The results of the annual NBA General Manager Survey are out, and while there aren’t a ton of surprises, there are a few Toronto Raptors notes to pass on.
Eastern Conference Rankings
Asked to rank the top four teams in the East, GMs pegged the Raptors as the second-best team 60 percent of the time, and only one GM left them out of the top four entirely (for shame, nameless GM). They’re also ahead of the Celtics, narrowly, though the Celtics getting one vote as the top team (come on) made it closer than it maybe should have looked.
Breakout Season
Nobody picked Terrence Ross. They sleep.
Best by Position
Neither Kyle Lowry nor DeMar DeRozan received votes as the top player at their respective positions, which is fine until you see that Kyrie Irving and Dwyane Wade received votes.
Biggest Steal
Pascal Siakam received one vote as the biggest steal in the draft at No. 27. (Dejounte Murray at No. 29 was the top pick, though these votes were all over the place.)
Nando de Colo alert
GMs voted de Colo as the third best international player not in the NBA. The Raptors own his NBA rights should he choose to return.
Best Assistant
Nick Nurse received a vote as the best assistant coach in the NBA. This should hardly come as a surprise given how well thought of he is. He’s a candidate to get plucked for a head coaching gig at some point in the future.
Home Court
Not a single vote for the ACC having the best home crowd? I guess LeBron isn’t the Cavs’ GM, after all.
Toughness
Lowry received a vote as the toughest player in the NBA. I was a unanimous pick for toughest blogger.
KLOE IQ
Lowry also received a vote for highest basketball IQ, one of only four players to get a nod.
