All-NBA First Team
Anthony Davis, New Orleans Pelicans
Kevin Durant, Golden State Warriors
James Harden, Houston Rockets
LeBron James, Cleveland Cavaliers
Damian Lillard, Portland Trail Blazers
NBA All-Rookie Team
Kyle Kuzma, Los Angeles Lakers
Lauri Markkanen, Chicago Bulls
Donovan Mitchell, Utah Jazz
Ben Simmons, Philadelphia 76ers
Jayson Tatum, Boston Celtics
NBA All-Defensive Team
Rudy Gobert, Utah Jazz
Anthony Davis, New Orleans Pelicans
Victor Oladipo, Indiana Pacers
Jrue Holiday, New Orleans Pelicans
Robert Covington, Philadelphia 76ers
NBA Cares Community Assist Award: Kevin Durant, Golden State Warriors
Twyman-Stokes Teammate of the Year Award: Jamal Crawford, Minnesota Timberwolves
Lifetime Achievement Award: Oscar Robertson
Sager Strong Award: Dikembe Mutombo
NBA Sportsmanship Award: Kemba Walker, Charlotte Hornets
NBA Basketball Executive of the Year: Daryl Morey, Houston Rockets
Kia NBA Most Improved Player: Victor Oladipo, Indiana Pacers
There were a few names who could have walked away with the most improved this season. Could have gone to Clint Capela in Houston, it also could have gone to Spencer Dinwiddie in Brooklyn. Both guys had great years, Capela put up career highs in all the major offensive catagoires. Same thing with Dinwiddie, who played in almost every game for Brooklyn and was able to start to establish himself at this level. The reason, though, the award went to Oladipo was because of how much his game was raised in Indiana. He made the all star team for the first time. His points per game average went over 20 for the first time in his career (he averaged 23.1 ppg a new career high). He really came into his own as a threat in this game and was one of the key pieces for the Pacers all season long.
Kia NBA Sixth Man Award: Lou Williams, LA Clippers
To be fair, Fred VanVleet did a fine job as one of the "Bench Mob" in Toronto. He was a solid reason why the Raptors were the best team in the East during the regular season. At the end of the day, it came down to two guys, Eric Gordon of Houston, who won the award last year, and Lou Williams, who's now won it for a second time. Gordon averaged 18 points a game and was a pretty big cog in the machine known as the Houston Rockets. This was Williams award to lose though, because of the type of year he had. Williams had already won the award with Toronto in 2015 and was just as good off the bench for Clippers this year as he was for Toronto three years ago. He played just over 32 minutes a night coming off the bench and put up a career high 22.6 points a game. When your that productive coming off the bench almost every night, it shows just how good a ball player you are. It was also a strong bounce back year for Williams, who struggled through a rough year in Houston last year.
Kia NBA Defensive Player of the Year: Rudy Gobert, Utah Jazz
The three guys that were finalists for defensive player of the year, Rudy Gobert, Anthony Davis and Joel Embiid, are all big men. Sure it was a good year for Davis, who was not only up for this award, but was also a finalist for league MVP as well, and rightfully so with the year he had for the Pelicans. The reason though he fell short in this award was because the other two guys put up slightly better defensive numbers. Embiid had a good year protecting the paint for the 76ers, but again wasn't as great on the defensive side of the floor as Gobert. Utah had the best defensive team in the league. When Gobert came back from injury, Utah allowed a league low 97.5 PPG. He ranked second in the league in blocks with 129, and was able to put up those numbers with missing 28 games. Those two numbers are the reason why Rudy walked away with the award.
NBA Coach of the Year: Dwane Casey, Toronto Raptors
Talk about awkward. Dwane Casey became the first ever fired coach to win coach of the year. Toronto had the best record in the East and yet got swept in the second round of the playoffs by LeBron and the Cavs. But what he did do was lead the Raptors to the best record in the East and helped the Raptors to a franchise record 59 win regular season. What Brad Stevens was able to pull off in Boston and what Quin Snyder did in Utah were both amazing, but Casey pulling off the record setting year in Toronto says a lot for how good a coach he is. It sucks that things ended the way they did in Toronto, but over the course of the five years he spent North of the Boarder, says a lot for how good a coach he is and how we was able to get the most out of his players. Here's hoping he lands on his feet quick with his new job in Detroit
Kia NBA Rookie Of The Year: Ben Simmons, Philadelphia 76ers
Donovan Mitchell of Utah and Jayson Taytum of Boston both had good years and Taytum was outstanding for the Celtics in the playoffs. But this award goes to the best of the best during the regular season. Simmons missed all of last year with a foot injury, so he came back this year and started his career with a bang. He joined Oscar Robertson as the only other rookie in NBA history to average 15 points, eight rebounds and eight assists per game. Some are arguing that it should have gone to Mitchell because he had a good year and was a true rookie, as compared to Simmons, who missed all of last season with that injury.
Kia NBA Most Valuable Player: James Harden Houston Rockets
Some argued that Harden should have won it last year over Russell Westbrook. Well he didn't but he was able to pull it off and pick up the award this year. Harden was the highest scoring player in the league, averaging 30.4 a game all season long and helped power the Rockets to the best record in all of basketball. Not only did Harden lead the league in points per game average, he also lead the league in three-pointers made (265) and 50-point games (four). Harden received 86 out of 101 possible first-place votes. Harden had the kind of year that basketball players only dream about. It would have been better for him, and the Rockets, had he been able to lead them past Golden State and Cleveland to win a title. Take that stinging factor out of the equation, and just look at the numbers he put up during the regular season, and you realize just how great a year Harden had and why he should be named MVP of the worlds best league.
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