Each year, the NBA’s general manager (GM) survey gives the top decision-makers across franchises a chance to show either how little they know or how petty they can be.
The Lakers tend to be a target of the nonsense, given their stature and how many teams they’ve angered throughout the year. This time around, though, for better or worse, they were just kind of ignored.
For example, Luka Dončić got no votes for the projected MVP winner while Jayson Tatum and Anthony Edwards both received votes. He did
finish fifth in voting for the player who forces the most adjustments.
There were some odd vote totals when GMs were asked to rank the best player in each position. Likely by design, there was no clarification given for each player’s position, meaning Luka finished third in voting for best point guard, third in voting for best shooting guard and was named the top small forward in the league…which is a thing few people would actually say about him.
Luka did not receive any votes for the best international player in the NBA with all of them going to either Victor Wembanyama or Nikola Jokić. He finished second to Jokić for best passer and tied for third for the player you want taking the final shot with the game on the line.
Only two other individual players received recognition in the polls. Sandro Mamukelashvili received some votes for the most underrated player acquisition, the only acknowledgment the team received for their offseason overhaul. Cameron Carr finished tied for fifth for the biggest steal in the draft.
The Lakers, perhaps unsurprisingly, had no one featured in the defense section. There’s maybe a little surprise that Matisse Thybulle did not receive any votes for the best perimeter defender, but Wemby was always going to be named the best interior defender.
GMs were asked for their top four in the Western Conference this season and the Lakers received little recognition there, leading to them finishing sixth in the survey. They also got no votes for the most fun team to watch, which is very subjective but given the offensive firepower the team has, they should be among that group.
JJ Redick, meanwhile, received no votes for best head coach or best manager/motivator of people. He received no votes for best in-game adjustments or best defensive schemes, but did receive votes for best offense. It’s a bit surprising, considering defense is where he’s overachieved in his coaching career.
Following in line with the recognition for his offense, they did finish sixth in voting for the league’s most efficient offense.
Given everything in the polls, they were tied for third for the toughest team to predict for this season.
As always, there’s very little to take away from this. No one with the team takes these serious and GMs are petty people anyway.
You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude or on Bluesky at @jacobrude.bsky.social.
