The NBA Individual Award Predictions for 2016/17 Season
Otherwise known as Russell Westbrook vs. the World.
The NBA Finals 2017 match-up is looking decidedly set (more about that later this week) barring an unpredictable injury on either side of Cleveland — Golden State match-up. Then again, we did say that last year and then the Warriors blew a 3–1 lead (stay woke fam). In a seven game series, anything can happen, anyone can out-scheme anyone and the breaks may fall on either side of the divide. But before that, the regular season has to happen, and that’s an 82 game slug fest to decide the playoff order.
This year, the landscape of the NBA is drastically different with great power concentrated in small pockets of space (Golden State, Cleveland, LA of the Clippers kind). That takes certain people out of award conversations (it’s hard to be most valuable player on a team with four of them), which will make this year interesting.
MVP
Winner: James Harden
Who Should Win: Russell Westbrook
The NBA player awards are a weird combination of a popularity contest with a recognition of merit. Not only do you have to be good and put up outlandish numbers, you also have to be a somewhat redeemable media personality feeding the 24-hour coverage machine meaningless fodder for Skip Bayless to senslessly debate over until he’s blue in the face. Russell Westbrook, quite frankly, has 0 time for any of that foolishness, especially considering that so called “reporters” will insist to keep asking him about Kevin Durant many months post fact when they should maybe be focusing on the upcoming season (but what do I know, I’m just a blogger).
Because of his media manufactured “character issue,” which is basically the media voters’ equivalent of taking their ball and going home because Russ refuses to play by their rules, Westbrook will have to put up astronomical stats this season to have a shot at the MVP. He will have to average a triple double with 3–4 steals and 2 blocks to boot. He will have to single-handedly cure at least one disease. He will have to carry Hillary into office on his back. He will have to fly to Mars and back on a possession bringing back the secret to eternal life and happiness. And you know what? He can probably do it. You just have to stop asking him how he feels about Kevin Durant. It’s done. Think of a new narrative please.
On the other hand, James Harden has his team back with the perfect coach to take advantage of his offensive predisposition. He might just average 30. And he’ll answer your Dwight Howard questions happily.
Rookie of the Year
Winner: Joel Embiid
Runner Up: Brandon Ingram
With the injury to Ben Simmons, odds are we will not see him until next year, thus putting him squarely into competition for next year. Enter Joel. In two weeks Brett Brown went from “we’re going to monitor Embiid’s status closely and adjust his minutes accordingly” to “yeah, we’re definitely bumping him to about 20 and back to backs are now in play.” Next stop is “can we increase the NBA quarters to like 15 minutes so we can play Joel some more?” Listed at 7'0 and 250lbs the actually 7'2 giant is about to take the NBA by storm. If you watch the preseason, you may have watched Embiid pick up John Wall on a switch as the whole NBA collectively held their breath and the lumbering center guarded one of the most explosive points in the game. Step. For. Step. Embiid moves in a way no one that size should be able to. He has a natural feel for the game. And want to hear something scary? His shooting from from three actually looks natural, meaning .350% is not out of the question for him from there. Yeah, sleep with a nightlight.
Ingram on the other hand as entered the Lakers at a perfect time. He will benefit from a high-speed system Coach Dude Luke Walton is more than likely to adapt in LA and more importantly from the absence of Byron “I Have no Idea How To Foster Talent” Scott. With Russell and Clarkson behind the ball and the relaxed expectations of starting the season behind Luol Deng Ingram will have a bit more leeway to find his stroke, but the intangibles are there.
Coach of the Year
Winner: Brad Stevens
Runner Up: Steve Kerr
Brad Stevens has a new toy everyone and it’s time to watch out. For the first time in the Stevens “Our Savior” Era in Boston they have a capable big man in the post. Horford is both a capable offensive player who has the range to be a factor away from the hoop and a very underrated defender. Stevens now has the versatility to run inside-out sets with Horford as the fulcrum. Defensively, he can use him as the switch man to trap guards, and combining him with Amir Johnson may create one of the better scramble big-men corps in the league. Having Little Al opens up a myriad of possibilities something of Brad Stevens needs to take this team from “they’ll make the playoffs, but then what” in 2016 to “yeah, they might be the second best team in the conference.”
Will Steve Kerr get it? Probably not. As Luke Walton demonstrated, this team basically runs itself at this point. However, there is just as much intricacy in fitting a top five player into your scheme without messing anything else. Then there is also the added challenge of making due with a much smaller bench. These are minor adjustments of course that don’t really matter when you have four out of current top 25 players in the league, but it’s still worth mentioning when Kerr is in the conversation after the Warriors somehow have a 83 win season, go down 3–0 on purpose in the Finals just to complete a 4–3 comeback. Stay woke.
Defensive Player of the Year
Winner: Kawhi Leonard
Runner Up: Jimmy Butler
This is just me basically listing top two wing defenders in the league and saying it’s up in the air between the two. The problem for Butler is that he will be caught up in Fred Hoiberg drama while also battling the fact that his team has 0 perimeter shooting. The stress on Butler across the floor will be paramount and it remains to be see how he handles it. Kawhi on the other hand is part of a very fluid Spurs system that has cultivated 18 straight seasons of 50 plus wins and is ran with mechanical precision by the NBA’s most respected coach. This is a stacked deck.
Of course we should mention big men such as DeAndre Jordan and Hassan Whiteside, but Kawhi will simply have more opportunities to showcase his skill against Durant, Harden, Westbrook, Wiggins… You name it. Whiteside got paid too, so who knows how that factors into his effort on the defensive side. At the end of the day Leonard is simply too meticulous in his craft to be a bad defender. I imagine being guarded by him is much like being chained alive in your own casket, getting cemented in a foundation of a building and then being cut into a chunk of cement and tossed into an ocean.
The Annual Jamal Crawford Appreciation Award — Sixth Man of the Year
Winner: Brandon Jennings
Runner Up: Jamal Crawford
Surprise, Jamal Crawford does not win it this year mostly because, how many more times can he? He will be in the conversation as the Clippers are not particularly deep across the board and he will still be their primary bench option. However, this may be Jennings’ comeback season. He is already swagging out in NYC.
We shouldn’t forget that Jennings is just a few years removed from a 55 point explosion as a rookie and a trip to the Playoffs in his first year. He is back to basically get his again and with Derrick Rose in a very uncertain place, Jennings may be the team’s best option off the bench. He’s great at pushing the pace, providing scoring off the bench and has demonstrated good chemistry with Knicks big men. Not so long ago he was a starting point guard, this year is going to be his case to be one again.
Most Improved Player
Winner: Steven Adams
Runner Up: D’Angelo Russell
Kevin Durant is gone (as you all insisting to remind Russell Westbrook of it). Serge Ibaka is gone. Steven Adams, take the podium please. Over the past three years, Adams consistently added a new wrinkle to his game, becoming a terrifying defender in the paint and a serviceable pick and roll big. Expect Billy Donovan to pump up his role on this team as both Russell’s protector and his foremost pick and roll partner. The Thunder will need the rest of the team to generate offense to help Westbrook and with all of the positions vacated this summer, Adams is in the perfect place to slide right in and fill in the needs.
On the other hand, D’Angelo Russell is enjoying playing basketball again. He has put in an impressive and confidence filled summer league outing this year, his phone is safely locked away in a vault somewhere and he is high-fiving himself on television. It seems that D’Angelo will get to learn that basketball can be fun when you’re not dragging around a decaying long-two scorer from a previous decade of basketball and are getting benched for no reason by your coach. He has a lot of young talent around him to pair with a system introduced by Coach Dude Luke Walton. This might be D’Angelo season.
