2018–19 NBA Awards Ballot

Well, that was the quickest regular season in history, wasn’t it? How is it already playoff time?

As we complete another chapter in the NBA’s book of history, this is always the toughest part of mid-April.

Determining the award winners.

Sigh.

Not that it isn’t a fun process — it’s exciting! — but it can be grueling and really make your hands sweaty. These are more difficult choices than the average fan can imagine. A few of these selections are tied to contract incentives for players on the bubble of “supermax” eligibility.

That doesn’t seem wise for the league. Putting literally $30 million of possible bonus compensation in the hands of media members is … an interesting choice. But, as Brian Windhorst eloquently stated this week: It’s better than any alternative. Letting the players decide has always led to odd votes since not all of them take it super seriously. Allowing any fan in the world to vote in a poll-based system is by far the worst method — you can’t fully trust that fans have watched enough of the regular season action, or they won’t just choose their “favorite” players.

So, the media is really the best option here.

Okay, I’ll stop rambling. It’s time to pick the winners.

I’m going through all 14 major awards, starting with the one that draws the most intrigue and leads to all of the unnecessary vitriol.

Most Valuable Player

Here goes nothing …

(* = per 36 minutes)

RPM = Real Plus-Minus

BPM = Box Plus-Minus

PIPM = Jacob Goldstein’s excellent creation of Player Impact Plus-Minus

This isn’t the best MVP race in recent memory. That took place in 2017 between Russell Westbrook, James Harden, and Kawhi Leonard because nobody knew who would win. Voters just happened to get it wrong, but that’s okay.

What we do have here, though, are the two of the best individual seasons going head-to-head where one player is inevitably going to feel robbed.

Harden has completed the unthinkable. Nobody in NBA history has averaged at least 34 points per game on 61 percent true shooting. The closest we’ve ever seen is Michael Jordan in 1987–88 (35 points on 60.3 percent) and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in 1971–72 (34.8 points on 60.3 percent). MJ’s Bulls went 50–32 that season while Kareem’s Bucks went 63–19. This year, Harden is up to 36.1 points on 61.7 percent true shooting while Houston’s winning percentage, with him active, equates to 55 victories.

Both Jordan and Kareem won the MVP in a landslide during those seasons. Harden is likely to finish second, based on many of the voters already revealing that he isn’t their choice in 2019.

How wild is that? Harden’s season will immediately become the best individual effort that didn’t result in an MVP. He has been more efficient than Kobe Bryant’s 2005–06 rampage. He just didn’t have the type of moments like Bryant’s 81 that resonated with fans, which is crazy to say since Harden put together a streak of games with 30-plus points that we’ve never witnessed before.

So why isn’t Harden the obvious MVP this year?

He has terrible luck. This isn’t the first time Harden will narrowly lose an MVP in a year where someone just comes out of left field to steal it. Stephen Curry had a better résumé in 2014–15 that nobody expected, and then Westbrook had monstrous clutch-time numbers in 2016–17 that stole the spotlight from Harden’s better overall season.

Now, he just happened to go on this historical scoring tear in the midst of Giannis Antetokounmpo doing everything it takes to wow the voters:

A 64-win pace when he plays.

Averages of 30–13–6 per 36 minutes, which has never been accomplished in NBA history. So, Antetokounmpo has his own unmatched benchmarks in the same way Harden does.

Despite the glaring predictability in his offensive game, the Greek Freak converts on 74 percent of his shots at the rim and 64 percent of his shots overall within the perimeter. He has 280 dunks this year, most of which are unassisted. It’s over 120 more than he slammed home last season. A lot of people fall in love with Harden’s step-back three, which is deadly, but fail to remember that easy dunks are the most efficient bucket in the game. Antetokounmpo is destroying opponents in the restricted area to a degree we haven’t seen since Shaquille O’Neal in the early 2000s.

If both are extremely close in offensive value, team success is then factored in. Even with the Rockets starting 11–14 and appearing lifeless, Harden deserves a load of credit and praise for pushing the Rockets back to the West’s third seed. If you would’ve asked me on Dec. 8 where Houston would land in the playoff mix, I would’ve said sixth or seventh. Because of Harden’s heroics, they are 20–4 since the All-Star break with a +11.2 net rating — higher than any team in the league.

Thus, we can’t really hold the team or “wins” argument against Harden any longer. He has made it close enough in that regard.

Nevertheless, there is a tiebreaker for these two. It’s a rather important one.

Defense matters when determining who the most valuable or impactful players are. I’m sorry, it just does. It’s exactly why Leonard should’ve won the 2017 MVP. What hurt him and prevented that from becoming true was the odd situation with his advanced metrics. It appeared to the naked eye that he wasn’t making that much of an impact on defense for the Spurs.

That isn’t the case with Antetokounmpo.

He is, arguably, the best overall defender in the league. Literally any time you combine that with 60 wins and superb, league-leading true shooting or points-per-shot figures … that person deserves to be the MVP.

Antetokounmpo’s net rating (+12.8) doubles Harden’s.

“Yeah, but Harden’s team is horrible without him! Not the same for Giannis!”

Well, not true. Without Harden on the court, the Rockets are +2.6 per 100 possessions. Without Giannis on the court, the Bucks are +3.1.

That’s a really close gap. But where Antetokounmpo separates himself is by making the Bucks an all-time force in terms of point differential when he plays. Harden grinds out tough games in the clutch, no doubt, but Giannis doesn’t need to. That matters.

Defensively, it makes this a wrap. When Antetokounmpo plays, Milwaukee’s defense is pretty much unbreakable. It’s unpenetrable. Of course, Eric Bledsoe and Khris Middleton are excellent defenders too, but there is only one player flying everywhere around the court, switching onto all five positions if he needs to, and rejecting “unguardable” stars at the rim. That’s Giannis.

He’s the best defender — by a country mile — on the number one defense in the league. Because of him, the Bucks are East title favorites for the first time in decades. They were projected to be, at best, third in the East and 50–53 wins. It’s best if we reward the biggest reason why they blew past all of it.

Quick thoughts on the rest of the ballot:

• Curry’s candidacy is super underrated. In any normal year, he would be the MVP. It just so happens the top two decided to rain on the parade. Curry is shooting a slash line of 52.5-43.7-91.6 and nobody blinks an eye. He’s second in Player Impact Plus-Minus because his team sets the court ablaze when he touches the ball. His mid-rangers have been down considerably, but his manipulation of defenders in the pick-and-roll this year has arguably been greater than his 2015–16 performance.
• Jokic serving as the offensive centerpiece for Denver, throwing 70.7 passes per game and 8.5 assists per 36 minutes as a center is marvelous. While the Nuggets didn’t completely shatter my own expectations, he has soared above and beyond what any 24-year-old big man should be doing offensively. Big Honey has earned fourth place on the ballot.
• Durant has barely overtaken Paul George when it comes to having the better season. That’s tough to swallow, but it’s true. He shot 73 percent in the restricted area, 54.8 percent on over 450 mid-range attempts (sheesh), and 36.5 percent on above-the-break three-pointers. Nobody else comes close to those percentages from the floor.

Apologies: Paul George, Damian Lillard, Joel Embiid

All-NBA First Team

Two guards, two forwards, and a center

G — Stephen Curry

G — James Harden

F — Giannis Antetokounmpo

F — Kevin Durant

C — Joel Embiid

Three of these are complete no-brainers. You have the two MVP leaders, along with a guard (Curry) that broke his own three-point “pace” record. If not for the 11 missed games due to a groin injury (assuming he stayed consistent), Curry would have eclipsed his 402 three-pointers made in 2015–16. Over the course of an 80-game season, which allows for two rest days, he was on track to hit 416 long-balls. Isn’t a bit ridiculous that his outside shooting is even better than a unanimous MVP year, yet we aren’t even considering him close to Harden or Antetokounmpo for the honors?

Then, the second forward slot is a battle between Durant and Paul George. For the first four months of the season, George actually had the edge over Durant for “better season.” It was inarguable that he was more valuable to his team than KD was to the Warriors. That’s still true.

However, since the All-Star break, George used over 27 percent of OKC’s possessions and was below-average in scoring efficiency (54.7 percent true shooting). With him on the court, OKC has only been 1.8 points per 100 possessions better than opponents in those 20 games (9–11 record when he plays). That’s … not great. Does it include a bunch of noise and hurt George that he plays with a group that lacks offensive talent? Sure, but we saw him play with the same supporting cast from October to early February and excel to a career-best level.

The gap between George and Durant was never that significant in terms of offensive quality, even when George was going berserk in clutch situations for OKC. Couple that with KD scoring at a 64.3 percent rate from inside the arc since the All-Star break, having a more successful mid-range season on high volume than anyone in NBA history, and having the best record in the West compared to a bottom-seeded OKC.

Also, for All-NBA selections, it’s a little different than MVP criteria. By definition, for better or worse, the “Most Valuable” aspect is taken into consideration for that award. When picking All-NBA teams and looking back throughout history, the way I tend to lean is “choose the best players if their seasons are reasonably close.” While some would argue George and Durant are close in production, there should be no question who the better (or least stoppable) player happens to be.

Ah, the center selection.

Embiid vs. Jokic. Process vs. Joker.

Logic would suggest Jokic gets the nod due to his MVP candidacy — leading the Nuggets to a top-three seed in the West after missing the playoffs last year, having the most versatile offensive season of any modern center, and slightly improving his defense.

On the other hand, Embiid isn’t far behind Jokic in MVP consideration. For the MVP list, I put more weight on team record and expectations: Did they outperform, underperform, or be roughly what I thought they’d be? Jokic gets more love in the MVP talk because he lifted the Nuggets a couple ticks above my projection.

Still, Embiid is the better overall player and has so much responsibility defensively without getting played off the floor in key matchups. We’ve routinely seen Jokic get smoked by Houston, Golden State, and other potent pick-and-roll offenses. While Embiid struggles to a lesser degree against stretchy bigs, he is never really viewed as a liability on defense when the game is on the line. That’s not to say Jokic doesn’t deserve credit for being better than he was last year on that end, but it’s still not in the same universe as Embiid.

What’s unbelievable is that Embiid has nearly doubled Jokic in free throw rate and still knocks down 80 percent of his foul shots. Embiid gets to the line 10.8 times per 36 minutes and is nearly automatic there, which makes him a bit more to handle offensively.

Jokic definitely edges Embiid in most of the on-court impact metrics, but Philadelphia is transformed when The Process is on the floor. The Sixers are -3.3 per 100 possessions when Embiid sits with a 108.8 defensive rating (not bad, but a dramatic difference compared to when he plays). When he’s on the court, Philly outscores teams by 8.0 points per 100 possessions and holds teams to a 103.3 rating (elite).

For the Nuggets, they are +6.4 points per 100 possessions when Jokic plays, but still a +1.7, surprisingly, when he sits.

It’s certainly splitting hairs. Nobody should take this as a denigration to any player that doesn’t make First Team. We’re talking about the very best of the best in the world. I decided to reward Jokic for the Nuggets’ success in the MVP race, but All-NBA needs to reflect the best players in the league if they meet the benchmarks for games/minutes played and have a stout record. Embiid has stayed healthy enough to headline the center class, especially in a year where Anthony Davis isn’t eligible because he decided to blow up his organization.

All-NBA Second Team

Two guards, two forwards, and a center

G — Damian Lillard

G — Kyrie Irving

F — Kawhi Leonard

F — Paul George

C — Nikola Jokic

No analysis needed for George and Jokic — if you were in the First Team conversation, you get an automatic bid here.

Honestly, there should be no discussion about Lillard and Irving.

Outside of Harden and Curry, there has been no better guard than Lillard. For the second straight year, he’s guided the Trail Blazers through the treacherous West and somehow secured a homecourt seed. It doesn’t make sense. Every year we expect them to fall out of the playoffs and figure their luck will run out, he responds with a career-best season.

Every single year, Lillard improves. He made All-NBA First Team last year due to Curry’s ankle injuries, let’s be clear, but his numbers are eerily similar this season. He went from 50.1 percent on two-pointers to 49.9 percent, but is now shooting 37 percent from deep. Last year, Lillard was fifth in Real Plus-Minus (RPM) across the whole league, and now he’s third directly behind Curry. No other guard except for Harden has contributed more RPM Wins to his team.

Irving is also a lock if you only view his case through the lens of production. When you start to get into the locker room turmoil that Boston seemed to endure, it can get tricky. However, I’ve never been the type to read too much into that stuff. We aren’t there on a daily basis, so most of it is likely overblown.

Although the Celtics have struggled to put together a consistently dominant stretch of games and greatly underperformed their expected win total (I had them at 59), Irving’s All-NBA case is strong. They are still a homecourt seed in the top-heavy East, he is enjoying his best playmaking season by far, still floating around 60 percent true shooting, and his defense for 4–5 months of the schedule was more impressive than ever. It still wasn’t “good,” but it was better than anyone would’ve really anticipated when he left Cleveland.

Irving is dishing 7.5 assists per 36 minutes while only turning the ball over on 11.3 percent of his possessions. He is always among the league leaders in usage rating to turnover percentage ratio, and this season is no different. The Celtics drop off tremendously as an offensive unit when Irving rests and the difference on defense isn’t that large at all. They go from scoring 112.8 points per 100 possessions with him … down to 104.9 when he’s out. While you can say that about a bunch of high-level stars in the league, it’s so blatant how much he carries them in late-game situations.

Speaking of clutch moments, there is no objective way to leave off Kawhi Leonard from the Second Team unless the argument is games played. That’s a totally fair one, though, since he has only played in 83 percent of the Raptors’ games. Still, he’s around the same minute total as Embiid, so there shouldn’t be much of a discrepancy there. If you don’t penalize Embiid for missed games, why consider Leonard any differently?

In clutch situations — score within five points and less than five minutes remaining — Leonard and the Raptors have a 100.3 defensive rating. That’s remarkable. He’s 43-of-79 (54.4 percent) on two-pointers during those clutch minutes with a free throw attempt rate of .407 — he muscles his way inside when it matters, leading to either a high-percentage shot or a trip to the foul line.

While Leonard may not have been better than LeBron James offensively (it was close), it becomes a very easy call when you think about how laughable James’ defensive motivation and care level was in those 55 games.

You could attempt to argue for Blake Griffin over Leonard because of his workload, responsibility, and efficiency not taking a hit. It just wouldn’t be the best decision since Leonard is the best player on the second-best team (record-wise) in the NBA.

All-NBA Third Team

Two guards, two forwards, and a center

G —Jrue Holiday

G — Klay Thompson

F — LeBron James

F — Blake Griffin

C — Rudy Gobert

Apologies: Kemba Walker, Eric Bledsoe, Russell Westbrook, Bradley Beal, Mike Conley, Ben Simmons, Karl Towns, Pascal Siakam

It’s so depressing that you’re only allowed to squeeze in two guards when there are six (or more) deserving guys. Dear League, stop making these All-NBA spots a major factor in whether or not players receive extra money.

Initially, I had Walker and Westbrook penciled in. Even with Westbrook’s horrendous shooting season — and it’s verrrrrry bad when you add in the context of 30 percent usage — it feels strange that a player averaging 23–11–11 is a borderline All-NBA pick. But this is how I drew the line: While it’s true that Westbrook and George don’t necessarily have the most adept offensive talent around them, that really is no excuse for jacking nearly six 3s per game when you know it’s the least efficient shot for you. On pull-up attempts from deep, Westbrook is 52-of-204 (25.5 percent) this year. That’s damaging. Add it to the defensive letdowns that are still happening more often than not, along with OKC pretty much falling apart after the All-Star break, and I can’t put him over better two-way players.

Despite James only playing 55 games and the Lakers looking miserable once he returned from injury, he looked ridiculous offensively from Oct. 18 to Dec. 25. That’s a two-month chunk of the season in which he was leading the Lakers to a top 10 offensive and defensive standing. Plus, he’s LeBron James. If he plays over 50 games and there’s no clear answer for a forward over him, he’s on the team.

Blake Griffin makes it on because he has revitalized his career. It’s fascinating to see him thrive from everywhere on the court in Detroit. Who would’ve ever imagined Griffin would one day take SEVEN three-point attempts per game and knock down a percentage similar to Chris Paul. Back in the Lob City days, that statement would get you embarrassed on Twitter.

Where I had the most trouble was deciding between Walker, Holiday, Thompson, Beal, Conley, Simmons, and Bledsoe. You can only pick two out of this group of seven (after eliminating Westbrook).

The fact that Thompson has 53–45–83 shooting splits since Jan. 1 (literally half the season) is completely stupid. Like, how is that going so under the radar? It’s also during the stretch of the best defense Thompson has played in the last couple of years. His performances at Oklahoma City and Houston were just the peak of the run, but it shed some light on how committed he’s been defensively and forced me to go back and watch a lot of his matchups since January. He’s an ironman and somehow has the energy to be a two-way brute night after night.

Klay gets a spot. Now for the other.

Holiday is a controversial choice since the Pelicans went 30–37 with him in the lineup. Typically, I favor playoff-caliber guys or those that are close to it. That would lead me toward Walker. But when you really dig into it, Walker’s case over a much better defensive point guard and similarly efficient Holiday is hard to see. Sure, Walker has a completely incompetent team around him. But he also had the same teammates in Charlotte when he started off the season on fire in every way possible. He just cooled off considerably after mid-January and couldn’t get the Hornets over .500 in the East.

Both Walker and Holiday are at 55.5 percent true shooting. Holiday finished the season 13th in Real Plus-Minus and 20th in Player Impact Plus-Minus. Walker? 32nd and 46th, respectively.

I make more of a case for Holiday in my All-Defensive teams at the end, but he narrowly gets the nod here in All-NBA. At the end of the day, he’s just a little better of a player than Walker and Beal. With the Anthony Davis situation going off the rails, he was the only thing keeping New Orleans competitive in a tougher conference.

Leaving off Karl Towns is a rough one. When someone averages 24.4 points and 12.4 boards on 56.2 percent from two and 40 percent from three, that’s usually a lock for All-NBA if he’s on a quality team. The Wolves did suffer from a bunch of injuries and internal disasters, but Towns has been healthy all season and they were only 34–43 (.442) with him in the lineup. He also didn’t take enough steps forward defensively to make up for the non-playoff factor. Remember, he probably made All-NBA last year because the Wolves managed to secure the final playoff spot. This year, Gobert doesn’t have the missed time going against him, and he’s just been far more impactful to his team.

Gobert needs to be on this All-NBA team to make up for the All-Star catastrophe. And, because he’s the leading candidate for the next award, too.

Defensive Player of the Year

1. Rudy Gobert
2. Giannis Antetokounmpo
3. Joel Embiid

Apologies: Paul George, Myles Turner

• There’s nothing I wanted more than to reward Antetokounmpo for what feels like an undervalued defensive season by the casual audience. Out of all players that have defended at least 200 shots at the rim this year, he ranks seventh in field goal percentage allowed (52.5 percent).
• But then, you realize Gobert is at 52.8 percent allowed on 600 (!) shots defended near the rim. Yeah, so much for that.
• Gobert is the primary reason why Utah has thrived since the start of February. For the last 28 games of the season, the Jazz are tied for the number one defense in the league. Utah’s guards constantly funnel opposing slashers to the Stifle Tower and he cleans up everything.
• Gobert has played over 700 more minutes than he did last season and he’s had just as spectacular of a second half, if not better. He walked away with the award in 2018 and there’s no reason why he shouldn’t now.

Rookie of the Year

1. Luka Dončić
2. Trae Young
3. Deandre Ayton

• Only eight players in NBA history have scored at least 23 points, grabbed eight rebounds, and dished six assists per 36 minutes. One of them is Luka Dončić. That’s not ROOKIE history. That’s total history.
• Trae Young has turned into one of most electrifying players to watch on a nightly basis and he’s only 20. As Nekias Duncan pointed out in his column, Young is on his way to becoming a pick-and-roll threat for the ages due to his passing creativity. Since Feb. 1, Young is shooting nearly 37 percent from three. He just had a very rough start to the season, while Dončić has only had a few games worth of a slump. Dončić always responded well and his shot creation at this age is unheard of.

Most Improved Player

1. Pascal Siakam
2. Nikola Vučević
3. Domantas Sabonis

Apologies: D’Angelo Russell, Montrezl Harrell, Myles Turner (defensively)

• Obviously, the leap from 1,700 minutes to nearly 2,600 for Siakam is a factor in “improving.” But, to think that’s the only reason why he’s the frontrunner here would be egregious on so many levels. Siakam is not only the backbone of Toronto’s defense because of how much ground he can cover and how many rotations he’s comfortable making, but he’s also one of the league’s smartest cutters and best finishers now.
• Consider this: Siakam went from 498 field goal attempts last year to almost 950 this season. A huge increase in volume means a drop in efficiency is coming, right? Well … wrong. He has transformed into an all-around scorer on drives and spot-ups, going from 54.9 percent true shooting (league-average) all the way to 62.7 percent (elite). He shot 36.8 percent from three on over 200 attempts. A year ago, nobody had to guard him in the corner or worry about him at the top of the key. Now, he’s letting it fly with confidence.
• The reason for no D’Angelo Russell: I’m just not fully seeing the growth in terms of adding valuable components to his game. It feels more like Russell had a breakout year because he kept doing the same type of things at a much higher volume. His free throw rate has actually dropped to .136, which isn’t great for how often he has the ball in his hands. He’s still well below league average in true shooting and falls in love with the long two more than I’d like to see. Plus, his defensive skill has stayed consistent — not in a good way. Russell does deserve some shine for his clutch moments this year, though, and for limiting his turnovers compared to previous seasons.

Sixth Man of the Year

1. Lou Williams
2. Spencer Dinwiddie
3. Domantas Sabonis

Apologies: Montrezl Harrell, Bogdan Bogdanovic

• No need to spend too much time here: Lou Williams has played 74 games and routinely plays starter minutes. When the Clippers need a score, whether it’s drawing fouls or rising over defenders for a pull-up, he’s their man. This is also a very successful offensive season for Los Angeles, and he’s their go-to guy with 32 percent usage. Danilo Gallinari is the Clippers’ best player, yes, but Williams loves his role and he’s mastered the criteria that it takes to win Sixth Man of the Year.

Coach of the Year:

1. Mike Budenholzer (MIL)
2. Doc Rivers (LAC)
3. Terry Stotts (POR)

Apologies: Mike Malone (DEN), Nate McMillian (IND), Dave Joerger (SAC), Quin Snyder (UTA), Steve Clifford (ORL), Kenny Atkinson (BKN)

• Strongly considered Rivers over Budenholzer since I had the Clippers at 33 wins back in October and they stormed past it with a playoff berth. However, it’s just not every day that a coach comes into a situation, takes them from a seven seed to a top three team in both offensive and defensive rating, and reminds us of the 2014–15 Warriors. Budenholzer won the award in 2015 when he led the 60–22 Hawks to the best record in the East, and he’ll most likely win this one in Milwaukee. I have no complaints with him or Rivers taking it home.
• The more I thought about putting Nate McMillan third, the more I just thought Terry Stotts barely inched above him. Stotts has always coached this Trail Blazers team with a competent offensive system, but in no way did we expect them to score 113.4 points per 100 possessions and be a better offense than Toronto. Nobody saw that. Lillard is a huge reason for their success, but it’s time Stotts gets a little more credit for Portland continuing to shut down the outside pessimism every offseason.

Executive of the Year:

1. Masai Ujiri/Bobby Webster (TOR)
2. Jon Horst (MIL)
3. Michael Winger/Lawrence Frank (LAC)

All-Defense First Team

G — Jrue Holiday

G — Danny Green

F — Giannis Antetokounmpo

F — Paul George

C — Rudy Gobert

• George did enough damage on the perimeter from October to mid-February to be a clear choice here. The shoulder injury has affected him, but he still blows up possessions with his unreal length, speed, and awareness.
• Holiday is currently the best defensive point guard in the league on a per-possession basis. Did his team come close to the playoffs? No, but he doesn’t stop moving on the defensive end. He doesn’t fall asleep. He is so versatile and strong that Alvin Gentry has routinely put him on small forwards when New Orleans has nobody else to contain bigger scorers. When Holiday played, the Pelicans allowed 108.6 points per 100 possessions (above league-average). When he didn’t, they surrendered 113.1 per 100 possessions (Knicks level).
• Danny Green and Andre Iguodala have a meaningful lead over any other shooting guard in Defensive RPM. With Green playing 79 games, staying healthy, and being a menace that allows Kawhi Leonard to take a few possessions off, he needs to be on one of these teams.

All-Defense Second Team

G — Marcus Smart

G — Eric Bledsoe

F — Pascal Siakam

F — Kawhi Leonard

C — Joel Embiid

Apologies: Klay Thompson, Derrick White, P.J. Tucker, Myles Turner (only two center slots!), Draymond Green, Ben Simmons

• Bledsoe is the initial line of defense for Milwaukee, completely crashing pick-and-rolls and disrupting the ball-handlers before they get inside. He deserves recognition. The number one defensive team in the league needs to have two guys, probably.
• Embiid over Myles Turner is tough since the Pacers found a way to stay afloat defensively without Victor Oladipo. Turner made significant strides on defense this year, acting as the quarterback and directing teammates while waiting in the paint. His shot-blocking numbers, as well as the knowledge of when to go for blocks and when to stay on his feet, are still underrated. It just feels more comfortable to go with the better defensive player overall, and that’s Embiid. He changes the game a little more.
• Without Marcus Smart for most of the year, the Celtics maintain their standing in defensive rating. He’s the most frustrating guard to go against on a nightly basis.
• It doesn’t feel right leaving Klay Thompson off again, since he has actively tried to make a name for himself on the defensive end for years. It just comes down to there being too many noteworthy guards and only FOUR slots available. If he was better than Danny Green this year as a defender, believe me, he would’ve made it.

All-Rookie First Team

• Luka Dončić
• Trae Young
• Deandre Ayton
• Jaren Jackson Jr.
• Mitchell Robinson

All-Rookie Second Team

• Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
• Landry Shamet
• Collin Sexton
• Marvin Bagley
• Mikal Bridges

Shane Young is a freelance NBA columnist. He is still searching for full-time NBA writing opportunities in any capacity — beat-writing, feature columns, etc. He specializes in analyzing basketball X’s and O’s and advanced metrics, while having five years of experience covering games/practices in multiple NBA cities. If interested, reach out via email at: ShaneYoungNBA@gmail.com