My NBA Awards Ballot: MVP, All-NBA, and More

Recently the NBA announced that the regular season award races are over and that voting for MVP, All-NBA Teams, and other awards will only be decided by the games prior to the stoppage of play. “The decision to exclude seeding games from awards voting ensures a fair process in which players and coaches from all 30 teams will have the same opportunity to be honored as top performers for the regular season,” is what the NBA told teams last week, and for about a week now the voting has been open for the voters to cast their ballots.

While I don’t have a ballot, being a teenage sports journalist, I still want to present my votes to the world. I will be showing my top 5 players for the MVP Award, and my top 3 for ROTY, MIP, COTY, 6MOTY, and DPOY. I will also be giving my All-Defensive, All-Rookie, and All-NBA teams. Enjoy, and comment your own ballots after you read!

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MVP: Giannis Antetokounmpo

Via: Essentially Sports

The MVP is obviously a highly prestigious award but, especially this season, it’s a controversial topic among fans and media personalities. The two main contenders for the award this season are Giannis Antetokounmpo and Lebron James. And while Lebron has had a great season, Giannis has put up even better numbers on an even better team than when he won the award last season. I’m not basing my vote on his improvement by any means, but rather showing how hard it is to beat last year’s MVP for the award when he’s having an even better season. When judging Giannis, and most players, I tend to only use their box score stats as a baseline for my opinion on how good they are. Giannis is only playing 30 minutes and putting up great box score stats which obviously leads to great per/100 stats and advanced metrics. In the picture below I’m going to compare some of the most important numbers between Giannis and Lebron James and just quench any debate over the MVP race.

These stats paint Giannis as a more efficient volume scorer while being a much better defender and rebounder. While he does have the highest usage rate in the league, that hardly accounts for his success in these stats. Giannis knows how to get to the cup effectively and it’s nearly impossible to defend him. Watching him on film that’s something you can easily pick up on and these stats paint that picture as well. The only main parts of his game that Lebron has an edge is passing/playmaking and three-point shooting. Let’s not act like Giannis doesn’t open up shots for his teammates, but Lebron takes that category easily. Lebron also beats Giannis out on three-point shooting but that comes down more to play-style and we’ve seen him hit them at points this year.

While some may point to Lebron’s narratives such as his age or Kobe Bryant’s tragic passing as reasons he should win the award, narratives should never be used as an argument for an MVP candidate. They are too subjective and never distributed properly by voters. Also, I don’t think we should trivialize Kobe’s death to help Lebron win MVP, it was such a sad moment and the basketball community still mourns this loss. Let’s not make it be a reason Lebron should win an award. My vote, clearly, goes to Giannis for the amazing season he had and the record he led his team to. The Bucks were on pace for nearly 70 games and will be favorites out east these playoffs because of his abilities.

Top 5:

1- Giannis Antetokounmpo

2- Lebron James

3- James Harden

4- Luka Doncic

5- Nikola Jokic

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Rookie of the Year: Ja Morant

Via: NBA

The ROTY award is pretty cut and dry for me this season. Zion Williamson is the more talented player than Ja Morant and is likely to have a better career, but Ja Morant played triple the number of games Zion played and he was amazing in them. Let’s not act like he’s winning this solely because Zion missed the first two-thirds of the regular season. Ja Morant was the best player on a Grizzlies that made huge strides this season. Averaging 17.6 points and 6.9 assists per game on a 57% true shooting percentage has proved just that.

His ability in the clutch has been present this season, playing into the idea that he’s been the on-court leader of the team. He’s scoring 3.3 points per game in the 24 games that have come down to the wire for the Grizzlies this season. They are 13-11 in those games this year, and Morant has been a big part of that being one of the top 20 players in the clutch. The fact of the matter is that he’s played a lot more games than Zion and has played amazingly for the Grizzlies helping them have the 8th seed in the games that count for this award.

Top 3:

1- Ja Morant

2- Zion Williamson

3- Kendrick Nunn

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Most Improved Player: Brandon Ingram

Via: CBS Sports

The MIP award is as highly contested as it's been in years with Brandon Ingram, Luka Doncic, Bam Adebayo, and Devonte’ Graham throwing their hat into the ring. Originally I was throwing my vote to Bam Adebayo, but after reviewing over these four players stats from last season and this season, I realized that his improvement was more evolution than a revolutionary improvement. His per/100 improvement paints his picture as a player who just needed an opportunity to succeed as you’ll see in an upcoming chart. Anyways, I ultimately decided to throw my vote to Brandon Ingram because he went from a near statistical negative to actually exceeding expectations and becoming a first All-Star. Let’s look at some important per/100 stats and advanced stats to see the improvements of these players.

(First set of stats is last season, second is this season)

I think that Brandon Ingram’s biggest contender in the improvement department is Luka Doncic. He went from a historic rookie season to leading maybe the best offense in NBA history statistically. However, and this may be a bit of a cliche reason, to me 2nd year players are due for natural development. Especially great players like Luka, who had a great rookie season. Considering his talent and the fact he gained a star power forward this offseason, I think while Luka made big steps this year, his improvement was more evolutionary for who he is as a player. Ingram went from a near statistical negative with the Lakers to the best player on the Pelicans and an All-Star. His career was stalling and he had a true revolution this year and I think he deserved this award above everybody else.

Top 3:

1- Brandon Ingram

2- Luka Doncic

3- Bam Adebayo

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Coach of the Year: Nick Nurse

Via: NBA

Determining who the best NBA coach is any given year is probably the toughest thing to do. There are so many factors to consider and nobody really knows what the best balance is. Is it the record of their team? Does it have to do with the improvement of their players and team? Do you judge them off how effective their schemes are? Do you judge them situationally? Without advanced stats specific to coaches this is a tough award to decide. I went with Nick Nurse because he’s been the most complete coach in the league this season. He’s led a top 4 team in the NBA, so there’s your record aspect of the decision. While his team on a whole didn’t improve, individual players made huge improvements to make up for the loss of Kawhi Leonard and a lot of that development is because Nurse knows what schemes to use to make his players their most effective. Look at Pascal Siakam, he went from a good second option to a top 15 NBA player. Nurse has proven himself to be a flexible coach who will employ whatever system it takes to win. The Raptors are 22-12 in games with clutch situations proving that Nurse knows what it takes to win games down the stretch.

Top 3:

1- Nick Nurse

2- Mike Budenholzer

3- Doc Rivers

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Sixth Man of the Year: Dennis Schroder

Via: Thunder Wire

Schroder has started 1 out of 63 games this season, and while he plays with the first unit often he is 100% the 6th man for anybody wondering. He scored 29.9 PTS/100 alongside 6.4 AST/100 and a 57% true shooting percentage. He’s exactly what you want from a bench player, an efficient volume scorer who isn’t a liability on the defensive end. He’s got the offense down pat which is the most important thing for a 6th man, and while he isn’t amazing defensively he has a 112 DRTG and 1.6 DWS. He’s been a key piece for the Thunder this season and has led an underrated bench unit.

Top 3:

1- Dennis Schroder

2- Montrezl Harrell

3- Lou Williams

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Defensive Player of the Year: Giannis Antetokounmpo

Via: FANSIDED

We’ve come to our final individual award and it goes to my MVP selection, Giannis Antetokounmpo. Considering how good he’s been offensively, the fact that at the very least he’s a top 3 DPOY player should settle the MVP debate quickly. Anyways, Giannis has been a dominant defensive player this year and has separated himself statistically and film-wise from the other main contenders such as Anthony Davis, Rudy Gobert, and Ben Simmons. Just as I have for other awards, I’m going to compare these four players statistically and make the case for Giannis as the best.

Giannis is the only player with a defensive rating under 100, beating everybody by a considerable amount. He also has the highest defensive box plus/minus by a good margin and has the most defensive win shares. Considering that he’s played the least minutes out of any of these players, we can assume that DWS/48 is the highest of the group as well. He’s only lacking in the per/100 steals and blocks department, but his film shows that he can not only do those things when needed, but his defense forces the ball out of his opponents' hands and he forces bad shots. He’s also the best defensive rebounder of the group which, while not the most important stat, is another testament to his defensive versatility.

Top 3:

1- Giannis Antetokounmpo

2- Anthony Davis

3- Ben Simmons

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All-Defensive Teams

All-Defensive First Team

G- Ben Simmons

G- Marcus Smart

F- Giannis Antetokounmpo

F- Anthony Davis

C- Rudy Gobert

This list seems pretty self-explanatory. You have the top 4 players in the DPOY race in Giannis, Anthony Davis, Ben Simmons, and Rudy Gobert. Then you have Marcus Smart who is probably the scrappiest defender in the league and a guy who still comes through well on the stat-sheet. An anonymous poll of NBA coaches on The Athletic had him voted as one of the best defenders in the league and I’d like to think that I have enough sense to pay attention to NBA coaches.

All-Defensive Second Team

G- Kris Dunn

G- Eric Bledsoe

F- Kawhi Leonard

F- Pascal Siakam

C- Brook Lopez

Dunn has quietly been one of the best defenders in the NBA this season, having great advanced stats and being a bright spot on a pretty poor Chicago Bulls team. Eric Bledsoe has been a solid on-ball defender this year and while his advanced stats may look because of how good the Bucks’ defense is, you can’t let that take away from his abilities on the defensive end. Kawhi would’ve been first-team if he didn’t load-manage, but his quality is still unquestioned. Siakam has really stepped up on the defensive end and bought into the system even after turning into the focal point of the team. Without him, their defense and his length has made the Raptors the best three-point defensive team in the league. Brook Lopez has been good in team and individual defensive scenarios and no center besides Rudy Gobert has been better this year.

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Check out the most recent BIDWP Episode by clicking here! It includes a sports Q&A and discussion about the most important news in sports!! Now enjoy the rest of the post!

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All-Rookie Teams

All-Rookie First Team

G- Ja Morant

G- Kendrick Nunn

F- Zion Williamson

F- PJ Washington

C- Brandon Clarke

Of course, the top 3 rookie of the year candidates make this team, but it was the other two players that gave me a little trouble. I think Brandon Clarke has been one of the better rookies this year and would’ve been my fourth pick if I had a top 5. As for PJ Washington, he had a really underrated rookie season and started to improve on what I saw in college. He was a good stretch four and I liked his game a lot.

All-Rookie Second Team

G- Coby White

G- Tyler Herro

G- Terence Davis

F- Eric Paschall

F- Rui Hachimura

I couldn’t decide between Darius Garland and Coby White for the longest time, ultimately they both were in bad situations and did solidly but White only started one game all season and had better per/100 stats than Garland. Tyler Herro and Terence Davis were neck and neck in how good they were this year, with Davis’s defense making him an easy pick here. Paschall and Hachimura displayed their scoring talent this season and showed that they may have a bright future in the NBA.

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All-NBA Teams

All-NBA First Team

G- Luka Doncic

G- James Harden

F- Lebron James

F- Giannis Antetokounmpo

C- Nikola Jokic

All-NBA Second Team

G- Damian Lillard

G- Chris Paul

F- Kawhi Leonard

F- Pascal Siakam

C- Anthony Davis

All-NBA Third Team

G- Ben Simmons

G- Russell Westbrook

F- Jayson Tatum

F- Brandon Ingram

C- Rudy Gobert

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Thanks for reading my awards ballot for the NBA! A couple of things I’d love you to do before you go on with your day; one, like this post and comment your picks for awards this season. Two, check out another article or two! Three, check out our YouTube and podcast which will be linked below! Thanks, peace out!

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