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Cavaliers picked to win East by NBA GMs in annual survey

The Cavaliers are still expected to come out of the East.

Cleveland Cavaliers Media Day Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images

The Cleveland Cavaliers have been the class of the Eastern Conference in the last three season, only losing five games in the East Playoffs since LeBron James has returned to the team.

In the annual survey of the NBA’s general managers, the NBA’s executives showed that they expect that to continue:

86 percent of the 30 general managers picked the Cavaliers to win the conference, while 10 percent of them picked them to finish second. Last season, the Cavs were picked by all but one GM, so it appears the rest of the league believes that Boston is a legitimate threat.

The Cavaliers also finished second in the poll for who will win the 2018 NBA Finals.

Which team will win the 2018 NBA Finals?

1. Golden State – 93%

2. Cleveland – 7%

Last year: Golden State – 69%

Obviously teams are much lower on literally anybody but Golden State’s chances this season, and after the way they rampaged through the playoffs last year, that’s fair. Only two GMs picked the Cavs to win the title, and nobody else earned a vote.

That’s certainly fair to expect, and the Cavs will have an uphill climb if they want to win their second title in franchise history. For now, it looks like they’ll have a chance, and general managers seem to agree.