Midseason NBA Awards

Our staff voted on who we believed would win several of the NBA awards, here are our picks.

MVP – James Harden

Harden got off to a slow start this season but has been red-hot lately, averaging an insane 40.5 points per game over his past 15 games played. Harden now has 13 games of over 40 points scored and two 50-point games on the season. Harden may get a lot of flack for the style of game he plays, but it is proving to work well for him this season. He is shooting a career high in 3-pointers and free-throws this season at 12.6 and 11 respectively, both of which lead the NBA. Harden is hitting his 3-pointers at a career-high 39 percent, making 4.9 per game, second to only Steph Curry in the league. If Harden can keep up the high scoring and solid assist numbers while leading the Rockets to a high seed in the playoffs, he could become the second unanimous MVP ever in the NBA, and it would be well deserved.

Defensive Player of the Year – Rudy Gobert

Rudy Gobert has been phenomenal for the Utah Jazz on the defensive end and is poised to win a second Defensive Player of the Year award this season. Gobert is fifth in the NBA in blocks per game with two and ninth in rebounds per game with 12.5. Gobert has helped Utah step up over the past two months, anchoring them to the top ranked defense since Nov. 20 after being sixteenth up until that point. Gobert has clearly been a difference maker for the Jazz this season, just as he was last year, and nobody else this season is performing the way he is on the defensive end.

Rookie of the Year – Luka Doncic

Luka. Is there any other rookie close to his level? No. Doncic is putting up an astounding 20 points, 6.7 rebounds and five assists per game this season. He has four 30-point games so far this season and only seems to be getting better from here on out. In the final three minutes of games with the score within three points, known as clutch time, Doncic is 13-20 shooting and 4-7 from 3-point range. He ranks fourth in the NBA in clutch scoring with 55 points and is shooting 65 percent in that time. Doncic is making the Mavericks a serious playoff contender for a small price of their first round pick this season, which won’t be good because Doncic is so good.

Coach of the Year – Mike Malone

Mike Malone has transformed the Nuggets from a solid team contending for the playoffs to a top-tier playoff team in the west. Denver currently has the best record in the west, with a half-game lead over the Warriors. Malone transformed a bad defensive team into a top-10 one. The Nuggets finished last year 23^rd in defensive rating at 109.9 point per 100 possessions allowed and are now ninth in the NBA with just 106.7 points per 100 possessions allowed. The team’s total net rating has gone up from 1.4 to 5.0 with the large swing in its defense. Malone has also been able to do this with injuries to many key players including Gary Harris, Will Barton, Isaiah Thomas, Michael Porter Jr., Jarred Vanderbilt, Trey Lyles and Paul Millsap.