The NBA regular season is slowly coming to an end, after what has been an extremely interesting season filled with storylines and performances by top stars across both conferences. With the final few weeks ahead of us, it is time to predict the end-of-season award winners in all the major categories. As expected, there will be stiff competition for each award because there has been some outstanding stand-out talent.
- Most Valuable Player: Joel Embiid
- Defensive Player of the Year: Bam Adebayo
- Rookie of the Year: Evan Mobley
- Sixth Man of the Year: Tyler Herro
- Most Improved Player: Ja Morant
- Coach of the Year: Monty Williams
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But which player will come out on top for the MVP award? It is largely believed that there is a 3-horse race going on between Joel Embiid, Nikola Jokic, and Giannis Antetokounmpo for the award but some fresh blood have entered the race thanks to magnificent performances over the past few weeks. What about Rookie of the Year? The rise of Jalen Green and the consistency of Scottie Barnes has left Evan Mobley wondering if he is the best rookie since the All-Star break. In any case, here is the expected award winner for every major award at the end of the season.
Most Valuable Player: Joel Embiid
29.8 PPG, 11.3 RPG, 4.3 APG, 1.1 SPG, 1.4 BPG
2nd Place: Nikola Jokic
3rd Place: Giannis Antetokounmpo
Joel Embiid has to be the MVP at the end of the season because his team has a better seeding than the Denver Nuggets and the Milwaukee Bucks. After all, the narrative supports Embiid’s bid more than the other stars in the 3-horse race. Embiid has been forced to carry the load without Ben Simmons, the team’s second-best player. Losing a player of Simmons’ skills would normally kill a team’s title chances, but Embiid has kept them afloat.
The big man is averaging a career-high in PPG and APG and has a shot to lead the 76ers to the best record in the Eastern Conference by the end of the year. Nikola Jokic has been sensational and is easily the MVP for his team, but the Nuggets are the 6th seed as they deal with their own injuries. Jokic has shared the number one and two spots in the MVP race for the majority of the season, but it will be hard to convince enough voters that being a number 6 seed can be overlooked. Of course, Giannis is always in the MVP race thanks to his ridiculous stat line. The Greek Freak is posting 29.7 PPG, 11.6 RPG, 5.8 APG, and 1.4 BPG.
But Giannis has had his help more than Embiid so far this season, and a slow start to the season by the Bucks slightly derailed his chances. Even if Giannis has helped the Bucks come to life again and Jokic is doing things we have not seen from a center before, expect Joel Embiid to capture his first MVP award at the end of the year.
Defensive Player of the Year: Bam Adebayo
19.2 PPG, 10.2 RPG, 3.5 APG, 1.5 SPG, 0.8 BPG
2nd Place: Rudy Gobert
3rd Place: Giannis Antetokounmpo
As great as Jimmy Butler and Eric Spoelstra have been for the Miami Heat thanks to their leadership, the defense of Bam Adebayo has been arguably the most critical part of Miami’s hot start to the season. Despite being slightly undersized at center, Adebayo has elite positioning on defense and is a fantastic one-on-one defender. Spoelstra has been raving about Adebayo for a few seasons now, and it is very easy to see why.
Around the rim, Bam has been consistent at contesting shots and hauling down rebounds for Miami. The Heat are already a strong defensive team, but Adebayo takes them to another level. It might come down to a late surge by Rudy Gobert if the Heat’s center misses out on the award because the Frenchman is on his heels. Giannis Antetokounmpo also deserves credit for his efforts, as a man who can defend all five positions as needed. But Gobert probably has not done enough to win his 4th Defensive Player of the Year award and Giannis has not had the impact that Adebayo has had for the Heat.
Rookie of the Year: Evan Mobley
15.1 PPG, 8.3 RPG, 2.5 APG, 0.8 SPG, 1.7 BPG
2nd Place: Scottie Barnes
3rd Place: Cade Cunningham
The Rookie of the Year race is one of the most interesting storylines of the season so far because there have been two standout rookies: Evan Mobley and Scottie Barnes. Mobley is a shot-blocking center with All-Star offensive skills that includes a jumper and post-moves around the basket. Thanks to Mobley’s presence, the Cleveland Cavaliers are a surprise playoff team as they field a twin-towers pairing with Jarrett Allen.
Scottie Barnes is in second place by a slight margin, because his averages of 15.3 PPG and 7.6 RPG are certainly impressive. Other than Fred VanVleet, Scottie Barnes has been the standout performer for the Toronto Raptors. Cade Cunningham had a slow start to his NBA career but is showing signs of becoming the star we expect him to become, averaging 17.1 PPG, 5.8 RPG, and 5.5 APG. In the end, Mobley has had the most impact on a pretty good Cavaliers squad.
Sixth Man of the Year: Tyler Herro
20.9 PPG, 4.8 RPG, 3.8 APG, 0.7 SPG, 0.1 BPG
2nd Place: Kelly Oubre Jr
3rd Place: Jordan Clarkson
The only award race that will be ended in a landslide victory, Tyler Herro is running away with the 6th Man of the Year award. He is averaging a career-high 20.9 PPG on 39.1% 3-PT FG off the bench for the best team in the East, and Miami has certainly relied on Herro’s offense for the majority of the season. An elite shot-maker who should be in for a max contract, there is no doubt that Tyler is the best 6th man in the league by a wide margin.
Kelly Oubre Jr has also been fantastic off the bench, even though he will not win the 6th Man of the Year award. The versatile scorer is averaging 15.5 PPG and 4.0 RPG for the Charlotte Hornets, helping the team currently capture a spot in the play-in. Jordan Clarkson’s impact and numbers are currently down from last year, but the shooting guard has been strong off the bench posting 16.1 PPG and deserves a shoutout for his efforts.
Most Improved Player: Ja Morant
27.6 PPG, 5.7 RPG, 6.7 APG, 1.2 SPG, 0.4 BPG
2nd Place: Tyler Herro
3rd Place: Miles Bridges
Ja Morant has burst onto the scene as a starter for the Western Conference and has been the second-best guard in the league outside of Stephen Curry. An extremely athletic point guard with a relentless motor, Ja Morant has gone from a budding All-Star to a superstar in this league. Thanks to Morant’s leadership and unstoppable offensive ability, the Memphis Grizzlies hold the second-best record in the West.
A legitimate MVP candidate, Ja Morant will likely capture the Most Improved Player as his first and only award this season. Morant is already drawing comparisons to the great Allen Iverson, and that means he could be in the cards for having a Hall of Fame career. Tyler Herro will win 6th Man of the Year, but also deserved consideration for the All-Star Team. He will likely finish runner-up for Most Improved Player, while Miles Bridges also deserves credit for developing into an All-Star talent.
Coach of the Year: Monty Williams
60-14 Record (#1 in the West, #1 in the NBA)
2nd Place: Eric Spoelstra
3rd Place: Taylor Jenkins
There has been some spectacular coaching in the league this season, but only 3 coaches have a legitimate shot at winning the Coach of the Year award: Monty Williams, Eric Spoelstra, and Taylor Jenkins. Monty Williams is the favorite because he is the coach of the best team in the Western Conference and the best team in the NBA. The Suns are sitting pretty with the number one seed, and Williams has still kept the title contenders in full form despite the controversy of Robert Sarver and the injury to Chris Paul.
Meanwhile, Spoelstra is the coach of the number one seed Miami Heat in the East. The bust-up with star Jimmy Butler was not a good look, but apparently, it was just a way to send the team a message. We will soon find out if that is true or not, Still, Spoelstra has done a magical job and deserves all the credit in the world for how his team plays. Finally, Taylor Jenkins has helped the Grizzlies become a force in the West and has the squad playing hard with and without superstar Ja Morant on the floor.
