The NBA regular season has officially wrapped up and now the playoffs have begun. The NBA has officially dropped their finalists for each regular-season award. I decided that I would give my opinions on who should win each award. With that being said, let’s get right into it!
(NBA.com)
Defensive Player Of The Year
Finalists:
Ben Simmons
Rudy Gobert
Draymond Green
The defensive player of the year award is one of those awards that a lot of players in the NBA strive to achieve. It may never be the flashiest award to fans but a lot of players strive to be fabulous defensive players. Rudy Gobert and Draymond Green have won this award before and Ben Simmons has never won the award before.
Taking a look at each of these player’s stats, I think we see a clear winner here with this award. Rudy Gobert could’ve won this award last year to win the award for 3 years straight but Giannis Antetokounmpo won it. I think Gobert takes back the throne and claims his 3rd defensive player of the year award of his career.
Gobert leads the NBA according to Pro Basketball Reference in defensive win shares with a 5.2 rating and is second in the league in blocks per game averaging a career-high 2.7 blocks per game. The Jazz have the best record in the entire league and are 3rd in the league in defensive rating. Gobert’s 5.2 defensive win share rating compared to his teammates is 1.9 points more than the next player on his team Royce O’Neal.
Gobert I think is primed based on these numbers to win this award once again and winning this award would tie him with Dwight Howard for the 3rd most defensive player of the year awards of all time only behind Dikembe Mutombo and Ben Wallace.
Winner: Rudy Gobert
(NBA.com)
6th Man Of The Year
Finalists:
Jordan Clarkson
Joe Ingles
Derrick Rose
The 6th man of the year award is an award where a lot of these underrated players/unsung heroes are being recognized. This year we have two players from the Utah Jazz in Jordan Clarkson and Joe Ingles and former MVP Derrick Rose being the three finalists.
Taking a look at it, I think all three of these guys have a case but I think one kind of stands out to me. Jordan Clarkson who although in terms of advanced stats had a lower win share than teammate Joe Ingles and wasn’t the better all-around player, I think with Clarkson’s PPG average and him only starting in 1 game compared to Ingles who started almost half the games he played in, makes him much more qualified to win this award. Clarkson is having a career year with the Jazz and has seen himself as a key contributor to this team. Clarkson averaged a career-high 18.4 PPG which was second on the team only to Donovan Mitchell. I know really after the scoring he didn’t contribute a whole lot but considering that the Jazz were second in the NBA in offensive rating and Clarkson was able to be the second-leading scorer on a statistically great offensive team, I think that in itself is pretty impressive.
If Ingles had not started as many games as he did, I would’ve more than likely picked him over Clarkson due to him being better in advanced stats but I think he almost should be disqualified for that reason alone. Clarkson I believe wins his first NBA award in his 11th season in the league.
Winner: Jordan Clarkson
(NBA.com)
Most Improved Player
Finalists:
Jerami Grant
Michael Porter Jr.
Julius Randle
To me, the three finalists for the most improved player all have a super compelling case. I think that despite this player quote on quote improving the “least amount” out of these three players, I think because of how good the New York Knicks have become with him being the best player on this team, I think this award has to go to Julius Randle.
Randle has seen himself elevate from a good starting player to an all-star player. Randle is one of the key reasons why the Knicks are the 4th seed in the Eastern Conference and with these other candidates, Jerami Grant and the Pistons were a disaster and Michael Porter Jr. wasn’t one of the biggest reasons for his team’s success. His impact was far greater than the two which to me tells me a lot about the player at hand. Randle with how he is now viewed as an NBA player, I think is where you see the most improvement with now him being recognized as an all-star for the first time of his career. Randle averaged a career-high in points per game averaging 24.1 a game is tied in rebounds per game for a single season in his career (10.2) and is averaging a career-high 6 assists per game.
The Knicks have improved a lot while Randle also improved a lot as a player which makes him my most improved player of the year.
Winner: Julius Randle
(NBA.com)
Coach Of The Year
Finalists:
Tom Thibodeau
Monty Williams
Quin Snyder
The coach of the year award may be the most sought-after award that is handed out in the NBA awards. The NBA is such a player-dominated league where coaches hardly ever get the recognition they deserve. This year we have three candidates that all make compelling arguments as to why they are deserving of this award.
This was the hardest award for me to determine a winner because this is a close race between all three candidates, but I am going to lean Monty Williams of the Phoenix Suns. Quin Snyder and the Jazz have always consistently been a great team in the west with some very good players. I have them having the DPOY and 6th man of the year winner this year, along with Donovan Mitchell who is one of the best shooting guards in all of basketball which shows the talent this team has at their disposal. The Knicks although out of these three teams have the least amount of talent, finished with the worst record with a 41-31 record, and are the 4th seed in the east. We haven’t seen a coach of the year winner as a 4 seed or lower since Sam Mitchell’s Toronto Raptors in 2007.
The Suns just make the most sense considering that they were projected to win 38-39 games and overachieved to the point where they finished with the second-best record in the entire NBA and the second seed in the toughest conference in basketball in the west. They have a great core with Chris Paul, Devin Booker, and Deandre Ayton but considering the past coach of the year winners recently, I just think Williams makes the most sense with how the voters have voted.
Winner: Monty Williams
(NBA.com)
Rookie Of The Year
Finalists:
LaMelo Ball
Anthony Edwards
Tyrese Haliburton
There have been so many all-time greats like Michael Jordan, LeBron James, and Shaquille O’Neal who have been winners of the NBA’s rookie of the year award. This year to me has a clear winner and that is LaMelo Ball of the Charlotte Hornets.
I know that may not seem as clear with Ball missing time with a serious wrist injury, but I don’t believe Anthony Edwards or Tyrese Haliburton did enough to surpass Ball even with the time he missed. Ball holds the record for being the youngest player in NBA history to have a triple-double in a game at 19 years old. The Hornets were nearly a playoff team which would’ve been a first since the 2015-2016 season, Ball was part of the reason for the team’s success. Ball finished 2nd in PPG amongst rookies (min 20 games played) 2nd in RPG (min 20 games played) and 1st in APG.
Ball has certainly earned it and with that being said he is my pick to win the rookie of the year award.
Winner: LaMelo Ball
(NBA.com)
Most Valuable Player (MVP)
Finalists:
Stephen Curry
Nikola Jokić
Joel Embiid
Last but certainly not least, the biggest individual award that the NBA hands out is the most valuable player award. We have three finalists where we have one former winner in Stephen Curry who is the first-ever unanimous winner of the award. This year though isn’t so unanimous as two centers enter the picture who have never won the award before. Nikola Jokić and Joel Embiid look to be the first center since Shaquille O’Neal in the 1999-2000 season to win the MVP award.
I think out of these three guys, I would believe that the winner of the MVP award is going to be Nikola Jokić. Jokić has led the Nuggets to a 47-25 record this season which is good for the #3 seed in the western conference. Out of these three candidates, his all-around statistics are the most impressive. Jokić is averaging a career-high 26.4 PPG, 10.8 RPG, and 8.3 APG which all three are the most on the Nuggets team. His win share rating is a whopping 15.6 which is 6.8 more than Embiid and 6.6 more than Curry. Jokić also didn’t miss a single game while Curry and Embiid both missed time this season due to injuries, so he was available every single night.
Jokić is primed to be the first Serbian NBA MVP, and I think he’s finally broken through this season with the career year he is currently having.
Winner: Nikola Jokić