2016 NBA GM Poll Doesn’t Favor Bulls
On Tuesday, Gar Forman probably wished he could vote for his own team. The NBA released their annual GM poll and the results mirror what most of us believe about this Bulls team – it isn’t going to be a good season.
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Forman, and the GMs for every other team in the NBA were polled on 48 questions with only one rule – you can’t fudge the numbers by voting for your own team.
Well, let’s take a look at how Chicago did in the poll. This might sting a little.
Without much surprise, no one believes that any team outside of Cleveland or Golden State has a chance at winning the title this season. When ranking the “top four” teams in the Eastern Conference, it looks like the Bulls received at least one vote, though they finished ninth overall in the voting behind obvious teams like the Cavaliers, Celtics and Raptors. Detroit and Indiana also finished above Chicago, making the Bucks the low man on the board according to the rest of the league when it comes to the Central Division. To give you an idea of just how much can change in a year, the Bulls were selected as second behind Cleveland last year.
The rest of the league isn’t high on the Bulls roster, not rating any breakout players, MVP candidates or players they would start a franchise with, but they do like Dwyane Wade as the third place vote-getter for best shooting guard in the league. He finished with 3.3 percent of the vote, which I assume is just one vote. He was well behind James Harden and Klay Thompson.
Indirectly, the Bulls received votes for biggest impact acquisition as New York got the nod for picking up Derrick Rose. The Bulls also were on the losing end of a vote-receiving underrated player acquisition with Mike Dunleavy going to Cleveland.
Wade was back on the list as the second-place vote in the most surprising move of the offseason, finished just behind Kevin Durant and his Warriors decision.
Denzel Valentine broke into the list in a three-way tie for fifth most votes for biggest steal in the draft. He was tied at that spot with Marquese Chriss and Skal Labissiere. Top player in that category was Dejounte Murray, who dropped all the way to the San Antonio Spurs at the end of the first round.
Jimmy Butler received votes for best perimeter defender, but was not among the top three who each received at least 6.7 percent of the vote.
The Bulls coaching staff was completely shut out of every category. For off-ball movement, former Bull Kyle Korver made the top two, just ahead of J.J. Redick and behind Klay Thompson. Wade also received at least one vote in this category. Rajon Rondo received at least one vote for best passer, but didn’t finish among the top three in that category.
Butler was back on the list, receiving at least one vote for toughest player in the NBA, though at least seven players were ahead of him on that list. I’m willing to guess that Tom Thibodeau might just have told Scott Layden who to vote for in this category.
Wade also snuck in one last time in the best leader category which I don’t think anyone would deny about Dwyane. That could make it all the more interesting to see how the #ThreeAlpha project works as the season progresses.
There were plenty of other interesting tidbits, particularly in the area of rule changes that GMs would like to seem implemented. These surveys are for fun, but can also be accurate. Of course, the games still need to be played and Chicago might surprise a few people. Or they might not. We’ll know more as the season progresses. By the way, the season starts next week.