2022-23 NBA Preseason Media Poll: Who Will Finish With The Best Record?
A new NBA season is upon us and with it comes speculation about what will happen over the next few months.
Who will win this season's awards? Which teams will finish with the best and worst records? Who has the best chance to make the All-Star Game for the first time in their career?
Fastbreak on FanNation polled 21 different NBA media members, some who cover the league as a whole and some who cover an individual team, asking them these specific questions and gathering their results.
Below are the results for who NBA media members believe will finish with the best record in the NBA during the 2022-23 season:
Media Members Pick To Finish With The Best Record In The League:
Golden State Warriors - 5 Total Votes
Doing what many thought was impossible at this point and winning the 2022 NBA Finals this past season, the Golden State Warriors have put themselves amongst the greatest dynasties in all of professional sports history. With all the adversity and injuries this team dealt with the last few seasons following their loss in the 2019 NBA Finals, it is quite remarkable to say that the Warriors are still the team to beat in this league.
Stephen Curry is coming off a year in which he played some of the best basketball of his career, Klay Thompson has finally returned to the court and should go back to the Klay Thompson of old this upcoming season and the rich have become richer with the Warriors plethora of young, rising talents.
Obviously the altercation at practice involving Jordan Poole and Draymond Green looms large over this franchise right now, but when healthy and at full-strength, no team has really been able to limit or stop the Warriors in the playoffs. It would not be surprising to see their dominance continue as they integrate new faces and some of their younger talents into the rotation during the 2022-23 season.
The Warriors were the top vote-getter to finish with the best record in the NBA this upcoming year, yet the Phoenix Suns finished right behind them with four votes. Deandre Ayton is back for the Suns and while Jae Crowder will likely be departing soon, this team is still coming off of a franchise record 64-win season.
Devin Booker and Chris Paul still make up one of the better backcourts in the entire league and with Landry Shamet, Torrey Craig and Cameron Johnson all expected to see their roles increase this season, the Suns are undoubtedly a team that will finish with 50-plus wins once again.
Receiving three votes to finish with the best record and coming in third are the Milwaukee Bucks, led by two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, who is quite possibly the best basketball player on the planet right now. The Bucks struggled to find success in the postseason with Khris Middleton injured, yet they returned basically their entire roster from a season ago and they added veteran Joe Ingles, who is currently recovering from ACL surgery.
Ingles will absolutely prove to be a key offseason addition when he returns to play during the second-half of the 2022-23 season and the Bucks still remain one of the better three-point shooting teams in the league. Having elite-level three-point shooters as well as someone like Giannis Antetokounmpo, it is easy to see why some think Milwaukee may finish with the best record in the league, much like they did during the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons.
The Denver Nuggets, Los Angeles Clippers and Minnesota Timberwolves each received two votes to finish with the best record in the NBA this season and all three teams have championship aspirations in the Western Conference.
Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. will be returning to the court from injuries for Denver, Kawhi Leonard and Paul George are once again healthy for Los Angeles and Minnesota has added the depth they have been needing with veterans Austin Rivers, Bryn Forbes, Kyle Anderson and All-Star center Rudy Gobert.
The Boston Celtics, Philadelphia 76ers and Memphis Grizzlies all received one vote to finish with the best record this year and it would be shocking to see any of these three teams miss the playoffs.
The 2022-23 NBA season will begin on October 18 with not only the Celtics and 76ers squaring off, but the defending champion Warriors opening things up on their home court. Once again, the rest of the league finds themselves trying to catch up to Golden State, a familiar theme for what seems like the last decade.
Complete voting results from 2022-23 NBA Preseason Media Poll:
- 2022-23 NBA Preseason Most Valuable Player
- 2022-23 NBA Preseason Rookie of the Year
- 2022-23 NBA Preseason Most Improved Player
- 2022-23 NBA Preseason Sixth-Man of the Year
- 2022-23 NBA Preseason Coach of the Year
- 2022-23 NBA Preseason Defensive Player of the Year
- Who Will Finish With The Worst Regular Season Record?
- Who Will Finish With The Best Regular Season Record?
- Which Team Will Win The Eastern Conference?
- Which Team Will Win The Western Conference?
- Which Team Will Win The 2023 NBA Finals?
- Who Is Most Likely To Be A First-Time All-Star During The 2022-23 NBA Season?
