Celtics shown a lack of respect in NBA.com's 12th annual GM Survey
Celtic Notes
The NBA.com 12th annual GM poll was published today and the most obvious observation for me was the lack of respect this current group of Celts is receiving.
For starters, Jeff Green does not get a single vote for player most likely to have a breakout season in 2013-14. Hopefully, this serves as motivation for Green who struggled especially with his rebounding in the pre-season.
The good news for Celtic fans is he and Gerald Wallace recently called out the entire Celtic team for their pre-season performance. Hence, at least he is trying to take on some of the team leader roles vacated by the departure of Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce.
However, actions speak louder than words.
Rajon Rondo did not receive any votes for best point guard in the league. This is not surprising considering he is injured.
He was also rated the 27th best player in the league in NBA.coms top fifty rankings behind John Wall (21st), Kyrie Irving (8th) and Russell Westbrook (5th).
Irving is an exciting young talent, as this video from last night shows, but must demonstrate he can stay healthy.
Wall is blazingly quick from coast to coast but has no playoff experience.
Rajon Rondo has 10 postseason triple doubles. That is as many as Larry Bird had his entire playoff career which ties the two Celtics for third all time.
And, lastly, as explosive offensively as he is, I don't see any championship rings adorning Russell Westbrook's fingers.
More disrespect was given to Rondo in the GM poll as he was voted the second best passer in the league behind Chris Paul and tied with Ricky Rubio. Paul averaged 9.7 assists per game last season while Rubio averaged 7.3 assists per in 57 games
Rajon Rondo's average per game assist total last year before becoming injured? 11.1
The people who are saying Rondo was only good because he was playing with great teams are going to see just how amazing an individual ballplayer he is and how valuable he is to The Celtics when he comes back.
Finally, Avery Bradley only received 6.7 percent votes as the best perimeter defender in the NBA. Although, that just may be due to his lack of length compared to someone like Paul George or Lebron James.
Interestingly, former Celtic Tony Allen won this category with a sizable 36.7% of the vote.
Around the League
Here are other observations I took from the GM poll:
Miami is the overwhelming favorite to three-peat with 75.9 percent of NBA GMs thinking they will do so.
I disagree and feel the Heat will go down in The Eastern Conference Finals to the Indiana Pacers. A big determining factor in this happening is will Greg Oden be able to log enough minutes to occupy Roy Hibbert and potentially get Hibbert into foul trouble?
Michael Beasley could be a wild card for The Heat as well.
Even with the addition of Andre Iguodala The Warriors were not picked by a single GM to come out of the West. Although, they were voted most exciting team in the conference.
San Antonio lead this vote at 40% followed closely by The Thunder @ 36.7%.
Victor Oladipo of The Orlando Magic was voted rookie most likely to be the best player in five years. In my opinion it will be Nerlens Noel for his eventual ability to profoundly affect the game on the defensive end.
We will end with some good news so Celtic fans don't think it's all doom and gloom this season. Kelly Olynyk was voted biggest steal of the draft doubling both Noel and Ben McLemore's (Sacramento) total.
Follow Clint on Twitter @coolhandc
