Mid Season Awards

We have now hit the All-Star Break and it is time to put in some Awards for the season thus far. We have had an exciting season and this has been of the best and most competitive seasons I have witnessed. Many crazy moments and plays but the best of all we have had many surprises. This was one of the hardest lists I had to make so I included some honorable mentions. The criteria for each award was more so dominance and success within the dominance.

Let’s waste no time and dive right into it

MVP (Most Valuable Player)- Giannis Antentokounmpo

Giannis Antentokounmpo has been a force to reckon with from the start of the season. Easily one of the most difficult players to defend in the league because of his ability to get to the rim. Budenholzers system does help but there is no other player in the league who can excel in this system like the Greek Freak. He is currently averaging:

27.2 ppg  – 12.7 rpg – 6.0 apg 

Oh, and he is also part of the #1 offense in the NBA and is shooting more jumpers and has slowly increased his percentages throughout the season. Giannis has an offensive rating of 120 and a defensive rating of 98. He has the biggest +/- in that stat. The Bucks are +13 with him on the court which in most cases is a sufficient lead. The most mind-blowing stat is he is averaging almost 60% of his shots inside and is shooting 77% in there which is literally Shaq numbers.

Honorable Mentions

Paul George

James Harden 

DPOY (Defensive Player of the Year) – Paul George

Paul George is the best OVERALL defender in the National Basketball Association today. Leading the league in steals(2.3 spg) and having a top 5 defensive rating of 101.9 has left analysts dubbing him as the clear cut DPOY. Numbers do not tell the story because you can tell just by watching the games that the Thunder are a completely different team without George on the floor on both ends of the floor. The difference with George On-Off the floor is +19.6, that is how much better George makes this team overall. While he dominates his assignments on the defensive end he then turns around and does the same thing on offense. Without George, they could fall from 4th best defense to around 10th or 11th just by missing PG on the court.

Honorable Mentions

Rudy Gobert 

Anthony Davis 

6MOY (Sixth Man of the Year) – Derrick Rose

Derrick Rose has made the comeback of the year and since he is my favorite player I am enjoying this. When Rose announced on he was gunning for 6th man of the year I was skeptical because he was playing alright. After that, he put a 50 piece on the Jazz and since then has absolutely run away with the award.

Putting up 18 points a game and shooting a career-high and deadly 40% clip from deep he is the leader off the bench. The former youngest and 2011 MVP now has a case for the best player off the bench this season. Per 36 minutes he is averaging around the same statistics as his MVP season but he is more efficient. After all the injuries and setbacks I do not see how we do not hand Rose the award right now. Going from 9.8 ppg to 18.2 he has basically doubled his scoring from last year. Once the second unit for Minnesota comes on the floor Rose takes charge and has helped the Wolves win about a dozen games solely on his play.

Honorable Mentions

Domantas Sabonis

Julius Randle 

MIP (Most Improved Player)- Pascal Siakam

Pascal Siakam gathered his bag and bought about 1 million in VC and boosted all his stats plus he raised his sliders to 75%. This guy has been ridiculous all season and the funny part is we roasted our friend because two years ago Pascal Siakam dropped 27 points on him on 2k All-Star Team-Up.

Comparing his splits from this season to last season:

PPG: 7.3/16.1

RPG: 4.5/7.0

EFG: 53%/58%

FG: 50%/55%

3P: 22%/34%

Siakam is easily part of the big 3 in Toronto and last year he was just a guy off the bench with a jersey if we are being brutally honest.  His entire game has improved from his shot selection, post game, scoring, defense and skill set.

Honorable Mentions

De’Aaron Fox

Buddy Hield

Derrick Rose

ROTY (Rookie of the Year)- Luka Doncic

Have you ever seen Michael Jordan and Luka Doncic in the same room? I sure have not but on a more serious not Luka is ridiculous. I knew he would be good because the Euro League is not easy since the rules are different from the NBA. Luka has translated his dominance and his game to the league. From his slow-paced game to his passing ability and topping it off with his step back this guy has been Magic. There is an argument that can be made he is the best player in this draft class and maybe even last class.

Luka Doncic:

20.7 ppg – 7.2 rpg – 5.6 apg – 43% fg – 34% 3p

Honorable Mentions

Trae Young

Deandre Ayton 

COTY (Coach of the Year)- Mike Budenholzer

Mike Budenholzer has been the best coach but there is not a huge gap in the race. He did take a playoff team in Milwaukee and make them the 1st seed plus the number one offense in the league. Mike has always loved to adjust his teams to the current playstyle and while he did improve the Hawks and then got swept in the playoffs. This is not the same situation because his system is virtually unstoppable especially with the players on his roster. A Shaq dominant like player in Giannis and shooters surrounding him to maximize Giannis potential while still developing all his players. He has the second-best record in the league at 43-14 and while his team is not one of the best on paper. Bud can sure maximize his players and use them to his advantage.

Honorable Mentions

Mike Malone 

Nick Nurse

Keith Atkinson 

Do you Agree with my awards?

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