NBA Notebook: Filling out the 2020 NBA Awards Ballot

The NBA regular season has not come to an official end just yet, with eight ‘seeding games’ set to begin for 22 teams in Orlando on Thursday. However, with eight teams sitting at home for the NBA restart, the NBA made a curious decision official this week: Awards for this season would be based on play only through March 11th and not on any play set to resume.

Given that these eight seeding games will have a direct impact on regular season standings, this decision seems somewhat ill-advised. Most of the players in contention for any of the regular season honors play for the 22 best teams in the league anyway. However, that disadvantage, combined with a number of players opting out of play due to injury, illness or personal reasons in Orlando was enough for the NBA to decide to level the playing field for everyone.

“The decision to exclude seeding games from awards voting ensures a fair process in which players and coaches from all 30 NBA teams will have the same opportunity to be honored as top performers for the 2019-20 regular season,” said NBA President, League Operations Byron Spruell.

So what players will bring home hardware based on the shortened regular season? And what Celtics have a legitimate shot of being in the mix? Here’s one man’s ballot for the 2019-20 season.

MVP

1. Giannis Antetokounmpo
2. LeBron James
3. James Harden
4. Kawhi Leonard
5. Luka Doncic

Analysis: The best player in the NBA regularly comes from the NBA’s best team when it comes to MVP — and it lines up quite nicely this season. While it remains to be seen whether Giannis can make the leap during the postseason, there is no questioning his regular-season domination of the NBA. The 25-year-old averaged 29.6 points per game despite playing a mere 30 minutes per game. He was top-4 in the league in both scoring and rebounds despite those limited minutes. He got to the free throw line more than any player in the league except for James Harden and also became a far better passer (5.8 assists per game) while leading the Bucks to an NBA-best 53-12 record.

LeBron James led an impressive turnaround out West but he also had the help of one of the best players in the league in Anthony Davis. Antetokounmpo has a strong supporting cast but Khris Middleton makes nowhere close to the same impact as Davis, so this is an easy choice to keep James at No. 2.

Harden and Leonard slot in easily at 3 and 4, making the only real surprise on this list Doncic. He only played 54 games, but he was in the midst of leading what some thought was a borderline playoff team heading into the season to a 40-27 record. His leap in his second NBA season into a top-5 offensive weapon in the league despite a pedestrian supporting cast earned him the top-5 consideration here.

Celtics under consideration?

Nowhere near the top. Jayson Tatum would be the first name to come up here and probably would have landed in the 10-15 range on my ballot for MVP.

Rookie of the Year

1. Ja Morant
2. Brandon Clarke
3. Kendrick Nunn

Analysis: Zion Williamson played 19 impressive games, but that’s still not enough to earn him consideration here in an impressive crop of names. Morant was a runaway here, emerging as an above-average point guard at age 20 likely destined for a long career with plenty of All-Star appearances after averaging 18 points and 7 assists per game in year one. Not only is he a dynamic shot creator, but he’s efficient as well (49 percent from field), which is a huge deal based on his 6-foot-3 frame.

The Grizzlies also hit a home run in the 2020 NBA Draft in nabbing Clarke at No. 21 overall. He averaged 12 points off the bench in just 21 minutes per game, giving the Grizzlies great energy on the glass and efficient scoring thanks to his 62 percent shooting. The C’s had multiple chances at him at No. 14 and No. 20 and passing over the 23-year-old not only hurt C’s bench this year but also their draft prospects — as the Grizzlies used Clarke to turn into a surprising playoff team.

The undrafted Nunn was another diamond in the rough plucked by the Heat for the second straight year (along with Duncan Robinson). He won a starting job in camp and averaged 15.6 ppg on a playoff team, but didn’t quite do it as efficiently as Clarke.

Celtics under consideration

Despite having more rookies than anyone in the league, no C’s will get any serious consideration for even one of the All-Rookie teams. Grant Williams would be the best of the bunch but that isn’t saying much with his 3.5 ppg.

Coach of the Year

1. Billy Donovan
2. Nick Nurse
3. Brad Stevens

Analysis: The Thunder were quickly deconstructed this past offseason, with their two franchise cornerstones sent packing to West rivals in what became the biggest surprise of the summer. That left the Thunder at a crossroads as a franchise, with a past his prime Chris Paul, a few other useful pieces (Steven Adams, Danilo Gallinari, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander) and a whole lot of question marks. Their over/under for wins before the season was just 32.5.

The Thunder only played 64 games this year and they managed to to crush the over regardless, largely thanks to Donovan molding a team that was surprisingly above-average on both ends of the floor despite limited depth. Westbrook used to do whatever he wanted in OKC, making Donovan nothing more than a bystander at times for a Thunder offense that lacked much rhythm. However, with a disciplined point guard at the helm in Paul, Donovan has helped get the best out of this team, turning them into what should be a tough out in the West playoffs. Based on the fact the Thunder turned an expected lottery team to a top-10 squad in the NBA makes him runaway with this honor.

Nick Nurse is a close second here with the Raptors coming close to matching their dominant regular season from last year despite losing Kawhi Leonard. Injuries have piled up all year long for this team and they have still managed to remain elite in the face of key absences. That’s not a huge surprise (their record without Kawhi last year was 17-5), but sustaining it earns Nurse accolades in a year Toronto was expected to fall back to the pack a bit.

Stevens edges out Mike Budenholtzer for No. 3 on my ballot once again thanks to the injury situation. The Bucks are far deeper than Boston and have been extremely healthy among the core. Stevens lost his two best players (on paper) and has managed to guide a team with tons of youth and bench question marks to a contending spot in the East.

Defensive Player of the Year

1. Giannis Antetokounmpo
2. Marcus Smart
3. Anthony Davis

Analysis: The presumed MVP only adds to his case when you look at the Bucks on the defensive end. The league’s stingiest team against opponents are led on that front by Antetokounmpo — who has the speed and size to make life tough for anyone he guards. He’s improved as a rim protector and his length bothers opponents not just in the paint but on the perimeter as well.

This is regularly a big man only award, but Smart’s play this season has been strong enough to earn him enough recognition for the second spot. The advanced metrics may not support his impact but the eye test certainly does. Smart is the most versatile defender in the NBA and his consistent energy at that end of the floor has helped make the C’s a surprise defensive juggernaut this year despite losing big man anchors like Al Horford and Aron Baynes.

Next to Giannis, Davis is the most versatile big in the NBA and edges out Rudy Gobert for the third spot thanks to the Lakers (3rd) coming in far ahead of Utah (11th) on the defensive end this year. Davis had a better supporting cast ,but Gobert floated through some games this season and it was reflective in how the Jazz defense looked despite his elite rim protection.

Sixth Man of the Year

1. Montrezl Harrell
2. Lou Williams
3. Dennis Schroder

Analysis: Not bad for a title contender to have the two best bench players in the NBA, which makes the Clippers one of the deepest teams in the league heading into the restart. We saw firsthand how much of a game changer Harrell can be in Boston with his 24 point outing at the Garden in what ended up becoming a duel with Tatum as the game stretched into OT. Harrell’s rim running in pick-and-rolls with Williams are tough to slow down for any second unit around the league, leaving opponents with little margin for error over 48 minutes any time they see the Clippers.

Schroder has done a fantastic job turning around his career in OKC after a couple of dismal seasons in Atlanta. He’s posting career-highs across the board and his defensive versatility and size have allowed Donovan to deploy him in three-guard lineups that have been tough for defenses to matchup with. With one year left on his deal, it will be interesting to see whether Sam Presti sells high on him this offseason or tries to keep him as part of the Thunder core moving forward.

Celtics under consideration?

A subpar shooting season for Smart knocks him out of the top-5 on my ballot.

Most Improved

1. Pascal Siakam
2. Jayson Tatum
3. Bam Adebayo

Analysis: Lots of competition in this category but I’m focused on players that took a big leap on good teams rather than guys that put up empty stats on mediocre ones (Brandon Ingram). We start with the guy who had the most responsibility placed on him in Siakam, replacing the league’s best player last postseason in Kawhi Leonard as leading scorer on the Raptors. Siakam has relished the opportunity, increasing his offensive output by nearly 40 percent while serving as a No. 1 option for the Raptors most night. He’s also gone from not taking 3s in his rookie year to shooting six per game with solid accuracy for a bigger wing (36 percent).

Tatum has followed a similar path in year three, taking over as top scorer for the C’s once Kemba Walker was sidelined with injuries. I’d put Tatum’s defensive improvements as a big reason why he’s No. 2 here as well since his slow start to the season in the paint really has kept his offensive efficiency numbers down. He’s already morphed into a top-20 two-way player in the game at age 21.

Adebayo is more of a secondary scorer, but he still managed to nearly double his scoring output per game (16.2) in year three while manning the middle in Miami. There’s still no jump shot to speak of but he’s gotten better at creating contact in the paint (5.3 attempts per game) and is also one of the best distributing bigs in the league (5.1 assists per game) after doubling his assist output from last year. Combine that with his defensive strides and it wouldn’t surprise me if he makes a push for this award in the league-wide voting.