76ers' Paul George signing receives huge acclaim from NBA GM survey
10/08/2024 01:13 PM
In an annual survey of NBA general managers conducted by John Schuhmann of the league website, the Philadelphia 76ers’ offseason — namely the signing of All-Star forward Paul George — was widely praised.
The Sixers made one of the biggest free-agency splashes in recent memory by signing George to a max contract, luring him away from his hometown Los Angeles Clippers. The 34-year-old gives them another strong scoring and shooting option next to Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey. Based on the opinions of general managers from across the league, it was a move that should pay off immensely.
In the anonymous survey of league GMs, George was the most popular answer to the question "Which one player acquisition will make the biggest impact?" He received 60 percent of the votes cast in that category, with the New York Knicks’ additions of Mikal Bridges and Karl-Anthony Towns tying for second place with 13 percent. While perhaps George being a signing rather than a trade addition was included in the thought process for voting, taking the top spot by such a wide margin is noteworthy.
The 76ers finished second in voting for the team that made the best overall offseason moves. At 33 percent, they came up just four percentage points shy of the Oklahoma City Thunder. George was not the lone reason for Philly's offseason receiving such praise but he clearly holds a lot of sway.
76ers’ Paul George signing praised by NBA general managers
Joel Embiid, of course, showed up on the survey at several points. He tied for third (with Nikola Jokic and Jayson Tatum) among players who GMs think will win the MVP award this season, receiving seven percent of the votes. That poll was dominated by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who got 40 percent, and Luka Doncic, who got 30 percent.
The 76ers center tied for fourth in the question of which player forces opposing coaches to make the most adjustments. He and Giannis Antetokounmpo each got seven percent of the votes while Doncic, at 33 percent, topped the list. Embiid placed a distant second behind Jokic in voting for the best center in the league, a result that has happened previously. The Denver Nuggets superstar received 87 percent of the votes while the Sixers superstar got 10 percent.
Caleb Martin received votes in the category of most underrated offseason addition. Topping the voting in that category was the Oklahoma City Thunder’s trade for Alex Caruso. Funnily enough, the other player involved in the trade, new Chicago Bulls guard Josh Giddey, also received votes.
Nick Nurse tied for fourth in the category of coaches who make the best in-game adjustments, receiving seven percent of the votes. The 76ers head coach also earned some votes for the coach that runs the best offense. As a team, Philly was neck-and-neck with New York in the projection for the Eastern Conference standings. The Boston Celtics were comfortably slated as the top team and the Sixers and Knicks were second and third, well ahead of the remainder of the field. Neither received a vote for being the top seed but the Cleveland Cavaliers somehow did.
Philadelphia showed up at a few other points in the survey, including the top five in the categories of teams that will be most improved and teams whose success will be the most difficult to predict. That unpredictability likely comes from the injury concerns of Joel Embiid and Paul George, which understandably gave voters some pause. However, as long as neither one suffers an injury that sidelines them long-term, the Sixers should indeed be one of the best teams in the NBA in the 2024-25 season.
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