NBA mid season

Well, just like that we’re over halfway in the NBA and teams are gearing to continue to push for playoffs or to “embrace the tank”. Clearly some teams are already there (I’m looking at you Atlanta!) but with yesterday’s events, it appears that others are about embark on the journey towards the Trae Young/Marvin Bagley III sweepstakes.

 

But before we get into that, lets have get to the key talking points of the season so far:

Rookie of the Year

Really, I think this is a two, possibly three, horse race. For mine, Ben Simmons (16.6 pts, 7.9 rebs and 7.3 assist per game) has this locked in. On team improvement alone (8th in the East, 24-23), he has a solid case but voters may argue that the presence of Joel contributes here. Either way, I think this is Ben’s award to lose. 

The other horses in the race are Jayson Tatum, and at a stretch, Donovan Mitchell. JT has hit a little wall lately, but his performances coupled with his professionalism and poise on the court have him looking more like a vet than a rook. He’s been very impressive. Donovan similarly has performed at a high level and is easily one of the better scoring PG’s in the league. With Utah having to deal with chunks of time without Gobert, and no other consistent offensive threats, this is looking like becoming Donovan’s team. 

Now some might argue for Dennis Smith Jr. or Kyle Kuzma, but I think wins’ count. Whilst both Dallas and the Lakers are towards the bottom of the standings, I can’t see either overtaking the top 3.

 

MVP

Until the last two weeks when it appears that Cleveland have been trending towards becoming the worst team in the league (29th in defensive efficiency, really?!?! *Nick Young surprised face*) this award was all LeBron’s. 

Now I think James Harden is back in the conversation for sure. Westbrook is also continuing to play at a high level, and OKC have found a rhythm. Then there are still KD and Steph who are pacing the league with the Warriors. 

This award is wide open. But I do think that if the Cavs can get back on track, Lebron will take it home.

 

DPOY

Paul George. It’s not even close. Plenty are saying Al Horford, but Bostons team defence allows him to be effective. Joel Embiid torched him. But what PG13 has been able to do for OKC’s defence has been amazing. He has shifted his focus from being a dominant scorer, to being the perfect complement to  

 

Most Improved

Has to be Oladipo. From trade chip to All-star. Case closed

 

6th man

I would have said Lou Williams until today. Now I think he’ll be a starter and will be running the team I think so I’m not sure he’ll be eligible come May. We’ll see. Pencil him in.

 

Coach of the Year

For me – Brad Stevens. Losing Gordon Hayward within 5 minutes of the first game of the season could have derailed Boston. It hasn’t. Not even a little bit. They’re leading the East and are getting super solid contributions from Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum. 

And now the rest…

Well we had our first blockbuster trade with Blake Griffin (and Showtime Willie Reed) going to Detroit for Tobias Harris, Boban and Avery Bradley. Sure, there were other pieces but those are the most recognizable names.  The first thing that sticks out to me is that Blake with Andre Drummond isn’t too dissimilar to Blake and Deandre, it’s now just Lob City Lite. Andre isn’t quite the athlete that DJ is, but he is a better scorer and arguably a better rebounder as well. But will Andre be as productive now that Blake will be another, or the most likely, primary option? Blake likely just became the best PF in the East. His only real challenger to that is Kevin Love I suppose. Certainly, different from having to go up against the talent in the West night in and night out. 

But conversely Avery Bradley is going West which will be a significant change for him. Bradley has become known as a good defender in his career to this point. This reputation has developed in the East though, where he has come up against an aging Dwyane Wade, and a smaller pool of elite level guards. In the west, he’ll be guarding the Warriors back court more often, the Rockets backcourt more often, the Westbrooks, McCollums, Butlers and others for most his games. We’re going to find out if he is a good defender for real or if the East inflated this perception. 

Perception is that Detroit won the trade via virtue of getting the best player in the deal. But Blakes injury history, plus the size of the contract put some red flags on this one for me.

 

Boogie Cousins is the other big ticket item for me. An Achilles injury for a big man is tough to recover from. But for the rest of the season, the Pelicans now become a 1-man show. AD is really going to have to  work hard to keep the Pels in the running for the playoffs. 

As for next year, the injury really limits Cousins’ options. It’s likely that he will stay with New Orleans now. But as we saw with Kobe, an Achilles injury does impact. I know that Kobe was a lot further on in his career, but it’s still a significant injury. And when you consider that bigsusually suffer with leg ailments later in their careers anyway, this is not a good sign for Boogie.