The NBA on Tuesday released its 23rd annual survey of the league’s general managers.

An overwhelming majority of them believe the Boston Celtics will hoist the Larry O’Brien Trophy again this season.

Of the GMs polled, 83% predicted the Celtics will win the 2024-25 NBA title, which would make them the first repeat champions since the Golden State Warriors in 2018. The upstart Oklahoma City Thunder were a distant second, receiving 13% of the vote, followed by last season’s Western Conference champs, the Dallas Mavericks (3%).

Unsurprisingly, Boston also was a near-unanimous pick to win the East this season, pulling in 97% of votes. The Cleveland Cavaliers (3%) were the only other team to receive a first-place vote. The Knicks and 76ers garnered praise from GMs for their bold offseason moves (Mikal Bridges and Karl-Anthony Towns to New York; Paul George to Philadelphia), but no respondent picked them to unseat the Celtics.

The Celtics also topped the charts in terms of performance at both ends of the floor. More than half of GMs ranked them as the best defensive team (57%) and said they will have the league’s most efficient offense this season (53%). Again, no surprise: The Celtics led the NBA in offensive rating and ranked third in defensive rating during their dominant 2023-24 season.

Boston was well-represented in the player portion of the survey, as well, with Jayson Tatum and Jrue Holiday held in particularly high regard among GMs.

Tatum tied Nikola Jokic and Joel Embiid for third in NBA MVP votes (7%), trailing only Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (40%) and Dallas’ Luka Doncic (30%).

Voters preferred Tatum over Doncic in the positional categories, however, with 47% ranking the Celtics star as the NBA’s best small forward for the second consecutive year. Doncic, Kevin Durant and LeBron James were tied for second at 17%. Jaylen Brown was fifth at 3%.

It was Brown’s only top-five ranking in the survey, though he also received votes for MVP and best shooting guard.

Derrick White received shooting guard votes, too, and Tatum was one of seven players to get votes for best power forward (Giannis Antetokounmpo won in a landslide at 77%). Tatum tied for third in the “most versatile player” vote, and only Jokic, Antetokounmpo and Doncic received more overall votes across all player categories.

GMs lauded Holiday, White’s running mate in Boston’s backcourt, for his elite defense. The 34-year-old guard was voted the NBA’s best perimeter defender for the second straight season (White also received votes) and tied for the second-best overall defender behind San Antonio phenom Victor Wembanyama.

Holiday also tied for fourth in the “best leader” category and tied for fifth in “most versatile defender.” He and teammate Al Horford – the Celtics’ two most experienced players – both received votes when GMs were asked which current player would make the best future head coach.

Speaking of coaches, no GMs voted Joe Mazzulla as the NBA’s best head coach. Miami’s Erik Spoelstra was the clear favorite there with 69% of the vote, followed by OKC’s Mark Daigneault, Golden State’s Steve Kerr, Phoenix’s Mike Budenholzer and Minnesota’s Chris Finch.

Mazzulla did appear in nearly every coaching sub-category, though: tied for third in “best manager/motivator of people” behind Spoelstra and Kerr, second in “runs the best offense” behind Indiana’s Rick Carlisle and fourth in “best defensive schemes” behind Spoelstra, Finch and New York’s Tom Thibodeau.

So, while no front office shot-caller believes Mazzulla is the league’s absolute best coach, plenty still think highly of his tactical and motivational skills.

There also was a lot of love for one of Mazzulla’s Celtics assistants. Sam Cassell tied Minnesota’s Micah Nori for first place in the “best assistant coach” voting (17%).

Cassell, who also won a championship as a Celtics player in 2008, should take on a larger role this season following the departure of top assistant Charles Lee. Lee left Boston this offseason to become head coach of the Charlotte Hornets.

Rounding out the Celtics selections, Boston was voted the fifth-most fun team to watch, and TD Garden tied for third in best home-court advantage. Baylor Scheierman was one of 16 draft picks to receive votes for “biggest steal.”

Spots up for grabs

The Celtics returned the top 11 players from last year’s team in terms of minutes played per game, and all of them should have real roles this season.

Who fills the 12th and 13th spots in the rotation – vacated when Oshae Brissett declined his player option to test free agency and Svi Mykhailiuk signed with Utah – is one of the few roster-related questions that need answering as Boston’s Oct. 22 opener approaches.

Based on Mazzulla’s personnel usage during Boston’s two preseason games in Abu Dhabi, 2023 second-round pick Jordan Walsh and 2023 trade pickup Jaden Springer appear to be the front-runners for those openings.

Springer and Walsh were part of the Celtics’ second unit in both exhibitions, playing alongside Payton Pritchard, Sam Hauser and one of Luke Kornet/Xavier Tillman/Neemias Queta. Both were plus-31 on the weekend, tied for the second-best plus/minus of any Boston player over the two games (Pritchard, plus-33).

Walsh’s fourth-quarter contributions helped the Celtics pull away last Friday, and he and the defensive-minded Springer both sat out the final frame in Sunday’s rematch. Notably, none of Boston’s other candidates for the two depth roles – a group that includes Scheierman and veteran tryout player Lonnie Walker IV – saw the floor until the fourth quarter in either game.

We’ll see if Mazzulla makes any changes to that setup in this weekend’s preseason back-to-back against Philadelphia and Toronto at TD Garden.

Off the rim

The Celtics gave their players three days off upon their return from the Middle East. The team is scheduled to practice Thursday and Friday before hitting the court for their first home preseason game on Saturday night. … Netflix’s anticipated “Starting 5” docuseries premieres Wednesday. One of those titular five, Tatum, who had cameras following him throughout the 2023-24 season, drops this line in the opening minutes of the first episode: “I would have cut off one of my fingers to win a championship.”

Originally Published: October 8, 2024 at 2:39 p.m.