NBA: Midseason Awards

The All-Star break may not be the true midpoint of the NBA regular season, but it's a good time to reflect. So I decided to hand out some awards for the unofficial first half of the season. Some of these races will be very tight down the stretch, but if the season ended today here is who I would honor. Be sure to listen to the podcast for more NBA debates with my brother.

Rookie of the Year- Andrew Wiggins; Minnesota

Jabari Parker would have given Wiggins a big time run for this award given how well the Bucks have played, but when he tore his ACL 25 games into the season Wiggins essentially wrapped this race up. Heading into the All-Star break, his 15.2 points per game leads all rookies in scoring with K.J. McDaniels a distant second at 9.2. Parker was averaging 12.3 points and 5.5 rebounds before he went down and would have made this race one for the ages had he avoided his unfortunate injury.

Defensive Player of the Year- Anthony Davis; New Orleans

He leads the league in blocks with 2.72 per game and is eighth in rebound with 10.3, one of 11 qualified players averaging 10 or more this year. People point to the Pelicans ranking 25th in defensive efficiency, but this is an individual award and Davis has been outstanding. But race is going to be much closer than Rookie of the Year because Draymond Green has been fantastic too. Green leads all players with a 96.3 defensive rating and guards multiple positions on a nightly basis.

Coach of the Year- Jason Kidd; Milwaukee

All due respect to Mike Budenholzer and Steve Kerr, but nobody in their right mind had Milwaukee at 30-23 heading into the All-Star break even with Parker. Most people wrote this team off when Parker went down, so Kidd deserves credit for getting a ton out of a lot of players who are not household names. Now he gets last year’s Rookie of the Year in Michael Carter-Williams to run the point in what was a heist of a trade for the Bucks. Budenholzer may ultimately win the award, but how can voters deny Kidd if he gets the Bucks to 50 wins without his best player for most of the year?

Executive of the Year- David Griffin; Cleveland

Some say LeBron James really runs the Cavs, and while that may be true Griffin deserves all the credit for taking a patchwork supporting cast and turning it into what looks to be a legitimate contender. First he swapped Dion Waiters for J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert in an instant chemistry upgrade. Then the big one — two non-Cleveland first round picks with more protections on them than a bank vault for Timofey Mozgov. The 7-foot-1 underutilized center in Denver has made a huge impact on Cleveland, and combined with Smith and Shumpert the Cavs look like they’re the team to beat in the East.

Most Valuable Player- Stephen Curry; Golden State

He is the unquestioned best player on the NBA’s best team, and is a main reason why I don’t give Coach of the Year to Kerr. Curry is the “Mario” of the Splash Brothers is averaging 23.6 points, 7.9 assists, 2.2 steals and has a PER of 27.68 — which at the time was fifth in the NBA. James Harden is having a spectacular season and certainly will get consideration. And if Anthony Davis played for a contender, or even a playoff team, he’d have a great shot because I think he is having the best individual season of anyone. But best season and most valuable are two different questions. To win MVP, your team usually has to shine. And nobody shines brighter than Golden State.