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NBA Awards Watch: Week 11

By Jared Brownlee

Jan 8, 2014; Houston, TX, USA; Los Angeles Lakers small forward Nick Young (0) reacts after making a shot during the third quarter against the Houston Rockets at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Richardson-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 8, 2014; Houston, TX, USA; Los Angeles Lakers small forward Nick Young (0) reacts after making a shot during the third quarter against the Houston Rockets at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Richardson-USA TODAY Sports /
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This is week 11 of the 2013-14 regular season edition of HoopsHabit’s NBA Awards Watch. Throughout the season, we cover the potential winners for each award. Make sure to check back every Monday for the up-to-date projections.

Most Valuable Player

  1. Kevin Durant
  2. LeBron James
  3. LaMarcus Aldridge

Durant has decided to take over offensively, scoring 48 points in two of the past five games. He’s upped his scoring to 29.6 PPG and has the highest PER in the league as well. James has scored 30 or more points in the past four games, averaging 32.5 PPG over that stretch which has included back to back losses to Brooklyn and New York. Aldridge continues to put up career-numbers with 23.6 PPG and 11.0 RPG as the Trail Blazers currently own the third-best record in the league.

Most Improved Player

  1. Eric Bledsoe
  2. Anthony Davis
  3. Andre Drummond

The Suns playoff chances took a major blow with Bledsoe suffering a knee injury and he’ll be out indefinitely after having arthroscopic surgery. Nevertheless, he is averaging almost 10 more points a game than last season. Davis is a walking double-double and a borderline All-Star this season, who also leads the league in blocks. In Detroit, Drummond is averaging 12.7 points and 12.7 rebounds a game. He also has 11 blocks in the past two games.

Rookie of the Year

  1. Michael Carter-Williams
  2. Trey Burke
  3. Victor Oladipo

MCW showed his complete game against the Cavaliers on Tuesday, scoring 33 points with six rebounds and five assists. Burke is averaging 30.7 minutes per game and scoring 13.3 PPG, second amongst all rookies. Oladipo is the only other rookie besides MCW and Burke averaging double figures in scoring (13.2 PPG).

Sixth Man of the Year

  1. Nick Young
  2. Jamal Crawford
  3. Manu Ginobili

Young is the Lakers leading scorer at 16.3 PPG though he is shooting 34% from three, tied for the lowest of his career. Sharing the Staples Center spotlight, Crawford is averaging 16.7 PPG and scored 26 points against the Celtics on Wednesday. Now that J.J. Redick has returned, Crawford returns to his sixth-man role. The veteran Ginobili is not as much of a scorer as he used to be, but he’s still a big part of the Spurs success (12.3 PPG, 20.52) as one of their best playmakers.

Defensive Player of the Year

  1. Anthony Davis
  2. Roy Hibbert
  3. DeAndre Jordan

Davis is the current leader in blocks with 3.1 per game and with his length, he makes protecting the rim look easy and also gets 1.4 steals per game as well. The 7-foot-2 Hibbert is largely the reason the Pacers give up the least amount of points in the league and he’s ranked behind Davis in blocks with 2.6 per game. Jordan is starting to rise up the rankings and he is now the league’s leading rebounder at 13.4 per game and 2.5 blocks per game. He had eight blocks against the Magic earlier this week and seven blocks in a blowout win against the Lakers.