LeBron, Giannis, Ja Morant, Top Award Candidates After NBA Announces Restart

The NBA has announced the 2019-20 season will restart July 31, beginning with eight games to wrap up the regular season and determine playoff seeding for the 22 teams that will relocate to Orlando, Florida. 

Since basketball's return is imminent, let's look at where things stood in the awards races when play was suspended because of the coronavirus pandemic March 11. 

Even though eight games don't constitute a significant sample size, that could be enough to change one or two of the close award votes. 

Here's a look at the top contenders for each of the NBA's individual awards.

Most Valuable Player: Giannis Antetokounmpo, F, Milwaukee Bucks; LeBron James, F, Los Angeles Lakers; James Harden, G, Houston Rockets

Even though the NBA has named three MVP finalists since it adopted the NBA Awards show in 2017, this year's race will come down to Giannis Antetokounmpo against LeBron James. 

Antetokounmpo is looking to become the 12th player in league history to be named MVP in consecutive seasons.

The Milwaukee Bucks superstar has been in the driver's seat since the first day of the regular season. He ranks third in scoring average (29.6 points per game) and rebounds (13.7 per game), and averages 5.8 assists per contest for a Bucks squad that owns the NBA's best record (53-12). 

Antetokounmpo's 31.63 player efficiency rating is on pace to be the seventh-highest single-season mark in NBA history. 

James was closing on Antetokounmpo when the season was suspended, though. The 16-time All-Star is averaging a career-high and NBA-best 10.6 assists per game, along with 25.7 points and 7.9 rebounds per contest. 

The crown jewel of James' resume was his two-game performance on March 6 against the Bucks and March 8 against the Los Angeles Clippers. He put up a combined 65 points on 19-of-38 shooting, 16 rebounds, 17 assists and three steals in two Lakers victories. 

James could have taken control of the MVP race if play hadn't been suspended, because Antetokounmpo was going to miss at least two games with a knee injury. 

A fully healthy Antetokounmpo is still the likely favorite for MVP, but James has a chance to surpass him if he continues to ascend and the Lakers (49-14) can catch Milwaukee in the overall standings. 

Rookie of the Year: Ja Morant, G, Memphis Grizzlies; Zion Williamson, F, New Orleans Pelicans; Kendrick Nunn, G, Miami Heat

The Rookie of the Year race was likely over even if the season had continued as normal, but Ja Morant has it wrapped up in this new scenario.

Zion Williamson has lived up to the hype as the No. 1 overall pick for the New Orleans Pelicans. The 19-year-old has averaged 23.6 points, 6.8 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game with a 58.9 shooting percentage since debuting Jan. 22. 

Therein lies the problem with Williamson's candidacy. He can only play a maximum of 27 games this season, assuming he appears in each of New Orleans' final eight contests when play resumes. 

Even if Morant doesn't suit up for the Memphis Grizzlies when they return, he'll still finish the year with 32 more games played than Williamson. The Murray State alum has led the Grizzlies to the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference by averaging 17.6 points and 6.9 assists per contest, while shooting 49.1 percent overall and 36.7 percent from three.

Most Improved Player: Bam Adebayo, F, Miami Heat; Brandon Ingram, F, New Orleans Pelicans; Luka Doncic, G, Dallas Mavericks; Jayson Tatum, F, Boston Celtics

The most exciting race could be for Most Improved Player, with four candidates who would have a strong case for the award in any year. 

If voters look at individual performance and team success, Luka Doncic and Jayson Tatum are likely the top contenders.

Doncic has improved across the board after his 2018-19 Rookie of the Year campaign. He ranks in the top 10 this season in scoring average (28.7 points per game), assists (8.7) and ranks 19th in rebounds (9.3) for a Dallas Mavericks team that already has seven more wins (40) than they did all last season. 

Tatum has ascended to superstardom since the Feb. 16 All-Star Game. The 22-year-old put up 29.9 points, 7.9 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.6 steals with a 46.8 three-point percentage in nine games coming out of the break. 

The Boston Celtics are the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference with a 43-21 record. Tatum has become the face of the franchise and looks like the player everyone expected him to become after his rookie season. 

Bam Adebayo has been instrumental in the Miami Heat's climb to the top of the Southwest Division. He's not as versatile as Tatum or Doncic but is one of 11 players averaging a double-double this season (16.2 points, 10.5 rebounds per game). 

Brandon Ingram has been a scoring machine for a Pelicans team that looks poised to take off next season as long as Williamson remains healthy. The 22-year-old leads New Orleans with 24.3 points per game and is shooting a career-high 38.7 percent from three. 

Defensive Player of the Year: Anthony Davis, F, Los Angeles Lakers; Giannis Antetokounmpo, F, Milwaukee Bucks; Ben Simmons, G, Philadelphia 76ers

Based on versatility, Ben Simmons has a tremendous case for Defensive Player of the Year. 

Per Krishna Narsu of Nylon Calculus and Andrew Patton of The BBall Index, their defensive metrics show Simmons has defended every position other than center at least 15 percent of the time he's been on the floor. 

Traditional metrics show Simmons has been a disruptive force. He leads the NBA with 2.1 steals per game and was limiting his opponents to a 41.3 field-goal percentage. 

Anthony Davis has been instrumental in the Lakers' having the third-best defense by points allowed (106.9) and efficiency (105.6). He averages 2.4 blocks and 1.5 steals per game, puts his body on the line with an NBA-high 105 loose balls recovered. 

Opponents only shoot 38.5 percent overall when Davis is guarding them, the second-lowest mark in the league. 

The only player ahead of Davis on that list is Antetokounmpo (36.1 percent). The 25-year-old could join Michael Jordan (1987-88) and Hakeem Olajuwon (1993-94) as the only players in NBA history to win MVP and Defensive Player of the Year in the same season.  

Sixth Man of the Year: Dennis Schroder, G, Oklahoma City Thunder; Montrezl Harrell, C, Los Angeles Clippers; Derrick Rose, G, Detroit Pistons

Sixth Man of the Year usually goes to the best bench scorer. Lou Williams has won the award three times because he represents instant offense for Los Angeles Clippers head coach Doc Rivers. 

Williams has seen his scoring drop to 18.7 points per game this season after averaging at least 20 points in each of the past two seasons. That is likely a function of the Clippers roster, with Kawhi Leonard and Paul George taking some of the opportunities that had been earmarked for him. 

Montrezl Harrell likely has a stronger case as Sixth Man of the Year among Clippers players. He's averaging career highs in scoring (18.6 per game), rebounding (7.1) and is a disruptive force on defense with 30 charges drawn. 

One reason the Oklahoma City Thunder have been so good this season is Dennis Schroder. The 26-year-old ranks second on the team with 4.1 assists per game and three-point percentage (38.1) and third with 19 points. 

Derrick Rose could be hurt because his season is over, as the Detroit Pistons aren't among the 22 teams heading to Orlando. He had a very good year with 18.1 points and 5.6 assists in 50 games, but he won't be able to do anything to improve his standing. 

Coach of the Year: Nick Nurse, Toronto Raptors; Mike Budenholzer, Milwaukee Bucks; Taylor Jenkins, Memphis Grizzlies

The basic formula to win Coach of the Year is simply to exceed the preseason expectations put on your team by the media.

While that could lead to a case for Frank Vogel with the Lakers, Rick Carlisle with the Mavs and Billy Donovan with the Thunder, the three likely finalists for the award seem set in stone. 

Despite coming off an NBA championship last season, Nick Nurse had the difficult task of leading a Toronto Raptors team that lost Leonard in free agency. They haven't skipped a beat, leading the Atlantic Division with a 46-18 record. 

Mike Budenholzer, who won the award last year, has taken a Bucks team that had the league's best record in 2018-19 (60-22) and made them even better through 65 games this season. 

Taylor Jenkins can't match the win-loss record of the other top candidates, as the Grizzlies are just 32-33 heading into the restart. Where he stands out, though, is taking a roster led by a rookie point guard (Morant), rookie power forward (Brandon Clarke) and second-year center (Jaren Jackson Jr.) and having it sit in the No. 8 spot in the Western Conference.