With the NBA regular season having finally wrapped up yesterday, it is time to finish accessing NBA award races and move into who should take home the legacy impacting hardware. I have already dedicated a whole article to my MVP choice, so let's get on to who should take home the rest of the awards.
Defensive Player of the Year
Versatile Warriors defender Draymond Green gets my vote for Defensive Player of the Year, with his ability to guard any position on the court. Green's defensive field goal percentage is 43.9% is tied for second in the league, only 0.1% behind LaMarcus Aldridge for players with at least 50 games.
He also showcased his versatility by having the first triple-double in NBA history without 10 points. Green also had 1.39 blocks, twelfth most in the NBA and 2.03 steals, the most in the league.
Rookie of the Year
Despite only playing 31 games this season, Joel Embiid is my Rookie of the Year choice. Embiid averaged 20.2 points, 7.8 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 0.9 steals and 2.5 blocks per game. He also shot 46.6% from the field and 36.7% from three. Emiid was the first player in NBA history to average at least 20 points, 7.5 rebounds, 2.5 blocks, at least 1 made a three-pointer. He finished the season first in points, rebounds and blocks among rookies, fifth in steals and ninth in assists.
Most Improved Player
Giannis Antetokounmpo is my choice for Most Improved Player, has he vastly increased his stats across the board. He averaged 22.9 points, an increase of 6 per game. He averaged 8.8 rebounds and 5.4 assists, increasing both by 1.1 per game. Finally, he had 1.9 blocks and 1.6 steals per game, increasing each by 0.5 and 0.4 per game.
Antetokounmpo was also the fifth player in NBA history to lead his team in each of these five statistical categories. His improved play also helped the team, as Milwaukee went from 33-49 (.402) to 42-40 (.512) and made the playoffs.
Coach of the Year
In a close race, Houston Rockets coach Mike D'Antoni comes out as the winner in my pick for NBA Coach of the Year.
D'Antoni helped to improve the Rockets win total by 14 this year, as they went from being 41-41 (.500) to 55-27 (.671). The team also went from being the eight seed last year in the western conference to the three seed this season. They had the third-best record in the NBA, only behind the San Antonio Spurs and Golden State Warriors.
D'Antoni also gets the nod not just for team improvement, but the transformation of the team's philosophy and James Harden. This season the Rockets made 14.3 three-pointers per game, attempted 40.1 per game and took a total of 3,250. These are all NBA records as the team philosophy went all in on the 3-point mentality sweeping the league. He also made a move to have James Harden play point guard and be the one to run the offensive, resulting in his historical, triple double filled season.
Sixth Man of the Year
Speaking of the Houston Rockets and Mike D'Antoni's impact, it really had a positive influence on my Sixth Man of the Year award Eric Gordon. This season, Gordon averaged 16.2 points, 2.7 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 0.5 blocks and 0.6 steals. He shot 40.6% from the field and 37.2% on three-pointers. Gordon made 245 threes, the fourth most in the league only behind James Harden, Klay Thompson and Steph Curry. He had the most made threes ever by a reserve player and the twelfth most in NBA history.
