Joel Embiid

The Brooklyn Nets were overwhelmingly selected as the favorite to win the 2022 NBA championship in the annual survey of the league's general managers, and the GMs picked Nets superstar Kevin Durant as their top choice to win the Most Valuable Player Award.

John Schuhmann of NBA.com provided full results from the poll ahead of the 2021-22 season, which begins with the Milwaukee Bucks as the defending champs.

Here are the general managers' predictions for the NBA title:

1. Nets (72 percent)
2. Los Angeles Lakers (17 percent)
3. Bucks (10 percent)

And the MVP Award:

1. Durant (37 percent)
2. Luka Doncic, Dallas Mavericks (33 percent)
3. Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bucks (13 percent)
   
4. Joel Embiid, Philadelphia 76ers (7 percent)
   
5. James Harden, Nets (7 percent)
6. Stephen Curry, Golden State Warriors (3 percent)

The GMs widely expect a star-studded Nets vs. Lakers matchup in the Finals, with 83 percent ranking Brooklyn as the top team in the East and 80 percent placing L.A. atop the West.

They gave Doncic (43 percent) a slight edge over Antetokounmpo (40 percent) as the best player to start a franchise with from scratch.

Here were the choices for the best player at each position right now:

• PG: Curry
• SG: Harden
• SF: Durant
• PF: Antetokounmpo
• C: Nikola Jokic (Denver Nuggets)

The general managers were torn between the Houston Rockets' Jalen Green (47 percent) and Detroit Pistons' Cade Cunningham (40 percent) in the Rookie of the Year race. There was nothing close to a consensus about which player from the 2021 class will be the best in five years, with the Cleveland Cavaliers' Evan Mobley (33 percent) garnering the most support.

They felt the Miami Heat (47 percent) put together the best offseason, highlighted by a sign-and-trade deal for longtime Toronto Raptors point guard Kyle Lowry. That trade was chosen as the move most likely to make the biggest impact by 77 percent of voters.

Let's check out some of the top vote-getters in other categories:

• Best International Player: Antetokounmpo
• Best Defensive Player: Antetokounmpo
• Best Head Coach: Erik Spoelstra (Heat)
• Player Who Will Make Best Coach: Chris Paul (Phoenix Suns)
• Most Fun Team To Watch: Nets
• Best Young Core: Atlanta Hawks
• Highest Basketball IQ: LeBron James (Lakers)
• Best Shooter: Curry
• Choice To Take Game-Winning Shot: Durant

Last season, the general managers incorrectly predicted the Lakers to win a second straight championship, though they did vote the Bucks as the top team in the East.

Jokic, who was voted the 2020-21 NBA MVP, only received 4 percent of the vote in last year's GM survey before his dominant campaign leading the Denver frontcourt.   

Joel Embiid still wants Ben Simmons back in a Philadelphia 76ers uniform, but it appears his patience is running thin on playing nice.

Embiid called a report that Simmons feels their on-court relationship has run its course "borderline kind of disrespectful" and said the Sixers have long tried build their roster to fit Simmons' game.

"I feel like our team has always been built around his needs," Embiid told reporters Thursday. "[The report] was kind of surprising to see. We'll say that, even going back to the reason we signed Al [Horford], we got rid of Jimmy [Butler], which I still think was a mistake, just to make sure he needed the ball in his hands."

Embiid pointed to his own adjustments he's made to his game, stretching out beyond the three-point line on a regular basis, as one of several concessions the Sixers have made around Simmons. He also pointed out that the team regularly attempted to fill out the rest of the roster with shooters to overcome Simmons' shortcomings in that regard.

Simmons is currently holding out of Sixers' training camp as he attempts to force a trade. Sam Amick of The Athletic reported Simmons feels his partnership with Embiid has run its course and they're not a good basketball fit.

Embiid's quote Thursday was an example of saying the quiet part aloud. The Sixers have made their share of mistakes in the front office—the Horford signing being perhaps the most ghastly—but they've consistently tinkered with the roster in hopes of finding a group that works with Simmons and Embiid.

Simmons' lack of offensive development has torpedoed his trade value and made it clear that he is a square peg trying to fit in a round hole. Embiid, meanwhile, has developed into a 7-foot center who hit threes at a 37.7 percent rate last season. There's an obvious answer to who the "problem" is insomuch as one exists.

As Embiid repeatedly said later in the press conference, the Sixers are a far better team with Simmons on their roster. He's perhaps the NBA's best defender, a menace who can capably defend all five positions on the floor. His passing vision in the open court is second to none. 

But Embiid isn't incorrect in saying it's "borderline kind of disrespectful" for Simmons to be the one forcing the end of this marriage. 

Amid the ongoing drama between Ben Simmons and the Philadelphia 76ers, one member of the Basketball Hall of Fame is puzzled by the three-time All-Star's apparent anger with the organization.

Speaking to USA Today's Mark Medina, Shaquille O'Neal said he doesn't "understand why Ben is upset" with the Sixers:

Maybe he felt disrespected when Doc [Rivers] suggested they couldn't win a championship with him. If so, I think Ben and his team should've been a little bit more professional. They should've gone to the office and said, 'OK, if you don't want us, we don't want to be here. Now let's make a trade.' But now that training camp has started and he's not there?

The rift between Simmons and the 76ers began immediately following their Game 7 loss to the Atlanta Hawks in the Eastern Conference Semifinals.

Head coach Doc Rivers essentially avoided answering a question about Simmons' ability to be the point guard for a title team after the game:

Joel Embiid cited Simmons' decision to forego an open layup attempt and pass the ball to Matisse Thybulle in traffic during the fourth quarter as the turning point of Philadelphia's 103-96 loss. 

"I thought the turning point was when we—I don't know how to say it—but I thought the turning point was just we had an open shot and we made one free throw and we missed the other and then they came down and scored," Embiid told reporters. 

ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported last week that Simmons "intends to never play another game" for the Sixers and has told team management he "has no plans to wear an NBA uniform again until he is moved to a new team."

Philadelphia reported to training camp Tuesday, but Simmons was not present with the rest of the team. The 25-year-old has been linked to multiple teams in trade rumors, including the Portland Trail Blazers and Minnesota Timberwolves, but there's no indication anything is close at the moment. 

Despite Simmons' current stance, the Sixers do have some leverage in this situation. He still has four years remaining on his contract, and the team can withhold his salary starting with the 25 percent payment ($8.25 million) for 2021-22 he is due Friday.

Simmons, who has averaged 15.9 points, 8.1 rebounds and 7.7 assists per game in 275 career games, also finished second in Defensive Player of the Year voting last season.   

The Philadelphia 76ers may not be getting Ben Simmons on the court anytime soon, but it appears they're getting a motivated Joel Embiid.

“He’s in great shape. He’s in much better shape, which is great because last year he took a big step in conditioning. And this year, he comes in and he’s in even better shape," Sixers coach Doc Rivers told reporters Wednesday.

Conditioning has been an issue throughout Embiid's career, and the team has worked hard with the All-NBA center to improve his diet and his offseason training regimen.

The Sixers' biggest hope is that Embiid can translate his offseason work into staying on the court for an entire season. He has missed at least 18 games in each of his first seven NBA seasons and missed his first two campaigns because of a foot injury. He spent the offseason rehabbing a meniscus tear that cost him time in the Sixers' first-round playoff series against the Washington Wizards.

"It's been fine," Embiid told reporters. "I've just been working out all summer. It's been fine, no problems. I'm getting back to where I was and I feel pretty good."  

The Sixers will need Embiid on the floor as much as possible if Simmons follows through on his plan to not report to the team until he is traded. Any injury to Embiid, if Simmons is playing elsewhere or at home, could create havoc for a team that's already in a bind. 

As the Ben Simmons holdout saga barrels on, more clarity regarding the precise reason the star wants out of Philadelphia continues to leak. 

According to Kevin O'Connor of The Ringer, "league sources say the primary motivation for Klutch Sports' aggressive holdout is to steer him to a team built around him on offense. No matter the roster makeup in Philly, he will only ever be No. 2 as long as [Joel] Embiid is healthy."

O'Connor added that when Simmons met with a Sixers contingency of head coach Doc Rivers, executives Daryl Morey and Elton Brand and team governor Josh Harris over the summer, he denied that his offensive role in Philadelphia was the issue. 

Per that report, Rivers told Simmons he planned to stagger his minutes with Embiid more often this season, playing him at the 5 when Embiid was on the bench to get him in "more situations that resemble Giannis Antetokounmpo’s role in Milwaukee, with four shooters surrounding him, empowering him to be a primary scoring option with the second unit."

But O'Connor noted that Simmons "wasn't enthused."

Of course, there are a number of differences between Antetokounmpo and Simmons. The former is actually willing to shoot from the perimeter, even if his career 28.7 three-point shooting percentage leaves plenty to be desired. 

But Giannis is also a far more efficient scorer by the basket. As O'Connor noted, "Antetokounmpo shot 63.5 percent on drives to the rim, according to Second Spectrum. Simmons shot only 53.4 percent on drives, and in lineups without a center, he shot only 46.4 percent."

And defensively, the Greek Freak can protect the rim, averaging 1.3 blocks per game last season. Simmons, meanwhile, is arguably the best and most versatile perimeter defender in the NBA, but he's hardly a rim-protector. 

Yes, Simmons is a visionary passer. Yes, his ability to push the pace in transition is scary. Surrounding him with four shooters would make it far easier for him to get to the rim in the halfcourt, alleviating the strain he puts on an offense by being an unwilling shooter from outside the paint. 

But while Antetokounmpo's offensive aggression never wavers—he averaged 20.9 shots per game in last season's playoffs—Simmons attempted just three fourth-quarter shots in the entire Eastern Conference Semifinals series against the Atlanta Hawks. 

That, ostensibly, came down to Simmons being worried about getting fouled and sent to the free-throw line, where he shot just 34.2 percent during the 2020-21 postseason on 6.1 attempts per game. Antetokounmpo wasn't great himself, shooting 58.7 percent from the charity stripe in the playoffs. But he also got to the line 9.8 times per game and didn't stop attacking the rim. 

The point is that it's hard to build an entire offensive around a player who isn't willing to shoot from the perimeter in a floor-spacing league, and grows less aggressive as the game wears on. You might be able to get away with it in the regular season, given his passing and defense, but when the playoffs roll around, defenses tighten and you need players who can create their own offense.

Then, Simmons becomes more of a liability. It's not enough to surround him with shooters. You also need to surround him with players who can get a good shot up off the dribble when the play breaks down.

Until he evolves on offense, he'll be more a complementary star than a leading man, regardless of what narrative Klutch Sports attempts to weave. 

On Tuesday, Sam Amick of The Athletic reported that Philadelphia 76ers power forward Ben Simmons no longer wants to play with superstar center Joel Embiid and has "decided that his career is better off without Embiid blocking the runways in the paint that he so badly needs to succeed."

But Sixers head coach Doc Rivers told reporters he nonetheless believes that Simmons, currently threatening to hold out until he's traded, will eventually report to the team and can work out any difficulties on the court with Embiid:

Simmons and Embiid have never been a seamless fit. Because Embiid is one of the best post scorers in the NBA (and one of the few players who is actually an efficient low-post scorer), there are natural spacing issues at times for the Sixers, given that Simmons doesn't shoot from the perimeter and is only effective as a scorer near the basket. 

So the Sixers are left to either leave Simmons in the dunker spot by the basket, clogging the lane, or having Simmons hang on the perimeter, where he's a non-factor and his defender can easily leave him to double Embiid. 

Using Simmons as a screener or cutter can alleviate some of those issues. But it's not the only stylistic difference between the pair. 

Simmons, for instance, is at his best in transition, pushing the pace, driving the basket and either finishing or kicking out to open teammates beyond the arc. Embiid, meanwhile, is a half-court player, preferring a slower pace to an up-and-down matchup. 

Both players, ideally, would be best served with four shooters around them. Embiid would be far better served with a point guard who could effectively run the pick-and-roll and create his own shot. Simmons would be better served with a center who isn't at his best in the post, spacing the floor. 

The only area the two are dynamic together is defensively, where Simmons can lock down a team's best perimeter scorer and Embiid patrols the paint, protecting the rim. 

And yet, despite the clear stylistic differences between the two, the Sixers outscored opponents by 15.5 points per 100 possessions last season when Simmons and Embiid were on the court together, per NBA.com.

And that's where statements like "it's basketball" from Rivers are lended credence. For all of the obvious reasons a Simmons and Embiid pairing shouldn't work, it has worked in the past, at least until the second round of the playoffs rolls around. 

And even then, the Sixers have never had a lead perimeter scorer who could create his own shot in crunch time, save for a partial season with Jimmy Butler, and that team was only ousted by a miracle three by Kawhi Leonard. (Butler's unwillingness to regularly shoot from beyond the arc offered its own fit issues with Simmons, it should be noted.) 

It's probably a moot point—Simmons seems entrenched in his position that he wants to be moved. And given all of the baggage from last postseason—with the enduring image of Philly's Game 7 loss to the Atlanta Hawks remaining Simmons's decision to pass up a wide-open dunk—a change of scenery might be best for all parties. 

But in Philly, there's plenty of wondering what might have been had Embiid and Simmons ever been paired with a third star who perfectly complemented them. Or if Simmons ever evolved his offensive game.