The NBA has released its annual GM survey, which polls all 30 general managers across the league to get their view on the upcoming season. It provides insight into who executives feel represent the best players and teams around the league, as well as what changes they want to see.
It’s not surprising that the rule everyone wants changed the most is roster construction relative to the harsh penalties the new CBA imposes on teams that pass that second apron. It’s also not surprising that Stephen Curry was voted as the player GM’s would want to take the shot with the game on the line. Some of the questions and answers are pretty straightforward, while others are worth digging into some more.
With that in mind, let’s break down some of these results from the 2025 NBA GM survey and see how the league’s decision makers view this upcoming season.
Nikola Jokić expected to keep collecting hardware
Jokić has already won thee MVP awards in the last five years, and you could argue he should be a perfect five for five in that category — though Joel Embiid and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander were more than deserving of the honor in the years Jokić finished second in voting. There are few players who have had this type of staying power for the league’s top individual award, and that streak of finishing first or second for the award doesn’t appear to be stopping next season, either. Jokić received 67% of votes to win MVP for the fourth time, which would put him in a category with LeBron James and Wilt Chamberlain as the only players to win the award four times.
On paper, Jokić is positioned well to win a fourth MVP award. The Nuggets reloaded around him, trading Michael Porter Jr. to the Brooklyn Nets for Cam Johnson. They also added Tim Hardaway Jr. and brought back Bruce Brown. It’s a more complete roster than last season, and with the shooting depth Denver now has, we could see Jokić set a career high in assists after already averaging 10.2 dimes last season.
We know Jokić will be operating at an MVP level, and if the Nuggets can raise their level of play from last season then Denver could be a viable threat to the Thunder to get to the NBA Finals.
We’re entering Year 3 of Wembanyama, and just like everyone else, the GM’s around the league expect a massive season from the Frenchman. Wembanyama finished fourth in MVP voting, just a percentage behind reigning MVP Gilgeous-Alexander. He received an overwhelming number of votes, 83% of them to be exact, for the player general managers would most want to start a franchise with today. He was tied second for most likely to have a breakout season, finished second behind Jokić for best center, and took the top spot for best defensive player, best interior defender and was tied with Giannis Antetokounmpo as most versatile player in the league.
None of those are really surprising on the surface, but it does indicate just how much every other team expects Wembanyama to dominate the league in the near future. And they’re not wrong, either. It’s only preseason, but we’ve already seen Wembanyama finish with a near triple-double (9 points, 10 rebounds, 7 assists) in just 16 minutes of action. He’s also shown that he used the summer to put on some functional strength, as evidenced from this play when he drops his shoulder into teammate Luke Kornet during a scrimmage, which knocks the 7-foot-2, 250-pound big man off balance for Wemby for finish with the highlight dunk.
It’s only a scrimmage, but moving Kornet like that is no small feat. Wemby’s lanky frame was always going to be the biggest drawback early in his career, and already it appears like he’s addressed that by adding weight to allow him to be more physical in the post. He also went through a mini growth spurt, as the Spurs are officially listing him as 7-foot-5, a two-inch increase from last season.
Wembanyama’s defense is already elite, but if his offensive game takes another leap, then it won’t be surprising to see him get some MVP love this season. And if that’s happening then that means the Spurs will be contending for a playoff spot, too.
Thunder overwhelming favored to repeat as champions
This isn’t surprising in the slightest. The Thunder are built to be a title contender for at least the next five years, and honestly longer than that considering the pile of first-round draft picks they have at their disposal. What will be interesting to see is how motivated the Thunder stay over the course of the regular season, because we’ve seen so many defending champions fall victim to the post-championship hangover.
We haven’t had a repeat champion since the Warriors in 2018, and while the Thunder are in a great position to get a second title, everyone thought that about the Celtics last season and we saw how that went. Boston’s downfall was due to Jayson Tatum suffering an ACL tear in the playoffs, but even leading up to that devastating moment, Boston slipped a bit after winning it all the year prior.
Will we see the same slip from OKC? The league’s top executives don’t think so, and despite the gauntlet that is the Western Conference, OKC feels unbeatable at this point in time. If they can stay healthy and maintain that level of hunger to win it all again, then it won’t be surprising to see the Thunder hoist the Larry O’Brien trophy again in June.
