GMs love a winner, but where's the love for the Magic?

Stan Van Gundy likes playing the no-respect card. He loves to remind reporters of the times they've doubted his team. Throughout the course of the 2009 playoffs, Van Gundy was quick to tell the media -- many of whom wanted to see the Celtics and Cavs in the Eastern Conference finals and the Cavs and Lakers in The Finals -- that his Magic were spoiling all the fun.

This fall, the NBA's general managers are giving him more ammunition. In responding to NBA.com's eighth annual GM Survey, the league's top basketball minds picked four different teams to win the title, but the Magic were not among them. And only 7.1 percent of the respondents believe Orlando will repeat as Eastern Conference champions.

Now, both the Celtics and Cavs made big additions to teams that were already strong, so it's reasonable to think that they can get past the Magic. But 17.3 percent of the GMs believe that Orlando made the best overall moves this summer, swapping Hedo Turkoglu, Rafer Alston, Courtney Lee and Tony Battie for Vince Carter, Ryan Anderson, Matt Barnes, Brandon Bass and Jason Williams.

Only San Antonio received more votes for its offseason roster-shuffling. Cleveland got just one vote (for adding Shaquille O'Neal, Anthony Parker, Jamario Moon and Leon Powe) and Boston got none (for the additions of Rasheed Wallace, Marquis Daniels and Shelden Williams).

So why do more than 10 percent of the GMs believe that the Magic did the most to improve their team, but still won't make it back to The Finals? Is it the prospect of a healthy Kevin Garnett (Boston got 50 percent of the vote to win the East), a more motivated LeBron James (Cleveland got 42.9 percent), or is it just a lack of respect?

Before you answer that question, take note of the responses to one of the two new questions in this year's survey: "Which is the best defensive team in the NBA?" The GMs voted for Boston (60.7 percent), San Antonio (32.1 percent) and the Lakers (7.1 percent). Again, the Magic didn't get a single vote.

But the numbers show that Orlando was the No. 1 defensive team in the league last season, allowing just 99.5 points per 100 possessions, edging out Cleveland (99.6) and Boston (99.7). The Lakers ranked fifth (101.9) and the Spurs ranked sixth (102.0).

Almost half of the GMs said that Dwight Howard is the best defensive player in the league, 64.3 believe that Howard is the best interior defender, and one GM voted for Van Gundy as the coach with "the best defensive schemes." But none of them showed love for the Magic as the best defensive team in the NBA.

If you've followed the GM Survey over the years, you've noted that general managers are a very reactive bunch. Whenever the Spurs win the title, Gregg Popovich dominates the coaching questions the following fall. After the Heat won in 2006, Pat Riley topped most of the lists.

So where's the love for the Magic this year? Perhaps if they make another Finals run, they'll get more respect in next year's survey.

John Schuhmann is a staff writer for NBA.com. You can e-mail him here.

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