Celtics

NBA GM survey: Celtics receive 4th-most votes to win 2023 NBA title

See where the league's GMs ranked Boston in a variety of categories heading into the 2022-23 season.

By AJ Nelson

October 5, 2022

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Despite having the best odds to win the 2022-23 NBA Championship according to FanDuel, the Boston Celtics received the 4th-most votes to take home the title in the annual NBA App GM Survey released Tuesday.

The Celtics received 11 percent of the vote, coming in behind the Clippers (21 percent), Warriors (25 percent), and Bucks (43 percnt). These four teams were the only to receive multiple votes in the survey.

Approximately two-thirds of the league’s GMs projected Boston to finish in the top-two of the East. Twenty one percent voted for the Celtics to finish first, while 45 percent predicted a second-place finish. Milwaukee received 72 percent of first-place votes.

The Celtics were well-represented in other areas of the survey as well.

Jayson Tatum was voted as the second-best small forward in the NBA, receiving 24 percent of the vote. The Brooklyn Nets’ Kevin Durant picked up 45 percnt of the vote to take the top spot.

GMs around the league were impressed by the Celtics’ trade for Malcolm Brogdon, as the move was rated as the “most underrated player acquisition” of the offseason, garnering 28 percent of the vote. No other acquisition received more than 14 percent.

Though he didn’t pick up any votes for best overall defensive player, Marcus Smart obtained a league-leading 41 percent of votes for best perimeter defender. He took the top spot from Milwaukee’s Jrue Holiday, who received 31 percent of the vote as opposed to 50 percent last year.

From a team perspective, GMs viewed the Celtics’ defense as far-and-away the league’s premier. Sixty nine percent named Boston as having the league’s best defense, while no other team picked up more than 10 percent.

Celtics fans’ intensity was also represented in the survey, as Boston tied for second-place in the “Best Home-Court Advantage” category. Only the Toronto Raptors (21 percent) received more of the vote than the Celtics and Denver Nuggets (17 percent each).

The full results of the survey can be viewed here.