Brad Stevens gives Knicks, 76ers bulletin board material with hilarious snub

Every year, the NBA conducts a survey, asking GMs around the league a series of questions about the current state (and future) of the association. Queries such as ‘Who is the best player in the NBA?’ and ‘Who will win the NBA Championship?’ take center stage, but there are plenty of interesting snippets to take note of. This year, the Boston Celtics were everywhere.

Obviously, winning the title last year has Boston positioned well in the eyes of most people around the league, especially considering they are bringing back a nearly identical roster. They have some of the best players in the NBA, and the 2024-25 survey reflects that.

But the best part of this year’s survey is a choice Brad Stevens made.

Brad Stevens likes the Cavs over the Knicks and 76ers

GMs aren’t allowed to cast votes for their own team or players who play for their team. That means Stevens wasn’t able to vote for the Celtics or any players on the Celtics.

So, when it came time to vote for which team was going to win the Eastern Conference, he was forced to look elsewhere. Immediately, teams like the New York Knicks and Philadelphia 76ers come to mind. Adding guys like Karl-Anthony Towns and Paul George were monumental moves.

However, rather than going with one of those squads, Stevens went a different route. He picked the Cleveland Cavaliers.

All votes in the survey are anonymous, but this one wasn’t. That’s because 97% of GMs picked the Celtics to win the East, while the other 3% picked Cleveland. And since Stevens couldn’t vote for his own team, that leaves him as the sole voter who picked the Cavs.

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Cleveland didn’t make any significant moves this summer. They are running it back with virtually the same team, except Kenny Atkinson is the new coach leading the way.

The Knicks and 76ers are widely viewed as the top threats to Boston in the East, and even after that, the Milwaukee Bucks are often next up.

Stevens picking the Cavs to win the East is both hilarious and perfect bulletin board material for Philadelphia and New York. They should be looking at that selection as motivation more than anything.

The Celtics dispatched the Cavaliers in five games in the playoffs. Donovan Mitchell missed some time, and Jarrett Allen didn’t play, but Boston was head and shoulders above everyone else all year long. And considering Cleveland’s lack of offseason moves, it’s tough to see them competing with the likes of New York and Philadelphia next year.

Let alone the Celtics.

But Stevens decided to ruffle some feathers anyway.