2017-18 NBA Awards Watch: Final picks for MVP, ROY and more

Now that the 2017-18 NBA regular season is over, it’s time to make our final picks for MVP, Rookie of the Year and every other major award.

The 2017-18 NBA regular season is in the rearview mirror, and with 14 teams preparing for exit interviews, vacations and offseason workouts, the other 16 are ready to batten down the hatches for the playoffs starting Saturday.

However, now that the 82-game grind is behind us for all 30 teams, there’s one last order of business before we can shift our full attention to the postseason, and that’s the NBA’s award season.

Though the awards won’t be presented until the summer, voting season has already arrived. We here at HoopsHabit don’t have an official ballot, but that’s not going to stop us from giving our picks for Coach of the Year, Rookie of the Year, Sixth Man of the Year, Most Improved Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year and, of course, the ever-coveted MVP Award.

As is the case in any other season, some of these awards featured a crowded playing field, while others are dominated by a clear-cut favorite. After a memorable and thoroughly enjoyable 2017-18 campaign, here are our picks for each individual NBA award.

Coach of the Year: Brad Stevens

Final ballot:

1. Brad Stevens (Boston Celtics)
2. Quin Snyder (Utah Jazz)
3. Dwane Casey (Toronto Raptors)

The Coach of the Year race is stacked this year. Before we even get to our top three candidates, there are several honorable mentions you could easily make a case for.

Gregg Popovich is the LeBron James of this category — everyone knows he’s the best in the world, but the results don’t always reflect the dominance we need to see to earn this regular season award. What he’s done with these San Antonio Spurs heading for their 21st straight playoff berth — despite Kawhi Leonard missing all but nine games — is vintage Pop.

The reigning COY, Mike D’Antoni, wouldn’t be a very exciting option, but we should note not only how his system combined with James Harden to create one of the five greatest offenses in NBA history, but also how he seamlessly implemented another ball-dominant guard like Chris Paul for a Houston Rockets team that won a league-best 65 games.

Pelican Debrief

Brett Brown deserves credit for the work he’s done with this young Philadelphia 76ers team. Nate McMillan‘s Indiana Pacers are a surprising redemption story. Terry Stotts and Alvin Gentry have exceeded expectations as well.

However, the last three heavy-hitters are hard to top. Dwane Casey not only led the Toronto Raptors to a conference-best (and franchise-record) 59 wins, but he did so while revamping a stagnant, iso-heavy offense into a high-powered, 3-point shooting style. This, all while improving last year’s eighth-ranked defense to No. 5 this season.

Quin Snyder vs. Brad Stevens is almost too tight to call. The Utah Jazz were 19-28 and far from the playoff picture out West in late January, but rattled off 29 wins in their last 35 games games of the season to not only secure a playoff spot, but put themselves in position to snag the 3-seed on the last night of the regular season. That stifling defense, a drastically improved, more well-balanced offense and the team’s complete second-half turnaround are hard to overlook.

However, it’s hard to top what the Boston Celtics have done with so many notable injuries, regardless of how far they go in the playoffs. Losing Gordon Hayward on opening night should’ve ended the Celtics’ season then and there. After starting off 0-2, Boston responded to all that adversity with a completely unexpected 16-game win streak.

The hits kept on coming, but time and time again Stevens proved his resourcefulness by reaching deep into his bench and spinning yarn into gold. Despite Hayward (81 games), Kyrie Irving (22), Jaylen Brown (12), Marcus Smart (28), Marcus Morris (28), Al Horford (10) and Daniel Theis (19) all missing significant and overlapping time, the Celtics won 55 games and secured the 2-seed in the East.

That’s an unbelievable accomplishment, even if we ignore how quickly youngsters like Brown and Tatum stepped up on the wing to fill in for Hayward; how Marcus Morris and Terry Rozier turned into legitimate weapons; how new arrivals in Kyrie Irving, Greg Monroe and Morris were integrated; and how they wound up being the NBA’s most stifling defense. There are a lot of deserving candidates, but let’s not overthink this. The 2017-18 Coach of the Year is Brad Stevens.

Rookie of the Year: Ben Simmons

Final ballot:

1. Ben Simmons (Philadelphia 76ers)
2. Donovan Mitchell (Utah Jazz)
3. Jayson Tatum (Boston Celtics)

With all due respect to a promising, deep and TALENTED rookie class that includes Lonzo Ball, Josh Jackson, Kyle Kuzma, Lauri Markkanen, Dennis Smith Jr., Bogdan Bogdanovic, John Collins, Jarrett Allen, Milos Teodosic, De’Aaron Fox, Jonathan Isaac, Frank Ntilikina, Bam Adebayo and so many others, Rookie of the Year is a two-horse race.

Jayson Tatum gets the nod at No. 3 over guys like Kuzma and Markkanen for his solid numbers for a vastly superior Celtics team compared to the Los Angeles Lakers and Chicago Bulls, but this is really about Ben Simmons vs. Donovan Mitchell.

One is the second-best player on a Sixers team that won 51 games, claimed the 3-seed in the East and managed to lead the way when Joel Embiid went down late, helping Philly close the season on a 16-game winning streak (with Embiid missing the last eight games).

The other is the second-best player on a Jazz squad that won 48 games, claimed the 5-seed in the more difficult West and managed to become the first rookie to lead a playoff team in scoring since 2004.

The former averaged an astonishing 15.8 points, 8.2 assists, 8.1 rebounds and 1.7 steals per game on 54.7 percent shooting without a perimeter jump shot to speak of. That is special in and of itself, but then you have to factor in his 12 triple-doubles (third-most in the league this year and second-most by a rookie in NBA history, trailing only Oscar Robertson).

The latter averaged an eye-popping 20.5 points, 3.7 assists and 3.7 rebounds on 43.7 percent shooting from the field and 34 percent shooting from downtown. That is also remarkable, even before recalling how he set the record for the most 3-pointers made by a rookie in NBA history.

One is helping a once-dejected fanbase see the light of the Process. One is helping a recently forlorn fanbase get over the free agency departure of Gordon Hayward. Both are capable, impressive defenders for top-three defenses in the NBA. These things all matter.

However, the edge has to go to Simmons here, especially when so many cases being made for Mitchell start with the ultra lame “He’s not technically a rookie!” bologna. (If a player didn’t play a single game their rookie year, they didn’t have a rookie season. It’s as simple as that.)

Simmons is the more efficient player, the (slightly) better defender, a Magic Johnson-esque point forward for a 51-win team and one of the league’s top assist men — regardless of experience level.

Mitchell is an explosive scorer and looks like a terrifying Damian Lillard–Dwyane Wade hybrid for the future, but he’s not particularly efficient yet, he doesn’t contribute much outside the scoring column and Utah’s midseason turnaround was fueled more by Rudy Gobert‘s return and a galvanized defense than Mitchell leading the team’s offense.

You could argue that Embiid is the Sixers’ best player, but as we saw when Gobert was out, the Jazz’s best player is just as intrinsic to his team’s success as the Process is to Philly’s. Neither rookie would be as successful without his anchor in the middle, and it’s worth mentioning that Simmons has been producing at this high level since day one.

The emotion of taking Hayward’s place or the logic of whatever someone thinks a rookie is don’t factor in as heavily outside of Salt Lake City. Based on Simmons’ triple-double feats, his more well-rounded production and his slight edge in team success, he gets the nod as the Rookie of the Year frontrunner.

Sixth Man of the Year: Lou Williams

Final ballot:

1. Lou Williams (Los Angeles Clippers)
2. Eric Gordon (Houston Rockets)
3. Fred VanVleet (Toronto Raptors)

There are plenty of deserving candidates in this category (apologies to Domantas Sabonis, who just missed the third spot), but they all pale in comparison to the soon-to-be two-time Sixth Man of the Year, Lou Williams.

Eric Gordon averaged 18.0 points per game on the season, coming off the bench in 39 of the 69 games he played this year. Fred VanVleet was the driving force behind the best bench in the NBA and deserves recognition for a strong second half push, averaging 10.8 points, 3.4 assists and 2.8 rebounds per game since the start of January.

However, it’s really no contest compared to Lou Will, who was one of the league’s most notable All-Star omissions and the best player — not just bench player, but player — on a Los Angeles Clippers team that overcame injuries and trades to defy the odds, pushing for a playoff spot until the last week of the season.

Averaging a team-best 22.6 points and 5.3 assists per game on 35.9 percent shooting from 3-point range, Lou Will came off the bench for 60 of the 79 games he appeared in. In those 60 games, he still posted 21.9 points and 5.3 assists per game, so it’s not like his numbers were inflated by his 19 starts.

Let’s not waste too much time here, since Lou Williams is the only candidate who has a Drake song called “6 Man” written about him. By default, that makes him the only Sixth Man of the Year candidate that matters.

Most Improved Player of the Year: Victor Oladipo

Final ballot:

1. Victor Oladipo (Indiana Pacers)
2. Julius Randle (Los Angeles Lakers)
3. Spencer Dinwiddie (Brooklyn Nets)

The Most Improved Player of the Year Award can be hard to peg. Is it for a player who improves his scoring average the most, an on-the-rise player who becomes a star, or just someone who has the most memorable breakout year? Do second-year players qualify? What about someone who barely played the year before and simply became a solid rotation player?

The answer lies somewhere in between, but even with an award title that’s wide open to interpretation, Victor Oladipo made the conversation simple in 2017-18.

You could make a case for a multitude of players. Clint Capela‘s importance to an unstoppable Rockets team can’t be understated and extends far beyond the minuscule leap in his individual numbers. The same goes for Steven Adams, albeit with worse numbers on a worse team.

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Nikola Jokic leapt from good to great numbers, as did Tobias Harris. Devin Booker posted an elite stat line and (for those who could tolerate watching the Phoenix Suns) made the leap from promising young player to certifiable franchise star, but his lack of team success will keep his name far from the MIP ballot.

We could go on and on, but the most likely candidates (after Oladipo) seem to boil down to Julius Randle and Spencer Dinwiddie. The Brooklyn Nets guard was perhaps the best story of their season, averaging 12.6 points, 6.6 assists and 3.2 rebounds per game, bringing stability to a banged up backcourt and taking home the Skills Challenge trophy at All-Star Weekend.

Randle, meanwhile, proved his value to the Los Angeles Lakers ahead of his restricted free agency, posting 16.1 points, 8.0 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game on 55.8 percent shooting while playing in all 82 games. His numbers may not have improved much year-over-year, but considering how much more firepower the Lakers had to work with this year, he drastically stepped up his game.

However, any name atop the MIP ballot that isn’t “Victor Oladipo” should be stricken from the record and burned at the stake. It’s not just about the narrative of the Paul George trade and escaping the shadow of Russell Westbrook; it’s about a former No. 2 overall pick coming back home to Indiana and finally proving his worth as “the guy” for a legitimate playoff team.

The Pacers were supposed to be an Eastern bottom-feeder; Oladipo led them to an astonishing 48 wins and the 5-seed. Oladipo was supposed to be a second fiddle; instead, he established himself as a go-to scorer and clutch shot-maker on one end while clamping down defensively to put himself in the running for an All-Defensive Team selection.

Oladipo also drastically improved from last year from an individual standpoint, earning his first All-Star selection behind career numbers that should also earn him an All-NBA spot:

• 2016-17: 15.9 PPG, 4.3 RPG, 2.6 APG, 1.2 SPG, 44.2 FG%, 36.1 3P%, 13.6 PER
• 2017-18: 23.1 PPG, 5.2 RPG, 4.3 APG, 2.4 SPG, 47.7 FG%, 37.1 3P%, 21.3 PER

Not only did Oladipo lead the league in steals, but he also posted career highs in scoring, rebounds, assists, steals, field goal percentage, 3-point percentage and Player Efficiency Rating. He became the two-way star most envisioned when he was first drafted, and the Pacers saw a whopping 13.7 decrease in Net Rating whenever he sat.

Throw in all the Indiana homecoming/Paul George trade/Pacers exceeding expectations/former No. 2 overall pick living up to the pre-draft hype storylines and this one is a landslide.

Defensive Player of the Year: Rudy Gobert

Final ballot:

1. Rudy Gobert (Utah Jazz)
2. Joel Embiid (Philadelphia 76ers)
3. Al Horford (Boston Cetlics)

With the Golden State Warriors’ defense barely squeezing into the top 10, reigning Defensive Player of the Year Draymond Green (and early dark horse Kevin Durant) are pretty much taken out of the running. Ditto for Anthony Davis, the league’s leading shot-blocker and anchor for the NBA’s 13th-best defense.

However, the main big man for the Jazz, Sixers and Celtics each has a case for Defensive Player of the Year, especially since they play for the NBA’s three stingiest defenses.

Boston was the league’s best defense this season, and Al Horford’s versatility is at the heart of it all. However the Celtics still posted a defensive rating of 102.1 whenever he sat, compared to 101.1 with him on the floor. In other words, their league-best defense still survived without him thanks to guys like Marcus Smart and Jaylen Brown.

That leaves us with Joel Embiid and Rudy Gobert, the defensive linchpins for their respective squads. Embiid averaged 11.0 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game this season, and the Sixers’ third-ranked defense was 4.3 points per 100 possessions stingier with him on the floor.

However, even that stark contrast pales in comparison to Gobert, who was Utah’s defense this season. The Jazz posted a 105.0 defensive rating whenever the Stifle Tower sat, which would’ve ranked 12th over the course of the entire season. That number shriveled up to a smothering 97.7 defensive rating that would’ve led the league when he was on the court, representing a difference of 7.3 points per 100 possessions.

Gobert only played 56 games this season, but his defensive impact was that profound for the NBA’s second-best defense. In the 15-game stretch (technically 16, since he only played two minutes in the Dec. 15 game against Boston where he got hurt) he missed in December and January, the Jazz’s defensive rating was a disastrous 110.6, ranking 27th in the association. Utah went 4-12 in that span.

Per Basketball-Reference, French Rejection ranked third in blocks, 11th in rebounding, second in defensive rating and second in Defensive Box Plus-Minus this year. Seeing as how Embiid only played 63 games and wasn’t quite as elite as the guy averaging 10.7 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game, Gobert gets a well-deserved first DPOY trophy.

Most Valuable Player: James Harden

Final ballot:

1. James Harden (Houston Rockets)
2. LeBron James (Cleveland Cavaliers)
3. Anthony Davis (New Orleans Pelicans)
4. Damian Lillard (Portland Trail Blazers)
5. Giannis Antetokounmpo (Milwaukee Bucks)

The MVP field is pretty stacked this year. Aside from our top five above, you could make a case for the following fringe candidates:

• LaMarcus Aldridge: Carried a lackluster Spurs team to 47 wins in the West with Kawhi Leonard playing only nine games while averaging 23.1 points, 8.5 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game on 51 percent shooting.
• Victor Oladipo: Was the best two-way player on a surprising Pacers squad that won 48 games, totally fell apart whenever he was sat and earned the 5-seed in the East behind his 23.1 points, 5.2 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game.
• Russell Westbrook: Averaged a triple-double for a second straight season, posting 25.4 points, 10.3 assists and 10.1 rebounds per game for a 47-win Oklahoma City Thunder team.
• DeMar DeRozan: Led the Toronto Raptors to 59 wins and the 1-seed in the East in a franchise-best year, averaging 23.0 points, 5.2 assists and 3.9 rebounds per game and shooting a more respectable 31 percent from deep.
• Stephen Curry/Jimmy Butler/Joel Embiid/Kyrie Irving/Kevin Durant: Posted elite numbers for winning teams, but have to be taken out of the conversation for missing too many games.

Factoring in missed games, team success and the fact that there were simply five players who were a cut above the rest, we can narrow the MVP field down to James Harden, LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Damian Lillard and Giannis Antetokounmpo.

No one was more on board with an M-V-Greek campaign that yours truly heading into the season, but his numbers fell off from the early, eye-popping levels as the year went on, and the Milwaukee Bucks finished with only the 7-seed and 44 wins — a mere increase of two wins from last year.

Unless you average absolutely gargantuan numbers (read: a triple-double), that’s not enough to get you MVP without team success, even with averages of 26.9 points, 10.0 rebounds, 4.8 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.4 blocks per game on 52.9 percent shooting.

Lillard was incendiary in his typical post-All-Star break revenge tour, leading the Portland Trail Blazers to 49 wins and the 3-seed in the West. From February on, he scorched opponents with 29.4 points, 6.7 assists and 4.1 rebounds per game.

Dame averaged 26.9 points, 6.6 assists and 4.5 boards per game on the season, but his first few months weren’t MVP-caliber, and even that second-half surge to claim the 3-seed doesn’t overshadow good-but-not-great shooting splits. Dame deserves First Team All-NBA, but not MVP.

Anthony Davis has narrative on his side, picking up a demoralized New Orleans Pelicans team like Atlas after DeMarcus Cousins went down for the season, averaging a stat line that screams “Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds” in the process: 30.2 points, 11.9 rebounds, 3.2 blocks, 2.2 assists and 2.1 steals per game on .514/.337/.835 shooting splits.

The Pellies went 21-12 in that span, securing their first playoff berth since 2015.

On the year, AD averaged 28.1 points (second in the NBA), 11.1 rebounds (seventh), 2.6 blocks (first), 2.3 assists and 1.5 steals per game, reminding everyone the Unicorn conversation starts and ends with him. Unfortunately, finishing sixth in the conference standings limits the Brow’s case.

Then there’s good ol’ LeBron James, who is having one of the finest seasons of his legendary career in Year 15. Aside from the nightly, baffling highlight plays and posterizing dunks, King James is posting a gargantuan 27.5 points (third in the NBA), 9.1 assists (second) and 8.6 rebounds per game (20th) on .542/.367/.731 shooting splits.

He played 82 games for the first time in his career at age 33, is posting career highs in assists and rebounds, and has carried a Cleveland Cavaliers team burdened with an inconsistent, injured and constantly shifting supporting cast.

However, LeBron’s poor defense has descended well past the levels of even Damian Lillard and James Harden. In fact, it’s been the gasoline fueling Cleveland’s dumpster fire of a defense, which ranks 29th in the association. In fact, all the way up until March, the Cavs were actually a net negative with him on the floor.

Cleveland’s offense has become all-powerful with Kevin Love back, and his absence clearly held this team back from its fullest potential this year. However, people marveling at the King’s royal finish to the season must have forgetten how bad this team looked through its first half, which prompted that dramatic roster overhaul at the trade deadline.

LeBron almost always deserves MVP consideration, and not just for the crowd believing this award should honor the league’s consensus best player rather than reward whoever has the best season. But that’s not what the award is about, and James has not had the best season in the NBA this year.

The Cavs lack the team success as the No. 4 team in the East. Even with a 50-win season, don’t forget that before Russell Westbrook’s unforgettable triple-double season, no MVP winner had played for a team seeded outside the top-three in his respective conference since Moses Malone in 1982. That alone isn’t the determining factor, but it’s about damn time James Harden gets his due.

This isn’t about the Beard being “snubbed” twice as the MVP; in fact, I would’ve voted for Stephen Curry in 2015 and I waffled back and forth between Harden and Russell Westbrook in 2017. No, this is about acknowledging that Harden has had all the essential elements to an MVP campaign this year.

In the best season of his career, Harden led the league in scoring with a career-high 30.4 points per game. He finished fourth in the league with 8.8 assists per game, which is even more impressive when you remember he plays alongside one of the NBA’s all-time great point guards in Chris Paul.

As if this weren’t enough, he peppered in 5.4 rebounds and 1.8 steals per game, leading the Rockets in the latter. He posted efficient .449/.367/.858 shooting splits, which become even deadlier when you consider he led the league in made and attempted 3-pointers, as well as made and attempted free throws. Simply put, he was the NBA’s most unstoppable offensive weapon.

His step-back 3-pointers and ability to bend defenses to his will by zipping passes all over the court to open shooters has made him more dangerous than Steve Nash in his prime. He’s a walking cheat code who also just so happened to lead the NBA in Player Efficiency Rating, usage percentage, win shares and Box Plus-Minus.

He ranked ahead of LeBron James in assist percentage too, with Value Over Replacement Player being one of the only advanced stats where the King holds the edge. As if that weren’t enough, and even if we ignore Harden’s four triple-doubles and league-high 11 40-point games, he also had more memorable games — and moments — than anyone this season.

Remember back in November when he dropped 48 points on the poor Suns (including 33 in the first half) as the Rockets exploded for 90 first half points? Maybe not. Or how about when he tied his career-high with 17 assists in a narrow win over the Pelicans in December? Yeah, probably not.

What about a 35-13-11 triple-double in a big November win over the Cavaliers? That’s probably too far back. We could recall a 56-point detonation on the Jazz back in early November? Still too far back. Back-to-back 51-point games against the Lakers and Clippers in mid-December? Maybe that rings a bell, but it’s still probably too far back.

If you’re looking for the most historic game of the 2017-18 NBA season though, his 60-point triple-double is a good place to start.

With a career-high and season league-high 60 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds, Harden not only became the first player in NBA history with a 60-point triple-double, but he also broke the Rockets’ single-game scoring record once held by Calvin Murphy‘s 57-point game.

This marked the ninth time Harden topped 50 points in his career, and even better, his team got the win.

Still not satisfied? We could also mention the time he buried Portland’s 13-game win streak in late March with 42 points and a pair of backbreaking 3-pointers late in the game while playing on the road. The point is, take a look at any given month this season and Harden had at least 2-3 games that would serve as most other players’ signature performance.

The highlight plays are too many to list, but no one will ever forget what he did to poor Wesley Johnson in perhaps the most memorable play of the 2017-18 season…or how he LICKED HIS LIPS BEFORE HE FINISHED THE JOB.

Throw in the Rockets’ league best record, league-best point differential and top-five offense in NBA history, not to mention Harden’s vastly improved defense and the way he’s seamlessly meshed with CP3, plus the fact that he’s already finished second in MVP voting twice? This really shouldn’t be close.

Next: The 50 greatest NBA players of all time (updated, 2016-17)

Give the Beard his due, because it’s finally time that man added an Maurice Podoloff Trophy to his mantle.