Every year, John Schuhmann does a survey of the GMs in the league asking them various questions about players, teams, and coaches. The GMs then anonymously give their opinions on those questions, which range everywhere from best player at each position to team most likely to win the championship.
Schuhmann compiles the answers into percentages, showing readers approximately how many GMs voted for each answer on a particular question. Since there are 30 GMs in the league each vote on most questions is represented as approximately 3.33%, but they are rounded to the nearest whole. However, Schuhmann notes that “percentages are based on the pool of respondents to that particular question, rather than all 30 GMs.” Therefore, some questions in which a GM abstains from answering may have different percentage breakdowns. Additionally, GMs were not allowed to vote for their own team or personnel, so we know any votes for the Wolves are from other front offices.
With that being said, the Wolves showed up in a few places on the survey. Possibly the most exciting thing was that Anthony Edwards received 7% of votes for the question “If you were starting a franchise today and could sign any player in the NBA, who would it be?” While that’s likely only 2 votes out of 30, it’s pretty cool that 2 GMs selected Ant as the player they’d most like to build a team around, especially when you consider the other names who led in votes. Nikola Jokic was first with 33% of the vote, and Victor Wembanyama was second with 23%. Giannis Antetokounmpo was third with 13%, Luka Doncic was fourth with 10%, and Edwards was fifth with 7%.
That’s some incredible company to be on a list with. The fact that Ant received 7% of the vote shows how highly regarded he is in the league. It also suggests that the GMs that voted for him believe in his potential to develop into the best player in the league, or at least close to it, given the players they selected him over. That’s also why a quarter of them voted for Wembanyama. He has yet to play a regular season NBA game, but is widely regarded as the best NBA prospect since LeBron James.
Ant is the first Timberwolves player to get a vote in this category since Karl-Anthony Towns. KAT led the category two years in a row, getting 48.3% of the vote in the 2016-17 poll, and 29% of the vote in the 2017-18 poll.
Edwards also got votes for three other questions on this year’s GM survey. Ant got 23% of the votes for the question “Which player is most likely to have a breakout season in 2023-24?” which was the highest anyone had. Cade Cunningham was second with 20%, and Franz Wagner was 3rd with 13%. Although it would probably be fair to say that Ant has already broken out in comparison to some of the other players on the list considering that he was an All-Star last year, Ant’s performance in the FIBA World Cup did put him more in the spotlight than he was last season.
As a result, Ant may break out more on a national level now that more people who aren’t Wolves fans or NBA diehards know what he can do. Jaden McDaniels also received one vote in this question, and seems like a great choice. He almost made the All-Defensive team last year, and will have another chance to make it this year after a summer of improvement.
Ant also received 7% of the vote for the question “who is the best shooting guard in the NBA?” Devin Booker led the category with 63% of votes, and Stephen Curry was in second with 10%. Ant tied for third with Luka Doncic and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who I’m assuming each had two votes. It’s great to see Ant being viewed around the league as one of the five best shooting guards in the league. Ant may eventually be able to separate himself from the rest of the players in this category. Although he may not be as much of a one man offensive engine as Doncic and Curry, Ant has the potential to be the best two-way players at the position. He’s already better than most star shooting guards aside from Jimmy Butler, who also received one vote.
Finally Ant also received 24% of the votes for the question “Which player is the most athletic?” That put him third place behind Ja Morant (24%) and Giannis Antetokounmpo (28%), and ahead of Zion Williamson (7%).
Although Ant was the main Wolves player featured in this year’s survey, a couple other Wolves players got votes in more specific categories. Rudy Gobert got the respect he deserves as a defender, getting 17% of the vote for the question “Who is the best interior defender in the NBA?” This tied him for second place with Brook Lopez, and both were behind Jaren Jackson Jr.’s 30%.
JJJ is an incredible interior defender. However, I’m not so sure that he’s better than Rudy, and I feel recency bias may be affecting this vote. Rudy had a “down year” by his standards. Therefore, if he’s fully healthy this season and moving better, I feel like there is a pretty good chance he can take back his throne. Rudy also received one vote for the question “Who is the best defensive player in the NBA?,” a number we could also see rise next year if the Wolves have a successful season.
Chris Finch got the fourth-most votes for the question “Which head coach runs the best offense?” Finch received 13% of the vote, and was behind Mike Brown of the Sacramento Kings (33%), Steve Kerr of the Golden State Warriors (23%), and Michael Malone of the Denver Nuggets (17%). That was a little surprising as the Wolves finished 23rd in offensive rating last year. In contrast, the Kings were first, the Nuggets were 5th and the Warriors were 10th.
Finch is a great offensive coach. Much of last year’s dip in offensive efficiency had to do with KAT’s injury and players getting used to how to play with Rudy. Still, there were times when it looked pretty rough. However, it’s good to see Finch getting respect from GMs around the league as one of the best offensive minds in the NBA, and that list puts him in good company.
Speaking of coaching, Mike Conley received the second most votes for “Which active player will make the best head coach someday?” with 13%. That put him behind only Chris Paul who received 20% of the vote. It was awesome to see Conley get some votes in this because I believe he would be a great coach someday. I also wrote it in a recent article, so admittedly it confirms my bias.
However, it makes sense that he got multiple votes. He seems like a super smart guy who is also good at working with people, and served as a bridge between Rudy and his other teammates last season. Also, as Mike mentioned in his media day press conference, good point guards are like a coach on the court because it’s part of their job to analyze the defense, call plays they think can exploit it, and set up teammates who are having hot nights. Conley can already do all these things at full speed on the court, so it would make sense that those skills would translate to coaching if he chooses to try it later in life.
Finally, a quick shoutout to Leonard Miller who received one vote for “Which rookie was the biggest steal at where he was selected in the Draft?” This is fun because it means at least one other GM in the league not named Tim Connelly was high enough on Miller to have him on the top of their minds when they read this question. I also thought Leonard Miller was an awesome pick at 33, and loved that the Wolves traded up for a player they identified as a first round talent and felt had fallen. Hopefully he has a chance to get some minutes this season and show Wolves fans what he’s got, whether it’s in Minnesota or Iowa.
