2019 NBA Awards Talk by Our Writers
- Various Authors
- Apr 12, 2019
- 5 min read
with the 2018-19 NBA regular season in the books our authors got together to give our picks for each of the various NBA regular season awards. Some things to keep in mind are that Jonathan and Dillon are MASSIVE Rockets fans and Jordan loves the Mavs almost as much as he loves his wife. We sat down to discuss who should win each of the awards from Coach of the Year to Most Valuable Player.
Coach of the Year:
Jonathan Ennis:
With usual perennial candidates like Greg Popovic, Brad Stephens and Mike D'Antoni all experiencing down years this season this turned into a two man race between Mike Malone and Mike Budenholzer. Good shout outs need to be given to Doc Rivers, Kenny Atkinson and Dave Joerger for incredibly over performing (the Kings proved even more ineptitude by firing Joerger as soon as the season ended. I would say that I'll give the award to Bud because I honestly just see the improvements the Bucks made this season as system related instead of some massive leap by their existing roster.
Dillon Ham:
Mike Malone; It’s close between him and Bud but to go from a lotto team to the 2 seed is an insane turn around. I don’t think they are legit contenders but it’s been amazing to watch the turn around this season.
Jordan Ennis:
Coach of the year is definitely Mike Budenholzer. It’s not even close, Doc Rivers gave a fantastic run and proved he’s still an elite coach but Budenholzer really transformed all of Milwaukee into an elite defense and offense around an MVP candidate.
Rookie of the Year:
Jordan Ennis:
Rookie of the Year is Luka Doncic, honestly it’s not close Tre Young didn’t do it for the whole year and even then Luka did more things, that’s not saying Tre Young isn’t good, in fact most years in history he’s ROY. The fact that Ayton could put up his numbers and not be ROY just points out how fantastic this class has been. Let’s also point out Marvin Bagley III who overcame a slow start and Jaren Jackson Jr who unfortunately had his season end early. This rookie class is amazing and at the top is Luka Doncic.
Dillon Ham:
Luka Doncic
This is closer than anyone though it would be when the calendar turned 2019. In fact I’d give it to Trae Young post January 1st, but it’s a full season award so Doncic is the clear pick
Jonathan Ennis:
Look Trae made a massive late run and actually made this close. Honestly, we have five guys this year that could become multi time all stars. Shout outs to Deandre Ayton, Marvin Bagley III, and Jaren Jackson Jr. for all proving their haters wrong. However, this became a two horse race at the end and thanks to an early lead Luka pulls it out.
Most Improved Player:
Dillon Ham:
Pascal Siakam
Siakam wins this in a run away. He gives the Raptors hope when Kawhi bolts this off season. He’s also the “x” factor in a finals run for them.
Jonathan Ennis:
This is really again a one way race. Quick obligatory props to D'Angelo Russell for jumping into an all star form but we all kind of expected this from him. Pascal Siakam has been on a meteoric rise since he left New Mexico State. for much of his career we've thought of him as a "Kenneth Faried-esque energy guy" but this year he's become a playmaker and legitimately is Toronto's second best player even when they have Kyle Lowry on the roster.
Jordan Ennis:
Most Improved is by far the hardest category because of how loosely defined it is. That being said it’s definitely Paskal Siakam, it’s not just a case of him getting more minuets he’s a legitimate player and maybe the 2nd best player on a title contender.
Sixth Man of the Year:
Jordan Ennis:
sixth man is almost assuredly going to Lou Williams because of the raw scoring numbers. I wanna shout out to Domnatas Sabonis for his amazing bench play. However, I’m actually giving my non official vote to Williams’ teammate Montrezl Harrell, his 2 way play makes him stand out incredibly.
Jonathan Ennis:
Lou Will is out here balling like he wants us to change the awards name to the "Lou Williams award for people who really should be starting guys, come on." Lou is a fantastic team mate for the past four years people have just raved about him wether it was with the Lakers, Rockets or now with the Clips. He's made legitimate runs at All-Star births the last two years while being hands down the only option to win this award.
Dillon Ham:
There are not very many guys who play the 6th man role while also being a teams best player, especially not a playoff team. Williams has been great as a starter who comes off the bench. This award should be the easiest of them all.
Defensive Player of the Year:
Dillon Ham:
Paul George, PG is a lock down defender who does it all. He might be the most underrated defensive player in the league. He leads his team in scoring while also playing elite D on the other teams best player. His plus/minus numbers say it all.
Jonathan Ennis:
If Paul George hadn't gotten hurt and his defense stalled so much it actually dropped the Thunder out of title contention in most peoples minds he would have been the runaway here. Shout outs to Myles Turner for being great in limited minutes and Rudy Gobert for being really good too but in my mind the winner is Giannis Antetokounmpo. The Bucks have the best defense in the league and it's mostly due to how disruptive he is.
Jordan Ennis:
DPOY has got to be Rudy Gobert. Watch one game and tell me I’m wrong. I’m not even going to entertain other options.
Most Valuable Player:
Jordan Ennis:
MVP is a toss up between James Harden and Giannis A.....allthealphabet so many of the arguments are going to be based on not liking how harden plays but let’s be honest. Harden is amazingly good at what he does. The argument for “Giannis has more wins” is like saying Robert Horry was a better Power Forward than Tim Duncan because he had 7 rings compared to Timmy’s 5
Jonathan Ennis: I've already written a whole story on why it feels difficult. I'm giving Harden the edge by a beard hair over Giannis but no one else should even be within 10 miles of a first place vote.
Dillon Ham:
How is this even a debate? Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant are the standard at SG. Both of them are unanimously thought of as the top 2 SGs of all time. They were unguardable scorers and two guys you wanted with the ball to play iso. Well, Harden just out performed both of them. No one has ever won as much as Harden playing the level of isolation that Harden has this year. His 40% usage rate is insanely high and yet the team won 53 games. There is not a player in the league who holds more “value” this season than Harden. 36/7/6/2 and 53 wins. If he loses the MVP race it’s a travesty. The only argument Giannis has is best player on best team, if that’s really the standard, then let’s give the award to Kevin Durant or Steph Curry. This award should be unanimous.
What do you think? Did we get them right or wrong? Who had the craziest take? did we miss someone who deserves some recognition? Go ahead and feel free to check out our other sports stories at ofsportsandmoresports.com.
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