NBA Awards: If We Had A Ballot Who We’d Vote For
It's no secret that the writers at The Bandwagon don't have an NBA ballot.
None of us have been covering sports long enough let alone the NBA in order to be in the NBA writers association. But just because we don’t have a ballot doesn’t mean we can’t express to our readers who we would vote for if we did. Each member of our NBA staff has put together their votes so here it is:
THE STAFF:
Joey Abi-Loutfi
Julio Reynoso
Chris Madrigal
MOST VALUABLE PLAYER
Joey: Lebron James
James Harden deserves the fictious “Offensive Player of the Year” award. Most Valuable? For me, no question it’s Lebron. That Cavs squad was a complete mess - multiple times over - and they still made it to the Finals. That’s value, at the mostest.
Julio: Lebron James
At one point during the season, The Cavs looked like a team that didn’t deserve a playoff spot. Lebron led the league in scoring despite taking the most shots in the league, dragging the Cavs to the playoffs
Chris: Lebron James
Lebron took one of the most sorry teams in the history of championship contention and carried them all year. Kevin Love I will give credit for the guy had a good year compared the last few but that is really it. Tristan Thompson never knows what’s going on (on the court and in his life), J.R. should be playing in China and Isaiah when finally healthy clearly just didn’t mesh.
New additions Jordan Clarkson, Larry Nance Jr., Rodney Hood and George Hill were absolutely terrible. Clarkson can’t score, Nance is hot or cold, Hood doesn’t want to play and Hill, as is always his narrative, can’t stay healthy.
If he doesn’t win this award is stupid. Enough said.
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
Joey: Donovan Mitchell
Ben Simmons had his chance. He got hurt, he lost his rookie year, and that sucks for him. Donovan Mitchell put up superstar numbers and lead the Jazz to the second round of the playoffs with zero expectations to succeed. He wins, but in the long run, Jayson Tatum will end up being the best player from this draft class. And if this award counted the playoffs, Tatum would have won it. Him dunking-on-then-yelling-at Lebron was great theater for a rookie.
Julio: Ben Simmons
Ben Simmons helped turn the 76ers from a lottery team into a playoff team for the the first time in 6 years. That should be enough despite the redshirt 1st year.
Chris: Donovan Mitchell
Before the season started I guarantee 60% of fans had no idea who Donovan Mitchell was (including me). This Guard from Louisville came out of nowhere and brought this extremely average team to a Conference Semifinals after losing a top 15 player. THAT IS WHAT’S UP!
This kid was most of the Jazz offense all season with 20.5 PPG. Pretty damn good for a rookie with a surrounding cast of mostly defensive players (Rudy Gobert, Ricky Rubio, Jae Crowder). Ben Simmons was pretty good but it helps a lot to have Joel Embiid, JJ Reddick and Dario Saric. And on top of that Mitchell plays in the West and still managed to get the 5th seed. Simmons you play in the wack-ass East so sorry it’s Mitchell.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Joey: Anthony Davis
Rudy Gobert’s wingspan alone is like having two defenders in the post, but A.D. averaged more blocks, more steals, and more rebounds than Gobert, and played in more games. Respect greatness, and give this man an award.
Julio: Anthony Davis
Pelicans were left for dead post Boogie injury and A.D. stepped his game to another level. There isn’t a stand out this year like Draymond last year, but he’s closest to it.
Chris: Anthony Davis
This is by far the easiest award this year to vote for. AD dominated on the defensive side this year. No one can protect the rim better than him and no one had the defensive awareness he had. Rudy Gobert is about as close as you get but AD was on a different level this year.
SIXTH MAN OF THE YEAR
Joey: Lou Williams
I’d like to give this to Eric Gordon, because his bench contributions added up to a larger number of teams wins compared to the Clips, but Lou’s stats were much better than every other sixth man. He earned it.
Julio: Lou Williams
As a bench player, Williams averaged career-highs in points (22.6), assists (5.3) and minutes (32.8), and became the first player to ever lead his team in points and assists while starting less than a third of his team’s games. That’s enough to get the award.
Chris: Lou Williams
Honestly, no one else really stood out this year for this one. Eric Gordon was cool but the real story of the Rockets season was Harden and CP3. Lou became THE star player on the Clippers as a bench player. How do you not win when that is the case? Answer: You don’t. Moving on.
MOST IMPROVED PLAYER
Joey: Victor Oladipo
I used to get this award every year as a kid, but I’ve grown to realize it wasn’t because I necessarily improved, it was because people just really liked me, and wanted me to know that with an award. Anywho, Oladipo got a lot better this year, more so than anyone else. That’s the criteria!
Julio: Victor Oladipo
Oladipo was starting to look like a bust when he was with OKC. He has now turned into a perennial all star.
Chris: Victor Oladipo
The guy went from a role player to one of the top 20 players in the league. He took a team with almost no supporting cast to 7 games with the Eastern Conference Champion Cavs. And honestly that was the toughest series Lebron saw all playoffs. Done. Over. Vic come up and claim your prize.
COACH OF THE YEAR
Joey: Brad Stevens
The injuries this team was dealt were brutal, but the Celtics made teams look foolish throughout the season and the playoffs. Credit to the coach. Their offensive schemes were a joy to watch, and I really hate to write that, being a Lakers fan.
Julio: Brad Stevens
Lose your top free agent signing in the first game and your starting point guard, you have a rookie and a second year player in your starting line, and you still get the 2 seed in the east. That’s enough for me.
Chris: Quin Snyder
You lose a top 15 player, draft the potential ROY with the 13th pick, and you go on a 10 win streak to bump your squad from the 9th seed to the 5th, WHAT THE HELL ARE WE DEBATING HERE?!
Ya Brad Stevens had a great year and you could say he coached his way to the Eastern Conference Finals but I hate to break this to you readers, NBA awards are for the regular season not the playoffs!!! Stevens had Kyrie (a top 10 player) most of the year and a very good supporting staff with Horford, Tatum and Brown. Oh ya and he coaches in the East which again is trash.
What Snyder did with his team to keep them competitive with the personnel he had can not go unnoticed. He wins this though not by much.
EXECUTIVE OF THE YEAR
Joey: Danny Ainge
The Celtics are primed to compete at a high level for years to come because of what Ainge pulled off this year, and they still have four draft picks in 2019 to negotiate with. Winning.
Julio: Daryl Morey
Signed a marquee free agent with Chris Paul and had arguably the best under the radar signing with PJ Tucker, leading to the Rockets having the best record in the NBA.
Chris: Danny Ainge
Danny Ainge is the Billy Beane of basketball except he has won a title and Beane hasn’t. He doesn’t care if he screws over a player he does anything he can to win. He has an amazing eye for talent, can work the $ numbers better than anyone and he hired an amazing coach. Not to mention he pulled off one of the biggest trades in the past decade by landing Kyrie from the Cavs. Yup it’s him.
ALL NBA TEAM
Joey:
1st Team
PG: Lebron James
SG: James Harden
SF: Kevin Durant
PF: Giannis Antetokounmpo
C: Anthony Davis
2nd Team
PG: Russell Westbrook
SG: Demar DeRozan
SF: Paul George
PF: Al Horford
C: Joel Embiid
Julio:
First Team
PG: Damian Lillard
SG: James Harden
SF: Lebron
PF: Kevin Durant
C: Anthony Davis
Second Team
PG: Steph Curry
SG: Victor Oladipo
SF: Demar DeRozen
PF: Giannis Antetokounmpo
C: Joel Embiid
Chris:
First Team
PG: Damian Lillard
SG: James Harden
SF: Lebron James
PF: Kevin Durant
C: Anthony Davis
Second Team
PG: Ben Simmons
SG: Victor Oladipo
SF: Giannis Antetokounmpo
PF: Lamarcus Aldridge
C: Al Horford
Maybe one day at least one of us will have a real ballot. Until then we will just have to keep playing pretend.