WHO I THINK WILL AND SHOULD WIN?
Who should win the major NBA awards this season? And
who will win? There's a tight race for MVP between Giannis Antetokounmpo and James Harden,
and a deep list of candidates for each trophy.
With less than a week to go in the regular season, I offer my
picks and predictions for MVP, Rookie of the Year, Coach of the Year, Defensive
Player of the Year, Sixth Man and Most Improved Player.
The NBA will officially announce the winners June 24.
Rookie of the Year
Trae Young's
incredible finish to the
season isn't enough to supplant Luka Doncic,
who is an overwhelming favorite, according to our panel.
All season long, Doncic has combined
usage, efficiency and scoring in rare ways for a player his age.
Who Should Win?
|
PLAYER
|
POINTS
|
1ST-PLACE (%)
|
|
1. Luka Doncic |
DAL
|
194
|
92.5
|
|
2. Trae Young |
ATL
|
116
|
7.5
|
|
3. Deandre
Ayton | PHX
|
29
|
0.0
|
Others receiving votes: Marvin Bagley
III, Mikal Bridges, Shai
Gilgeous-Alexander, Jaren Jackson
Jr., Mitchell
Robinson, Landry Shamet and Collin Sexton
Who will win?
- Luka
Doncic: 98 percent
- Trae
Young: 2 percent
COACH OF THE YEAR
The most challenging leap to make in the NBA is going from
good to great. The Milwaukee
Bucks' ascendancy to best regular-season team -- with mostly the
same pieces from last season -- is driving Mike Budenholzer's candidacy here.
He has developed a
system around Antetokounmpo that has made the Bucks top three
in both offensive and defensive rating.
Budenholzer is joined by a deep list of strong candidates,
but it looks like he has pulled away.
Who Should Win?
|
COACH
|
POINTS
|
1ST-PLACE (%)
|
|
1. Mike Budenholzer | MIL
|
136
|
52.5
|
|
2. Doc Rivers | LAC
|
89
|
25.0
|
|
3. Nate McMillan | IND
|
54
|
10.0
|
|
4. Michael Malone | DEN
|
29
|
5.0
|
Others receiving votes: Kenny Atkinson, Brett Brown, Steve
Clifford, Gregg Popovich and Nick Nurse
Who will win?
- Mike
Budenholzer: 75 percent
- Doc
Rivers: 12 percent
- Michael
Malone: 8 percent
- Nate
McMillan: 5 percent
SIXTH MAN OF THE
YEAR
Lou Williams is
on track to win his third Sixth Man award -- as long as he can hold off his own
teammate. Williams and Montrezl
Harrell have sparked a surprising LA Clippers'
season as an unstoppable bench duo, with Williams collecting most of the
first-place votes here.
Domantas
Sabonis, who essentially could not miss to start the season for
the Indiana
Pacers, joins the Clips in the top three.
Who Should Win?
|
PLAYER
|
POINTS
|
1ST-PLACE (%)
|
|
1. Lou
Williams | LAC
|
142
|
60.0
|
|
2. Montrezl Harrell |
LAC
|
72
|
17.5
|
|
3. Domantas
Sabonis | IND
|
63
|
12.5
|
|
4. Spencer
Dinwiddie | BKN
|
17
|
2.5
|
|
5. Julius
Randle | NOP
|
11
|
0.0
|
|
6. Bogdan
Bogdanovic | SAC
|
10
|
2.5
|
Others receiving votes: Malik Beasley, Davis Bertans, Jaylen Brown, Monte Morris, Larry Nance
Jr., Derrick Rose, Dennis
Schroder and Dwyane Wade
Who will win?
- Lou
Williams: 90 percent
- Domantas
Sabonis: 8 percent
- Montrezl
Harrell: 2 percent
MOST IMPROVED
PLAYER
Kawhi Leonard is
on pace to miss more than 20 games, yet the Toronto
Raptors will likely finish with the second-best record in the
NBA. Pascal Siakam is
a big reason why. Once a
defensive role player and promising sixth man, Siakam has flourished into a
real offensive threat -- creating looks in transition and
becoming a capable shooter from deep.
Breakout
guards D'Angelo Russell and De'Aaron Fox
are his main competition here.
Who Should Win?
|
PLAYER
|
POINTS
|
1ST-PLACE (%)
|
|
1. Pascal
Siakam | TOR
|
148
|
62.5
|
|
2. D'Angelo
Russell | BKN
|
67
|
10.0
|
|
3. De'Aaron
Fox | SAC
|
54
|
10.0
|
|
4. Nikola
Vucevic | ORL
|
15
|
7.5
|
|
T5. Paul George |
OKC
|
13
|
2.5
|
|
T5. Domantas
Sabonis | IND
|
13
|
0.0
|
Others receiving votes: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Malcolm
Brogdon, Jaylen Brown, John Collins,
Montrezl Harrell, Tobias Harris, Buddy Hield, Zach LaVine and
Derrick Rose
Who will win?
- Pascal
Siakam: 55 percent
- D'Angelo
Russell: 23 percent
- De'Aaron
Fox: 7 percent
DEFENSIVE PLAYER
OF THE YEAR
Rudy Gobert is
on track to win his second DPOY award in a row if he can fend off Paul George and
Antetokounmpo.
Defensive impact is maybe the hardest quality to quantify.
Still, Gobert has a strong case. He is comfortably No. 1 in
ESPN's defensive real plus-minus (4.50), ahead of George and
Antetokounmpo (tied for 19th at 2.85).
Who Should Win?
|
PLAYER
|
POINTS
|
1ST-PLACE (%)
|
|
1. Rudy Gobert |
UTA
|
108
|
42.5
|
|
2. Paul George |
OKC
|
87
|
27.5
|
|
3. Giannis
Antetokounmpo | MIL
|
63
|
17.5
|
|
4. Joel Embiid |
PHI
|
23
|
0.0
|
|
5. Myles
Turner | IND
|
22
|
7.5
|
Others receiving votes: Isaiah
Briscoe, Robert
Covington, Draymond
Green, Al Horford,
Kawhi Leonard and Jusuf Nurkic
Who will win?
- Rudy
Gobert: 50 percent
- Paul
George: 25 percent
- Giannis
Antetokounmpo: 18 percent
MOST VALUABLE
PLAYER
In a close vote, our panel is taking Antetokounmpo over
Harden. Interestingly, Antetokounmpo has a much more clear advantage in our
panel's pick for who will win the awards, rather than who
should.
So how is anyone really supposed to decide between these two
great seasons? Five of our
experts weigh in here.
Who Should Win?
|
PLAYER
|
POINTS
|
1ST-PLACE (%)
|
|
1. Giannis
Antetokounmpo | MIL
|
158
|
50
|
|
2. James
Harden | HOU
|
151
|
45
|
|
3. Paul George |
OKC
|
19
|
2.5
|
|
4. Stephen
Curry | GSW
|
12
|
2.5
|
|
5. Nikola
Jokic | DEN
|
5
|
0
|
Others receiving votes: Joel Embiid, Kevin Durant,
Kawhi Leonard, Damian
Lillard and Karl-Anthony
Towns
Who will win?
- Giannis
Antetokounmpo: 68 percent
- James
Harden: 32 percent
MORE: Giannis or
Harden? The MVP question that's dividing the NBA
No comments:
Post a Comment