Z is Up…But Who in Cleveland is Next?
October 22, 2013NFL News: Browns sign WR Brian Tyms from Miami practice squad
October 22, 2013All 30 NBA General Managers responded to an NBA.com poll asking their opinions on teams, players and coaches. The Heat were selected as the overwhelming favorite to win another championship this season, and LeBron James was named the best of everything it seems.
Cleveland’s Kyrie Irving came in third behind LeBron and Kevin Durant for player you would start a franchise with today. To be fair, Kyrie only got 3.4% of the votes cast. James was named on 89.7% of the ballots.
Irving was included in the “players also receiving votes” paragraph for player most likely to have a breakout season, which seems strange. What NBA GM didn’t think he was a star already?
Earl Clark and Jarrett Jack both received votes in the “most underrated player acquisition” question.
The Cavaliers tied for second with Brooklyn, Houston, Minnesota, New Orleans and Washington for most improved team. The Pistons were named the most improved by the league GMs.
Anthony Bennett received votes in questions about this season’s rookie of the year and best draft pick in five years.
In perhaps the strangest category, Tristan Thompson and Anderson Varejao both received votes for international player most likely to have a breakout season.
[Related: Video, Cavaliers’ future]
10 Comments
I assume “Best Draft Pick in 5 Years” means going forward 5 years, not in the last 5 years?…b/c, ya know, KI and Davis.
As pointed out in the other thread, 3.4% equals one out of 29 GMs. Anyone want to take bets that it wasn’t Grant?
Rick worded that oddly. The poll was which current rookie would be the best player five years from now.
I’ll take you up on that since GM’s weren’t allowed to vote for their own personnel.
Fair enough. Interesting. Who is taking anyone but Lebron, and as already asked, which GM couldn’t figure out how to answer the question?
The Heat’s GM? Since he can’t vote for his own player anyways.
That’s what I would guess too. I do wish they were a bit more public. Which GMs would take Irving or Durant over James right now? Then their owners can know to fire them immediately.
I don’t know about all that. There’s something to be said for starting your franchise player around a younger player than Lebron…especially if they look like they can be a special player. I can even see a frugal (cheap) owner (such as the Clippers/Bulls owners) with going for Kyrie because he is still on his rookie contract (giving you more financial flexibility.)
Lebron bring back probably two to three times the value of the most money he could ever cost a team. You don’t pass on him for dollars. And if you start your team around a guy who has yet to win 30 games in a season instead of a guy who pretty much assures you of winning a playoff series, you’re nuts.
If you’re starting a franchise over, Durant could bring back similar dollars, but he’s much younger, and has yet to hit his prime. Lebron is in his prime…and while it’s clear and obvious that Lebron is better (overall) than Durant, that does not mean that Lebron is the best choice for starting a new franchise.
If you notice, I put a specific qualifier around why someone would pick Kyrie over either Durant or Lebron. They’re cheap. They don’t want to pay luxury taxes. Do you know how many games Durant won in his second season? 23 Wins…and Kyrie’s team dealt with far more injuries than Durants did.