Photo Credit: AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill

ESPN’s Panel Of Coaches, Executives And Scouts Picks The Los Angeles Clippers To Win The 2023 NBA Championship

ESPN’s annual offseason survey that polled 15 NBA coaches, executives and scouts has been published, and the results may be somewhat surprising for some fans and pundits alike.

The panel was asked a range of wide range of topics that included the best player and rookie in the NBA, offseason winners and losers, contention potential, and many other themes that may transpire throughout the 2022-23 NBA season.

When it comes to the early championship winner, the voting came out with the Los Angeles Clippers coming out on top with five votes. They went ahead of the Milwaukee Bucks and the Boston Celtics that received four votes apiece, and Golden State Warriors with just two votes.

Per ESPN:

Last year, the Nets received seven votes to win the East, and six to win the title, while the Lakers received five votes to win the West and two more to win it all.

Things didn’t quite work out that way.

This time around, it is the other team in Los Angeles, the Clippers, who came out on top, getting five of the 15 votes to win the title.

They received the majority of support to win the West, and edged out Boston and Milwaukee to win the title, behind healthy versions of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George to support what is arguably the NBA’s deepest team.

“I don’t know if [Leonard will] necessarily be MVP, because he won’t play enough and I don’t think he cares about that,” an East executive said. “But when it comes to playoff MVP, he has an excellent chance of that.”