The NBA’s general managers apparently don’t expect much from the Lakers this season.
In the league’s annual GM survey, published on Tuesday, NBA GMs picked the Lakers to finish eighth in the Western Conference in 2022-23.
In last year’s survey, 80 percent of GM votes picked the Lakers to win the West.
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The LeBron James-led Lakers finished 33-49 last season, allowing the third-most points per game (115.1) in the NBA. A failed Big Three experiment in James, Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook, along with a plethora of injuries, contributed to the team’s lackluster season.
The GMs responded to 50 different questions about the best teams, players, coaches and offseason moves, and were not permitted to vote for their own team or personnel. In the survey, the voting percentages are based on the pool of respondents to that particular question, rather than all 30 GMs.
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Like last year, NBA GMs picked James as having the best basketball IQ in the league, with the 37-year-old getting 45 percent of the vote — though, the consensus percentage was lower than last year’s 53 percent.
Denver’s Nikola Jokic, who is the reigning NBA MVP, had the second-highest percentage (24 percent).
After a summer that was filled with dramatic trade rumors surrounding Westbrook — the point guard had one of his worst campaigns last season — the Lakers are on a mission to get back to the postseason.
Lakers GM Rob Pelinka seems committed to Westbrook, who exercised his $47.1 million option in June to return to Los Angeles.
The team’s owner, Jeanie Buss — who has expressed her frustration with how last season ended — is also confident in Westbrook fitting in the system of new head coach Darvin Ham.
In this year’s GM survey, Ham was the top vote-getter (48 percent) when asked which relocated head coach will make the biggest impact on his new team.
The Lakers also added veteran guard Patrick Beverley in August, who will add a defensive boost to that side of the ball. James also said during media day last month that the Lakers will be “hammering home” to improve on defense this season.
As for which team’s level of success this season is toughest to predict? NBA GMs picked the Nets (32 percent) and Lakers (18 percent).
Ben Simmons defensive reputation, meanwhile, has taken a hit after missing an entire year.
The Nets point guard, who finished second in Defensive Player of the Year in his last healthy season, did not feature in the top three for best defensive player (Giannis 48 per cent), best perimeter defender (Marcus Smart 41 per cent) or most versatile defender in the NBA (Giannis 41 per cent).
On Tuesday Simmons made his long-awaited debut for the Nets against his former team the 76ers. He finished the game with six points, four rebounds, five asssits and one steal while shooting 3-for-6 from the field and 0-for-2 from the free-throw line.
Simmons Nets have also lost a fair bit of their lustre following a tumultuous off season in which Kevin Durant attempted to force a trade.
Last year GMs voted them a 72 per cent chance to win the league. This year they didn’t make the top five. They were also given an 83 per cent chance to win the East in 2021-22. That has plummeted to 12 per cent in the most recent survey.
This article originally appeared in the New York Post.
