Celtics’ Brad Stevens, Jayson Tatum get love in NBA’s annual GM survey

The NBA published the results of the annual survey of team general managers Friday, and the Boston Celtics were criminally under-represented in the returns, with a few notable exceptions.

Those exceptions revolved mainly around the team’s head coach, Brad Stevens, with All-NBA small forward Jayson Tatum getting some love in a few areas as well. The former Butler chief came in fourth with 11% of the vote for the question “Who is the best head coach in the NBA?” and tied for third with the Toronto Raptors’ head coach Nick Nurse for the question “Which head coach makes the best in-game adjustments?”

The team as a whole tied for third with the Atlanta Hawks and Denver Nuggets for the question “Which team has the most promising young core?”, and were predicted to finish fourth overall in the East.

Tatum did not make the top-five of any category polled, but was listed in the “Also receiving votes” sections of two questions — “Who is the most versatile player in the NBA?” and “Which player is most likely to have a breakout season in 2020-21?”.

A somewhat underwhelming assessment by the heads of their peers, will the Celtics obliterate those low expectations in 2020-21, or confirm them with a lackluster showing? We’re just five days away from their first test against the Milwaukee Bucks on December 23rd.