NBA Awards Watch: Week 5
By Ben Nadeau
Defensive Player of the Year
1, Kawhi Leonard, San Antonio Spurs (Last Week: 1, –)
This week the San Antonio Spurs find themselves virtually tied for first place in defensive efficiency with the Miami Heat (their Eastern Conference rivals edge them by just 0.1) at 94.1 points per 100 possessions. Soon, Leonard’s write-up in this category will just read like a new diary entry:
Dear Diary,
On November 18th, that Danilo Gallinari shot a miserable 2-for-9 from the field and we won by 11 points! Yesterday, I was a huge reason why Anthony Davis and Eric Gordon shot 12-for-32 even though we lost. Today, I guarded Jeff Green (Nov 21st) and he only shot 3-for-7.
Oh, wait, I just did that.
Leonard’s Line of the Week: 11/23 vs. PHO — 24 points, 13 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 steals, 1 block, 3 TOs, 11-18 FG%
Week Grade: A-
2. Draymond Green, Golden State Warriors (Last Week: –, Up 2)
According to the newly released Real Plus-Minus rankings from ESPN, there are only three players with a higher WAR rating than Green’s 2.79: Stephen Curry, Kyle Lowry, and Russell Westbrook. Of course, we always hear about Green’s contributions on offense, but there’s a strong possibility that he’s getting overlooked defensively.
His size and versatility, not unlike the aforementioned Leonard, allows Green to guard all five positions, take advantage of mismatches, and, perhaps most importantly, keep Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson from having to chase around some of the opposition’s best players for 40-minute stretches.
Now that the Warriors are 16-0 and own the best start to an NBA season ever, it’s finally time to add a fourth Golden State player into the mix in these awards. Yes, they’re that good. Yes, they deserve every bit of hype.
Green’s Line of the Week: 11/21 vs. LAC — 19 points, 6 rebounds, 9 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 3 TOs, 7-9 FG%
Week Grade: B+
3. Rudy Gobert, Utah Jazz (Last Week: 2, –)
Rudy Gobert is sticking around for another week, folks! After missing a couple games last time around, Gobert now finds himself going through a bit of a rough patch. Although it’s tough to heap it on too much — games against Toronto, Dallas, and Oklahoma City in one week are no joke — but, statistically, Gobert hasn’t been as impressive.
In fact, Gobert registered just his second zero-block game of the year against the Thunder and gave away the ball a staggering five times as well. However, Gobert and Derrick Favors still combine to create the NBA’s seventh-best defense with an efficiency of 99.1 and the Jazz are, somehow, still afloat in the Western Conference.
We’ll see if he can get back on track against the struggling Los Angeles Clippers, the historically great Golden State Warriors, and an Anthony Davis-sized problem versus the Pelicans this week to show the world that he and Jazz deserve some more respect.
Gobert’s Line of the Week: 11/20 vs. DAL — 8 points, 12 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals, 1 block, 1 TO, 2-4 FG%
Week Grade: B-
Bounced Out: Andre Drummond Detroit Pistons
Honorable Mentions: Jimmy Butler, Chicago Bulls; Andre Drummond, Detroit Pistons; Hassan Whiteside, Miami Heat; Anthony Davis, New Orleans Pelicans; Serge Ibaka, Oklahoma City Thunder; DeAndre Jordan, Los Angeles Clippers; Nerlens Noel, Philadelphia 76ers.
Week 1: Anthony Davis, New Orleans Pelicans
Week 2: Kawhi Leonard, San Antonio Spurs
Week 3: Kawhi Leonard, San Antonio Spurs
Week 4: Kawhi Leonard, San Antonio Spurs
Week 5: Kawhi Leonard, San Antonio Spurs
Next: From Boston to the Bay