Early Leaders for NBA Awards
Last season, the Atlanta Hawks went into the All-Star break with a 43-11 record. They were the top team in the Eastern Conference by 6.5 games. (The Raptors were 36-17.)
So what?
Well, the Hawks had four guys make the All-Star team.
The relevance? This season, the Golden State Warriors are miles ahead of the other NBA teams by any calculation. They're 15-0, their average margin of victory is 14.4, they've won 10 games by 10 or more points and one by 50, all according to Basketball-Reference.com.
Because of their dominance, these early-season awards are peppered with the young men from East Bay. Get used to that royal blue and golden yellow.
Most Improved Player: Andre Drummond
1 of 6
A lot of voters don't love this award. It's often too subjective. For instance, last season's winner, Chicago's Jimmy Butler, showed marked improvement. He went from being a very good defensive 2-guard to the outskirts of the MVP conversation. His numbers improved dramatically, mostly due to his increase in minutes (he led the league in minutes per game) and usage rate (no Derrick Rose for most of the season).
Golden State's Draymond Green, another top candidate from last season, had a similar jump in production partly due to surroundings and minutes increase.
However, my pick for last season's MIP, New Orleans' Anthony Davis, went from a top young talent to an MVP front-runner. But Davis never really had a shot at winning the award.
Why?
Perception. Davis is a former No. 1 pick who, according to ESPN Insider's Chad Ford (and other projection specialists) is supposed to mature into this all-world stud. Butler and Green? They were afterthoughts at the NBA draft.
That's why I'm giving this season's MIP to a former lottery pick. Detroit's Andre Drummond is averaging 18.1 points and 17.6 boards, per Basketball-Reference.com. The last guy to average that many rebounds? Dennis Rodman. Drummond is 22, he's already showing a little post-up game and the Pistons are in the thick of the Eastern Conference playoff picture.
6th Man of the Year: Andre Iguodala
2 of 6
From Andre to Andre. This award never goes to defense-first guys. It's almost exclusively given to me-first bench scorers who carry the second unit for a few minutes while the stars rest. Golden State's Andre Iguodala is on pace to buck that trend.
Right now, he's leading the league in offensive rating, he's averaging 9.3 points, 4.3 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 1.5 steals per game and he's shooting a career high 53 percent from the floor, per Basketball-Reference.com.
He's also part of a Warriors crunch-time five-man unit that has outscored opponents by more than 68 points per 100 possessions.
Rookie of the Year: Karl-Anthony Towns
3 of 6
I really, really, really wanted to give this to the New York Knicks' Kristaps Porzingis, but Minnesota's Karl-Anthony Towns is just better. Right now, per ESPN.com, he ranks first among rookies in estimated wins added, value added and offensive rebounding rate, second in PER and third in minutes per game.
Towns plays like a veteran. He can score from anywhere inside the three-point line. Check out his shot chart, courtesy of statmuse.com. He's above league average from all over the court. Those numbers will only improve. He's also posting a defensive rating of 97, according to Basketball-Reference.com. The Timberwolves' team defensive rating last season was 112.2, the worst such rating in the league.
All that said, Porzingis is a monster. If he keeps improving, we could be in for an incredible Rookie of the Year race.
.jpg?w=256)
Coach of the Year: Luke Walton (Steve Kerr)
4 of 6
So technically, Luke Walton's record as Golden State's head coach is 0-0. Steve Kerr's regular-season record is 82-15. I'm still giving Walton the hardware. Though his team is clearly more talented than its opponents, it remains a difficult task to win a single NBA game. To do that 15 times in a row, especially at the outset of a coaching career, is nearly impossible.
The case against Walton? It's the case that hurt Kerr in last season's voting. In the NBA, talent prevails. A lot of people believe that anybody could coach this Warriors team. But every team, at some point in the game, needs guidance: a guy to tell everybody to relax and just keep focused. Walton has done that.
One amazing thing about this start is that the Warriors players aren't even overexerting themselves. Steph Curry is the only Warrior over 34 minutes per game, and eight guys are playing 19 or more minutes per game, per Basketball-Reference.com. Walton has this team rested, focused, steady and confident. And once the talent is in place, that's all a coach needs to do during the regular season.
Defensive Player of the Year: Hassan Whiteside
5 of 6
The Miami Heat's Hassan Whiteside is a beast! He's averaging 4.8 blocks per game; that's two blocks more than anyone else. His defensive rating is 85.7, a full six points per 100 possessions lower than anyone else's. He also leads the league in defensive win shares.
Utah's Rudy Gobert was the hot preseason pick for DPOY, and San Antonio's Kawhi Leonard and the Warriors' Draymond Green continue to thrive as versatile bigs who can switch onto anybody and take it from them. But right now, it's Whiteside and everyone else.
MVP: Steph Curry
6 of 6
Oklahoma City's Russell Westbrook is surprisingly close in most of the major statistical categories. But come on. Steph Curry of Golden State is the best player in the league right now. Per statmuse.com, he's made 74 three-pointers this season. Portland's Damian Lillard is second—with 45. His shot chart can't even fit one of the best buckets of the season.
Right now, per Basketball-Reference.com, Curry leads the league in points, PER, true shooting percentage and offensive win shares. He's also second in steals, third in free-throw percentage and, the craziest stat of all, fifth in defensive win shares.
I'm 27. I've been watching basketball since I was about five years old, and I can confidently say I've never enjoyed watching anyone as much as I like watching Curry this season. When he shoots, no matter where he is on the court or who is nearby, I expect it to be a swish. I'm borderline disappointed when he rattles one in.
We are in the heart of a basketball renaissance. The league has a deep talent pool, massive revenue, a crapload of marketable players and no real "bad" guys and a 6'3" baby-faced skinny guy who loves Frozen, makes the fifth-most money on his own team and is the best player in the world.
Oh yeah, it's been at least two slides since I mentioned that the Warriors are 15-0 and killing teams.
.jpg?w=480)
.jpg?w=480)
