NBA GMs name Clippers the title favorites
GM SURVEY: The Clippers are favorites to win the title and Giannis Antetokounmpo is the top pick by general managers in the annual NBA.com survey. It’s the first time since 2011 LeBron James is not the GM’s No. 1 pick for the award. Not that they get it right very often.
? Antetokounmpo was the first Buck player to be selected to an All-NBA 1st Team since 1983. That’s 11 years before Giannis’ birth.
SEASON PREVIEWS: We project the big winner of the 2019 offseason to finish at No. 4 in the Eastern Conference.
HANGING THEM UP: Longtime Bulls forward Luol Deng announced his retirement after 15 years in the NBA. He made the All-Star Game twice during his prime years in Chicago.
? Deng will be making $5 million a year till 2022 courtesy of a Laker contract we’re still scratching our heads about.
ZION MANAGEMENT: Zion Williamson will miss Friday’s preseason contest against the New York Knicks, and it isn’t for regular load management.There’s some concern over his right knee soreness.
WIGGINS UNCONVINCED: ESPN ranked their Top-100 players in the league this offseason, and Timberwolves swingman Andrew Wiggins missed the cut. Wiggins’ thoughts on the matter? “I don’t really look at that too much, top 100 or not top 100,” Wiggins told ESPN on Thursday. “There’s not 100 players better than me, so it doesn’t matter what people think. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. My job is to come out here and hoop, and that’s what I’m going to do.”
Despite not meeting expectations as a former No. 1 pick, Wiggins will be the league’s 23rd highest-paid player next season.
CHINA WANTED MOREY DISCIPLINED: During discussions following Daryl Morey’s now-infamous tweet, Chinese officials told NBA commissioner Adam Silver they wanted the Rockets general manager fired. Silver, to his credit, refused, saying that the executive wouldn’t even be disciplined, let alone fired.
LEGEND TO EUROPE? EuroLeague’s Olimpia Milano team president Pantaleo Dell’Orco spoke to EuroHoops about wanting to sign future Hall-of-Famer and the now-retired Dwyane Wade this summer.
HOW TO ENDURE: The Ringer talked to long-time role players such as Jared Dudley and Kendrick Perkins about how non-star talents carve out such long careers.
BEHIND THE SCENES: Yesterday’s surprising news about Bradley Beal agreeing to a max extension with the Wizards seemed to come out of left field. That wasn’t the case, however, as NBC Sports breaks down in this behind-the-scenes piece about negotiations between the two sides.
TRADE RUMOR RANKINGS
These are the players with the most mentions in our trade rumors page the last seven days:
SALARY QUIZ: WHO’S THIS NBA PLAYER? ?
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