NBA

2018-19 MID-SEASON LEADERS FOR EACH OF THE MAJOR AWARDS

The NBA season is more than halfway gone, so who is leading the race for the league’s major awards? We make our picks for each, from Most Improved to MVP

The NBA has raced right past its midway point, and with the All-Star break just around the corner it’s the perfect time to hand out some mid-season awards.

While all of the major end-of-season awards are featured, these aren’t predictions for who will win at the NBA’s June ceremony. Rather, these are the players that deserve each award as of right now. Some players will drop off in the second half; while others will build into the playoffs, but these impressive first-half performances deserve to be recognized regardless.

MOST IMPROVED PLAYER: PASCAL SIAKAM, TORONTO RAPTORS

15.0 points, 7.0 rebounds, 2.9 assists, 1.0 steals, 0.7 blocks

Too often, this award goes to a player that is just getting more shots or more minutes. They shoot the same percentages, have the same impact on their teams and play with the same efficiency, but have “improved” because their raw numbers have gone up.

That could not be less true of Pascal Siakam’s season to date. While his minutes and shot attempts have increased drastically from last season, so too has his efficiency across the board.

Despite the extra offensive load, his true shooting percentage has risen from 54.9 to 63.2, which places him in the top 15 in the league. His impact on the team’s offense is profound, too – the Raptors are scoring 119.5 points per 100 possessions with Siakam on the court, compared to 109.9 when he sits.

He’s being given more responsibility to create for himself and others, rather than wait for the offense to come to him. Despite playing alongside Kawhi Leonard, an All-Star and MVP candidate, he’s also getting his share of the spotlight in big moments.

All of this hasn’t come at the expense of his already stellar defense. At that end of the floor, he is able to protect the rim and switch onto the perimeter, and he and Leonard have led Toronto’s top-10 defense.

Siakam has become a key starter on one of the league’s best teams, which would have seemed unlikely at the start of the season. That sure sounds like a fair improvement to me.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

De’Aaron Fox, Sacramento Kings

Nikola Vucevic, Orlando Magic

Buddy Hield, Sacramento Kings

SIXTH MAN OF THE YEAR: DOMANTAS SABONIS, INDIANA PACERS

14.9 points, 9.5 rebounds, 2.8 assists

Before I talk about Domantas Sabonis, I want to give this reminder; at any one time, there are 150 players that start for an NBA team. Domantas Sabonis is not one of them.

With that in mind, here are some stats in which Sabonis ranks in the top 20 for the entire league; rebounds per game (18th), rebounding percentage (eighth), field goal percentage (fifth), true shooting percentage (third), offensive rating (11th), defensive rating (seventh), win shares (16th), box plus-minus (16th) and player efficiency rating (14th), among others.

So, basically, Sabonis is one of the best players in the league on both players of the floor, and he’s having that sort of impact in just 25 minutes per game? Right, got it.

Most bench players are in a reserve role because of some inefficiency or weakness in their game, but there are no obvious deficiencies for Sabonis. Per 36 minutes, he’s averaging 21.5 points, 13.7 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game. The only thing holding him back from true stardom is his place behind Myles Turner in Indiana’s pecking order and his continued positive impact off the bench.

Despite playing just the seventh most minutes on the Pacers roster, he comfortably leads the team in box plus-minus and has the best net rating of any player in their regular rotation. He’s doing all of this on a team that is 32-15 and sitting third in the East.

With Victor Oladipo ruled out for the rest of the season, the road ahead will be rough for the Pacers. It remains to be seen whether they can continue winning without their star, or whether Sabonis will slow down with the added attention. But up until this point, he’s been the best reserve in the NBA and is deserving of recognition.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Montrezl Harrell, Los Angeles Clippers

Spencer Dinwiddie, Brooklyn Nets

Lou Williams, Los Angeles Clippers

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: RUDY GOBERT, UTAH JAZZ

14.9 points, 13.0 rebounds, 2.1 blocks, 0.9 steals

It feels like a boring choice, but Rudy Gobert is still the NBA’s benchmark for defensive excellence. After winning his first Defensive Player of the Year award last season, he has improved his all-around game while continuing to make his team better on the defensive end.

Despite their early-season struggles, the Jazz boast the fourth best defense in the league with a defensive rating of 104.6. When Gobert is off the court that jumps to 106.2; when he’s on it drops to 100.7, which would comfortably top the league.

He’s averaging 2.1 blocks per game, but he’s also that rare type of defender whose presence alone keeps opposition players from even shooting the paint. His length allows him to close out quickly on shooters, and he has made some (not heaps, but some) progress staying in front of perimeter players when switched.

With Ricky Rubio missing an extended stretch through injury, Gobert has had more responsibility covering for his guards and mopping up their mistakes. He’s done so with aplomb and with minimal fuss, and he remains the perfect foil for Donovan Mitchell, Joe Ingles and the rest of the Jazz roster.

The real questions will be asked of Gobert in the postseason, but until then he’s leading Utah’s renaissance and anchoring one of the league’s best defenses.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Myles Turner, Indiana Pacers; 

Paul George, Oklahoma City Thunder; 

Draymond Green, Golden State Warriors

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: LUKA DONCIC, DALLAS MAVERICKS

19.9 points, 6.8 rebounds, 5.3 assists, 1.2 steals, 3.2 turnovers

Is this really a discussion? It feels harsh to brush off the other contenders – Deandre Ayton has been historically good too, among others – but Luka Doncic has been head and shoulders above all of them.

He’s first among rookies in points, second in assists and third in rebounds. More importantly, he’s having a huge impact on the results of games, something that can’t be said for most of his fellow freshman.

The Mavericks won just 24 games last season; with Doncic leading the way, they’ve already won 21 games through January 25. It’s rare for a rookie to immediately lead a team in scoring and shot attempts and for that team to see such a drastic uptick in wins.

He hasn’t shied away from the big moments either. In fact, he’s been even better in clutch situations. Across the season, Doncic has an effective field goal percentage of 50.4; in the last five minutes of games within five points, that jumps to 59.2.

Outside of the stats, he passes the eye test with flying colors. His feel for the game is extraordinary, and he always seems to be playing under control, even when being pressured.

Plus, he’s already got a signature move. How many rookies can say that?

Honorable mentions

DeAndre Ayton, Phoenix Suns

Trae Young, Atlanta Hawks

Jaren Jackson Jr., Memphis Grizzlies

COACH OF THE YEAR: MIKE BUDENHOLZER, MILWAUKEE BUCKS

The Milwaukee Bucks won 44 games last year and made the playoffs, but they had no real system or identity and crashed out in the first round. With many of the same core players and a few handy additions, Mike Budenholzer has completely overhauled their style of play and has them on track for 60-plus wins and the East’s top seed.

Under Jason Kidd and Joe Prunty last season, just 31.2 per cent of Milwaukee’s shots came from behind the arc, which ranked them 25th in the NBA. This season, they’re up to second in the league as 42 per cent of their shots are threes.

While they’re only hitting a below-average 35.1 per cent of those shots, Budenholzer understands that threes are worth more than twos. It’s a philosophy that has his team sitting third in the league in offensive rating.

As great as their offense has been, their defense has somehow been better. Budenholzer seems to have revitalized a group of theoretical defenders, and has them playing hard and as a team. The front office’s vision of a long, athletic and tough defensive unit has finally been realized with a new face leading the way.

Perhaps the easiest decision for Budenholzer was to have Antetokounmpo’s the centerpiece of his plans, but the Greek Freak’s improvement under the new coach has still been impressive. Antetokounmpo has become a true MVP candidate as Budenholzer’s three-heavy offense has given him more space to operate than ever before.

Coach of the Year can be tough to judge, especially in a season where plenty of teams are outperforming expectations. However, it’s impossible to ignore the huge strides that the Bucks have made since last season, as they’ve transformed from a fringe playoff team into a championship contender.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Mike Malone, Denver Nuggets

Kenny Atkinson, Brooklyn Nets

Gregg Popovich, San Antonio Spurs

MOST VALUABLE PLAYER: JAMES HARDEN, HOUSTON ROCKETS

36.3 points, 6.6 rebounds, 8.3 assists, 2.1 steals 5.6 turnovers

On the surface, it feels wrong to give the MVP to the leader of a fifth seed. I’m a strong believer that winning should be a major factor, even in individual awards.

Sometimes wins alone don’t tell the full story of a team, though. The same way that raw stats tell you less than advanced analytics, win totals tell you less than the context they are achieved within.

Houston lost a lot of their depth over the offseason, meaning their “big three” of Harden, Chris Paul and Clint Capela would be even more important than before. And yet, despite Paul missing 21 games with injury and Capela missing five, the Rockets are 27-20 and fighting for a top four finish. Even more remarkably, they were 9-8 when Paul went down, meaning they’ve had a better record without him.

So who has Harden been winning with? Excluding Paul and Capela, here are the Rockets leaders in win shares; Harden, PJ Tucker, James Ennis, Danuel House and Gerald Green. The rest of the roster is filled with limited role players and fringe NBA prospects, and yet Houston continues winning.

That’s because Harden has gone supernova and reached levels of scoring barely seen in the NBA. He has 21 consecutive games of 30-plus points, the longest streak by any player not named Wilt Chamberlain, and he’s done so with his trademark style of efficiency.

His effective field goal percentage of 54.4 is higher than during his MVP run last season, and he’s once again leading the league in free throw attempts (523) and makes (452) by a wide margin.

According to USA Today, he’s on track to become just the second player to ever average at least 35 points, eight assists, five rebounds and two steals, alongside a guy named Michael Jordan. His 39.5 points per game since Paul’s injury suggest that his scoring, at least, won’t be dropping off any time soon.

There are so many stats and benchmarks that can be used to argue for Harden, but you’ve probably heard them all by now. I’ll default back to my favorite factor– if Harden can keep consistently winning with PJ Tucker, Eric Gordon and Danuel House as his supporting cast; he’s the MVP in my book.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks

Nikola Jokic, Denver Nuggets

Kawhi Leonard, Toronto Raptors