With the NBA Regular Season on ice, the attention turns to NBA Award season as hardware will be handed out throughout the playoffs.
These NBA Awards will be voted on by the NBA Media and discussed at length. Despite not having a ballot, let’s fill one out for the fun of it.
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, OKC Thunder
- Nikola Jokic, Denver Nuggets
- Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks
- Jayson Tatum, Boston Celtics
- LeBron James, Los Angeles Lakers
The top three were all easy picks. Gilgeous-Alexander is rightfully in the driver’s seat for the honor as the League’s scoring champion lifted the Thunder to historic heights this season and continues his ascent up the superstar ladder. Jokic is a more than deserving second place, but did not do enough to warrant a fourth MVP honor and edge out the Thunder star. Antetokounmpo’s lack of team success might cloud one of the best seasons the superstar has ever put together.
- Lu Dort
- Evan Mobley
- Ivica Zubac
Rules, however unofficial they may be, are meant to be broken. Lu Dort doesn’t play the precious big man position, but his ability to lock down top scorers and hold them well below their averages is more valuable than big men collecting highlight reel blocks to clean up point of attack defenders’ displacements. Dort leads the charge for a historically great defense and at some point, the league has to evolve. If the currency of basketball is jaw-dropping scorers that can go get you a bucket any time, the lone man consistently stopping said scorers needs praise.
- Ty Jerome, Cleveland Cavaliers
- Ivica Zubac, Los Angeles Clippers
- Christian Braun, Denver Nuggets
Cade Cunningham being left off my top three might give any reader the most pause of this entire article. But not only was Cunningham the No. 1 pick in his draft, but it was a clear-cut choice. The Oklahoma State product was a tanking prize a year in advance and never went questioned, viewed as a franchise-changing player. It is no shock that he is in this position.
The way Jerome has gone from journeymen to key figure on the No. 1 seed out East deserves the award. Zubac has turned in an elite defensive season and a large reason why the Clippers navigated this season to become the No. 5 seed was due to his stability with James Harden. Braun took his game to another level on the offensive end as the former late first-round pick continues to evolve his game.
- Steph Castle, San Antonio Spurs
- Jaylen Wells, Memphis Grizzlies
- Zaccharie Risacher, Atlanta Hawks
Castle had the best start-to-finish season of any rookie and it should be able to earn him the award. Risacher’s second-half surge gets him on the ballot and Wells’ ability to play winning basketball as a first-year player was outstanding.
- Payton Pritchard, Boston Celtics
- Ty Jerome, Cleveland Cavaliers
- Malik Beasley, Detroit Pistons
This award should go chalk as all these Eastern Conference reserves impacted winning in a big way.
- Kenny Atkinson, Cleveland Cavaliers
- Ty Lue, Los Angeles Clippers
- JB Bickerstaff, Detroit Pistons
JB Bickerstaff is getting a lot of credit for “tripling” the Pistons’ win total, but what also helped was a revamped roster with veterans around its young players. still a great job by the Pistons sideline pacer, but the leap from good to great is much tougher, which is what Atkinson achieved in Cleveland. The Clippers were cast-offs at the start of the season but Lue helped level things and managed his roster wonderfully.
- Jalen Brunson, New York Knicks
- Nikola Jokic, Denver Nuggets
- Darius Garland, Cleveland Cavaliers
This is the most arbitrary award to ever exist, so save me any lectures on why someone else should’ve won or ranked. Brunson’s clutch moments stick out as meaningful enough to win this award.
Song of the Day: Beauty School Drop Out by Frankie Avalon
