The NBA regular season comes to an end tomorrow and the playoffs kicks off with the Play In Tournament starting Tuesday April 12th. It is time to give out the yearly awards and my reasoning below.
MVP: Nikola Jokic:
This is a runaway award when you look at the numbers. Jokic is putting up numbers that are even better than his number from last year in which he won the MVP award. He leads in many key analytical categories such as Win Shares, and Player Efficiency Rating. In the past few years analytics has been used as a way to get a deeper dive into finding out who truly is the MVP. Jokic is putting up numbers we have not seen from an efficiency standpoint ever. Jokic has carried his team to almost 50 win in a very deep Western Conference.
Defensive Player of the Year: Marcus Smart
Marcus has been one of the best defenders this year. As a guard he is in the top 20 in Defensive Win Shares and Defensive Rating . In addition he is top 10 in both total steals and steals per game. The Celtics are a top 3 team in the Eastern Conference with Marcus Smart being the anchor of the defense. Also with the game being more of a perimeter based game it is time to acknowledge a guard with having the possibility of winning the award. Smart is seeking to be the first guard to win the award since Hall of Famer Gary Payton.
Sixth Man of the Year: Tyler Herro
Tyler Herro has been the best bench scorer in the NBA this season. He is a key part as to why the Miami Heat are the number 1 seed in the Eastern Conference. He is averaging almost 21 points a game and has been consistent all season especially during the times when key players were missing from the Heat’s Lineup. This has been Herro’s award since All Star Break and he has just continued to be consistent and proved he deserves the award.
Most Improved Player : Ja Morant
This is another award that was one essentially before the All Star Break. Ja made a tremendous jump this year. He was in the MVP conversation earlier in the season and put up tremendous numbers. This helped lead the Grizzlies to the 2nd best record in the Western Conference. Unfortunately Ja missed over 20 games which dropped him from the MVP conversation but based on his performances in the games he’s played he should have the Most Improved Award locked up.
Rookie of the Year: Evan Mobely
For Rookie of the Year I am going with Evan Mobely. He has played a pivotal role in the Cavs resurgence. Also they are in position to be the first Cavaliers team in the playoffs without Lebron James since the 1990’s. Mobely is primed to be a rising star in this league if he can build on this strong season.
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