40%.
Player who forces opposing coaches to make the most adjustments
James Harden (Rockets) — 48%
Stephen Curry (Warriors) — 17%
LeBron James (Lakers) — 17%
Giannis Antetokounmpo (Bucks) — 14%
Kevin Durant (Nets) — 3%
LeBron James ranked at the top last year with 60% of the votes.
Best leader
Damian Lillard (Trail Blazers) — 41%
Stephen Curry (Warriors) — 37%
LeBron James (Lakers) — 15%
Giannis Antetokounmpo (Bucks) and Chris Paul (Oklahoma City Thunder) also received votes.
LeBron James won this category in 2018-19 with 30% of the votes.
Player who is best at moving without the ball
Klay Thompson (Warriors) — 43%
J.J. Redick (Pelicans) — 25%
Stephen Curry (Warriors) — 21%
Kyle Korver (Bucks) — 7%
C.J. McCollum (Trail Blazers) — 4%
Klay Thompson also topped the list last year, winning 53% of the votes.
Survey basics per NBA.com:
The GMs responded to 50 different questions about the best teams, players, coaches, fans, and offseason moves. General managers were not permitted to vote for their own team or personnel. Percentages are based on the pool of respondents to that particular question, rather than all 30 GMs.
