Welcome to the beginning of 2023, where the NBA’s regular season is just about at its halfway point. The season is zooming by but there’s a lot to talk about, including the race for different NBA awards.
Some players have reached incredible heights while others have failed to reach expectations. Of course, injuries to noteworthy players have played a role in what’s transpired on the court thus far, but the show must go on.
Today, our panel of NBA gurus at For The Win make our midseason picks for MVP, Defensive Player of the Year, Coach of the Year, Sixth Man of the Year, Rookie of the Year and Most Improved Player.
Here are the results.
Most Valuable Player
Cole Huff: Nikola Jokic
The popular discourse around Jokic before the season was that he probably wouldn’t win a third-straight MVP simply because of voter fatigue. But he’s one of the most impactful players in the league and is casually averaging 25.3 points, 10.8 rebounds and 9.5 assists on a Nuggets team that currently sits atop the Western Conference Standings. What’s not “MVP” about that?
Bryan Kalbrosky: Luka Doncic
There is simply no way to defend Luka Doncic, who just had a six-game streak in which he averaged 44.5 points, 11.3 rebounds, 9.8 assists, and 2.2 steals per game. He had three games in which he scored at least 50 points during that stretch, including a 60-point, 20-rebound triple-double. He is truly on another level right now, leading the league in points per game and assist percentage. It’s an MVP-caliber season for a player who will probably win multiple during his career.
Michael Sykes: Kevin Durant
This feels like Kevin Durant’s year. The Nets were one of the worst teams in the league. The team is playing with the shell of Ben Simmons. Kyrie Irving is a walking soap opera. Yet, still, Brooklyn is just 1.0 game out of 1st place in the East. It’s all because of Durant. He’s shooting a career-high 56% from the field on a bunch of tough jumpers and his 3-point shot is starting to come back to him. It’s still early, yes. But Durant is still rounding himself into form. What that final form looks like is an absolute nightmare for everyone else.
Defensive Player of the Year
Bryan Kalbrosky: Brook Lopez
By the end of the season, this award should hopefully go to Jaren Jackson Jr. But as of right now, he hasn’t played enough minutes to separate himself from the rest of the candidates. That’s why I’m going with Brook Lopez, who leads the NBA in blocks and is essential to Milwaukee’s elite defensive unit. Lopez has four games in which he recorded 6 blocks and seven games with at least 5. He accomplishes this while rarely fouling, and he is one of just three players who has recorded more blocks than fouls.
Cole Huff: Jaren Jackson Jr.
He’s got the best defensive rating of anyone on the shortlist for the award and is having one of the great shot-blocking seasons we’ve seen in a while. The only argument against him would be games played. His start to the season was delayed while recovering from knee surgery.
Michael Sykes: Giannis Antetokounmpo
Milwaukee has the second-best defensive rating in the NBA behind the Cleveland Cavaliers. Lopez and Antetokounmpo are the catalysts to that. As good as Lopez is, though, Antetokounmpo is also a bruiser at the rim. He doesn’t have the blocks, obviously. But opponents are only shooting 50% within 6 feet or less of the rim when Antetokunmpo is the closest defender. Only Jaren Jackson’s 47% is better, but Antetokounmpo has played more. So he’s the pick here for me.
Coach of the Year
Michael Sykes: Willie Green
If you’d told me the Pelicans would be a playoff team coming into the season, I would’ve believed you. They’ve got a solid roster with a good core of young players led by two All-Star caliber forwards in Brandon Ingram and Zion Williamson. They should be good. But vying for the number one spot in the West? The same West with the Nuggets, Grizzlies, Clippers, Warriors and all of the other teams we were picking to go to the Finals? Nah, that’s some magic right there. Not to mention that they’ve done it while only getting 10 games played together from Williamson, Ingram and CJ McCollum. Willie Green has those dudes playing some fantastic basketball.
Cole Huff: Jacque Vaughn
It may seem like Vaughn joined the party too late into the season, but in reality, he’s coached 32 of the Nets’ 39 games. He’s won 24 of those games while stabilizing the locker room and turning Brooklyn into a top-3 offense and top-5 defense over that time. I’m not sure how many coaches could’ve stepped into that situation in Brooklyn when Vaugn did and succeeded in a similar way.
Bryan Kalbrosky: Joe Mazzulla
Even if he started his tenure as interim head coach of the Celtics under more normal or less chaotic circumstances, Joe Mazzulla would still deserve very serious consideration for the NBA’s Coach of the Year. But when considering the context, it is even more impressive that Boston has performed as well as they have so far this season. Their offense had a historically good start to the year and they are a force to be reckoned with.
Sixth Man of the Year
Cole Huff: Malcolm Brogdon
This was probably the hardest award to pick but I think Brogdon is the right choice. He’s been extremely efficient and positively contributes to an already good team during his minutes.
Bryan Kalbrosky: Christian Wood
My heart is telling me to show some love to Jose Alvarado — the Pelicans have outscored opponents by 153 points when he is on the floor, which is the second-best plus-minus of all non-starts in the NBA. But more realistically, I think Christian Wood wins. He is currently averaging more points per 100 possessions off the bench than any other player in the NBA. The last players to lead the league in this category (Tyler Herro, Jordan Clarkson, Montrezl Harrell, and Lou Williams — two years in a row) have won the award in five consecutive years.
Michael Sykes: Bobby Portis
This is normally the “pick the gunner guard off the bench” award, but Bobby Portis has done more than enough this season to be considered a frontrunner this year. He’s averaging 14.2 points and 10.3 rebounds off the bench, which is impressive on its own. But the fact that all that is coming in just 26.5 minutes per night makes it even more incredible.
Rookie of the Year
Bryan Kalbrosky: Paolo Banchero
I wish there was more of a contest for Rookie of the Year, but it’s Paolo Banchero and there isn’t much mystery surrounding it. Of the top-10 scoring performances from rookies in 2022-23, Banchero has already recorded six of them. He looks every bit worthy of the No. 1 overall pick and he has already made a massive impact on Orlando’s offensive identity.
Cole Huff: Paolo Banchero
Whatever race existed between Banchero and Benn Mathurin early in the season is now gone. Paolo is doing some historic things statistically, which makes this award his until proven otherwise.
Michael Sykes: Paolo Banchero
There have been lots of impressive rookies this season. Benn Mathurin gets to the line at will. Jalen Williams is already a stabilizing force in Oklahoma City. Walker Kessler looks like he could be an elite rim protector in Utah. But Banchero is doing things LeBron James did as a rookie and, well, that ends the race right there.
Most Improved Player
Michael Sykes: Lauri Markannen
Nobody wanted Lauri Markannen this offseason. Every team had their chance to get him — the Cavaliers made him available in trade before he was included in the Donovan Mitchell deal. Now, he’s dropping 40-point games and he can’t miss from deep. There’s a whole lot of regret swirling around the NBA right now.
Cole Huff: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
If your pick for this award is either Tyrese Haliburton or Lauri Markannen, I can’t tell you that you’re wrong. But it’s hard for me to go with one of them knowing that SGA is averaging nearly 31.0 points per game on an overachieving (by their standards) OKC squad. He might be ready to claim the new Clutch Player of the Year Award.
Bryan Kalbrosky: Tyrese Haliburton
While a part of me considered giving this award to Luka Doncic, who has taken the jump from superstar to jaw-dropping superstar, I’ve got to hand it to Indiana’s Tyrese Haliburton. He was thrust into a role with a much bigger usage rate than he ever had before, even in college, and he has handled this spectacularly well and is currently leading the league in assists. His on-court development as the offensive engine and face of the franchise is delightful.
