San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich
un 18, 2014; San Antonio, TX, USA; San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich waves to the fans during the NBA championship parade at San Antonio River Walk. Reuters

In the annual preseason poll of National Basketball Association (NBA) general managers (GMs), majority of the league’s head honchos have picked the San Antonio Spurs to win back-to-back NBA championships after their triumph over the Miami Heat in last season’s NBA Finals.

Almost half or 46.2% of the total 30 NBA GMs (46.2%) have voted for San Antonio, which will again be led by veterans Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili plus budding star Kawhi Leonard, to win the 2015 NBA Finals. The Cleveland Cavaliers, now with LeBron James, Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving as Ohio’s “Big 3”, are second in the poll at 15.4%.

Also getting votes to claiming the most prestigious title in basketball are the Chicago Bulls (Joakim Noah, Derrick Rose and new acquisition Pau Gasol), Los Angeles Clippers (Chris Paul and Blake Griffin) and Oklahoma City Thunder (Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook), all of which garnered 11.5% votes.

It is worth noting that the NBA GMs were far off from their preseason predictions last year when they voted by a landslide (75.9%) for the Miami Heat to win the 2014 championship. Only 13.8% believed that the Heat won’t three-peat then; with some votes going to the Spurs and the Indiana Pacers during the 2013-2014 preseason.

The data is from the league’s official website where they poll the NBA GMs, who had to answer 56 different questions about the NBA teams, players coaches and others expected performance in the new NBA season. GMs were not allowed to vote for their own teams or players.

Based on the answers of the NBA GMs, it is going to be the Cavaliers vs. Bulls in the 2015 Eastern Conference Finals while the Spurs will meet the Thunder in the 2015 Western Conference Finals.

Other GM predictions of note include LeBron James winning the 2015 NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) award over Kevin Durant. Also picked to have a “breakout year” were Anthony Davis of the New Orleans Pelicans; Bradley Beal of the Washington Wizards; Andrew Drummond of the Detroit Pistons; Klay Thompson of the Golden State Warriors; and Kenneth Faried of the Denver Nuggets. All of the five mentioned players are already key players for their respective teams but it appears, NBA GMs believe that they will take it the next level and become a star for their squads in the new season.

Also voted best in their respective positions are; Chris Paul (point guard) of the Los Angeles Clippers; James Harden (shooting guard) of the Houston Rockets; LeBron James (small forward) of the Cleveland Cavaliers; LaMarcus Aldridge (power forward) of the Portland Trail Blazers; and Dwight Howard (center) of the Houston Rockets.

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