Reaction to the NBA GM Survey and Preseason Opener
The 2023 NBA GM survey is out and is highly-Timberwolves focused. Even the league seems to be excited for the team.
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There is no doubt that the Timberwolves were a team of interest between fans and media. How the league itself views the team is a little more difficult to determine. It’s not like a general manager will (usually) just tweet their feelings out about a rival team or player.
This is where the annual NBA general manager survey comes in.
In a bit of confirmation for how widespread excitement is for this Timberwolves season, Minnesota was prominently featured throughout. Tim Connelly’s offseason moves certainly seemed to pique the interest of his peers across the league. Let’s take a look.
Where The Wolves Land In The Standings
Since the Timberwolves made the playoffs in 2018, I’ve said that every regular season game matters when you’re good. We saw in both four years ago and in 2022 how thin the margins for error can be in determining who gets in and who goes home. It seems like executives (like everyone else) are expecting another tight finish.
The Wolves finished tied for sixth with Dallas in the standings. Despite the tie, the Wolves received 3 percent of votes for third place and 7 percent for fourth. Compared to zero third-place votes and 14 percent of votes landing in fourth place for the Mavs.
Los Angeles (C), Golden State, Phoenix, Denver and Memphis are the teams that finished higher in the voting. The Lakers and Pelicans rounded out the top 10.
The Anthony Edwards Hype Train Has Left the Station
Picking Edwards as a breakout candidate this season certainly wouldn’t make anyone some rogue thinker. Lots of people are high on the third-year wing. It seems that excitement has carried over to NBA front offices, too. Edwards tied for second-place with Detroit’s Cade Cunningham for Player Most Likely to Have a Breakout Season.
First place? Evan Mobley, who is unfortunately sidelined for two weeks with injury.
What’s interesting is that Zion Williamson got 14 percent of the votes in fourth place. Williamson is a curious choice for a guy who has already been an all-star, but has struggled to remain healthy. A lot of the other votes in this category are strange because they include Jonathan Kuminga, Tyrese Maxey and the like, but also Anthony Davis, Rudy Gobert and Ben Simmons.
I’m confused. Moving on.
Jazz and Wolves Both Made The Offseason’s Best Overall Moves?
This is a fascinating case of perspective considering the Jazz traded Rudy Gobert to the Timberwolves. Utah also dealt Royce O’Neale, Bojan Bogdanovic and Donovan Mitchell for even more draft picks and potential trade assets. This seems like high praise for a team kicking off their rebuild.
Don’t get me wrong, I can see the argument. Usually when a team is considered for “best offseason moves” it’s usually because they got better now and not in five years or whenever.
Outside of Gobert, the Wolves locked down Karl-Anthony Towns long term and rounded out the rotation with solid players like Kyle Anderson and Austin Rivers. The team still looks deep on paper even after dealing for Gobert, which is, I guess, one positive of trading more picks than players.
Anyway, the Wolves finished tied for second in the voting at 17 percent with both Utah and Philadelphia. Meanwhile, the Cavs dominated 41 percent of the voting.
Big Impact Expected For Gobert
A common theme of this survey seems to be GMs being high on the Wolves and Cavs’ moves this summer. While Mitchell received the most votes for biggest impact from a player acquisition, Gobert finished second. It seems there were no other serious contenders as Jalen Brunson and P.J. Tucker were the only other vote getters.
What’s interesting is that Gobert even received one vote for most underrated player acquisition.
On this note, Wolves and Cavs games are going to be interesting with both teams’ massive front courts and dynamic wings on the perimeter. There’s also the potential for a Ricky Rubio revenge game with the former Wolves point guard coming off the Cleveland bench.
Timberwolves Voted Fourth-Most Expected-To-Improve Team
This was an interesting vote. The Clippers received 41 percent of the votes, for what I assume is mostly getting Kawhi Leonard and Paul George healthy. The Pelicans finished tied for third with, who else, the Cavs. But it’s interesting that Denver did not receive any votes despite getting Jamal Murray back.
It’s understandable that teams returning established players overrides the Gobert trade and potential improvement from Edwards, Jaden McDaniels and others.
Gobert Finally Edges Mitchell For Most Surprising Move
What was cool about both of these moves is how they engaged two non-traditional glamour teams. Sure, Kevin Garnett and LeBron James have respectively carried these franchises to relevance in the past, but with all the acknowledgements of the Wolves and Cavs in this survey, these teams have clearly moved into their own unique and prominent eras.
I don’t think anyone is surprised that Utah dealt Gobert and (especially) Mitchell. But Mitchell landing anywhere but the Knicks was surprising. The Timberwolves weren’t exactly a long-rumored destination for Gobert, either. My hope is that these moves workout reasonably well for both teams as it may encourage teams of similar status to take a big swing in the future.
The only other surprising moves were Dejounte Murray to the Hawks and…Andre Drummond to the Bulls (sure).
You can read the survey here.
Towns, Gobert Both ‘Out’ Against Heat on Tuesday
Fortunately, Towns is out of the hospital and back with the team. However, fans are going to have to wait a little longer to see the new front court.
It’s hard to take much away from preseason anyway but it will be even harder to without the two centers. The game may still have some value, though, if you’re just looking to scratch your itch for NBA basketball.