Prior to the beginning of each NBA season, the league’s general managers are asked a series of questions about the year ahead. The results of those are compiled into the annual GM survey.
For this year’s edition — the 19th — the Los Angeles Lakers topped the league in several categories, including the team that made the best moves in the offseason.
Last season, the L.A. Clippers overwhelmingly won the category of best offseason moves, getting an absurd 82% of the vote. For the 2020-21 campaign, the Lakers received the most votes by a much more modest margin.
In total, seven teams received votes for best offseason moves, but L.A. led the way with 37% of the overall vote.
This came after the Lakers replaced the losses of Danny Green, Rajon Rondo, Dwight Howard, JaVale McGee and Avery Bradley with Dennis Schroder, Montrezl Harrell, Wesley Matthews and Marc Gasol.
The team additionally re-signed Anthony Davis and came to terms with LeBron James on a contract extension.
While not comparable to the Clippers’ margin from last season, the Lakers did win the category by 15% over the second-place Phoenix Suns, who received 22% of the vote.
The Suns went all-in by trading a significant haul of players and draft picks for point guard Chris Paul to pair with Devin Booker and Deandre Ayton. They also signed Jae Crowder.
In third place was the Oklahoma City Thunder with 15% of the vote. They traded away nearly the entirety of the roster in exchange for a historic haul of first round picks, owning as many as 19 between now and 2026.
The Atlanta Hawks, Milwaukee Bucks and Philadelphia 76ers all tied in fourth place with 7% of the vote. The Bucks added Jrue Holiday and re-signed Giannis Antetokounmpo to the supermax contract.
The 76ers added shooting and removed some of the awkward pieces from last summer. Meanwhile, the Hawks added numerous talents to their roster including Danilo Gallinari, Bogdan Bogdanovic, and Rondo.
Finally, the Portland Trail Blazers received just 4% of the vote. They added Robert Covington, Derrick Jones Jr. and Enes Kanter while losing just Hassan Whiteside and Trevor Ariza.
Lakers picked to win championship in GM survey
The Lakers won a number of categories in the GM survey, but the most important is being picked to win the championship in decisive fashion. L.A. received 81% of the vote in that category, which is the third-highest rate in the history of the survey.
Only the 2017-18 and the 2018-19 Golden State Warriors received higher percentages.
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