NBA general managers predict Spurs to win Southwest division

By Quixem Ramirez
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Jan 29, 2011; San Antonio, TX, USA; (From right) San Antonio Spurs guard Manu Ginobili, forward Tim Duncan, guard Tony Parker watch the game from the bench during the fourth quarter at the AT

The annual NBA general manager survey, in which general managers are not allowed to vote for their own personnel, is a nice little exercise to gage the pulse of the league.

This being said, it didn’t take a genius to predict the Miami Heat to win a title, drawing 74.1% of the vote last year, and two-time Most Valuable Player LeBron James to earn his third such award.

So a lot of these results aren’t enlightening. Which includes the result of the Southwest division, who GM’s nearly unanimously believe will be won by the Spurs. The Memphis Grizzlies drew the remaining 3.3%.

Among other Spurs-related results: general mangers believe Kawhi Leonard has a good chance of breaking out this season; Tony Parker is the fourth best point guard behind Chris Paul, Derrick Rose and Rajon Rondo; Gregg Popovich is the best head coach/motivator/in-game adjuster; assitant coach Mike Budenholzer is the second best assistant behind Indian’s Brian Shaw; and Tim Duncan has the second highest basketball IQ aside from Los Angeles Lakers point guard Steve Nash.

And this is just the tip of the iceberg. With 57 questions in all, this census covers every facet of the NBA. LeBron James dominates the majority of player categories unsurprisingly. But Oklahoma City Thunder superstar Kevin Durant is more trustworthy in late-game scenarios, taking the spot from last year’s incumbent Kobe Bryant.

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