NBA Awards Predictions: Predicting 2018-19 NBA Awards
My season preview articles are coming to a close and soon it will be interesting to see just how close or far off my predictions were. I've done my rankings of the top 10 players in the East and the West going into the season. From a team point of view, I've done my playoff picture predictions for the East and West. Now it's time to discuss the individual hardware. The 2018-19 NBA award predictions.
There are six main NBA awards: Most Valuable Player, Rookie of the Year, Most Improved Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Sixth Man of the Year, and Coach of the Year.
Last year we saw James Harden finally win an MVP after being the runner-up for the past 2 seasons. The Most Improved Player, Victor Oladipo, exploded this season and surprised almost everybody and showed that the Paul George trade wasn't as clear-cut of a winner as it once was thought to be.
Despite missing a significant portion of the season, Rudy Gobert was able to come back into form and show the fans why he is the best defender in the game by winning Defensive Player of the Year. Lou Williams managed to get some All-Star acknowledgement despite coming off the bench as he captured the second Sixth Man of the Year award of his career. Lastly, Dwane Casey was able to lead the Raptors to the best regular season in franchise history but was fired after the team choked in the playoffs. His firing did not stop him from winning the 2017-18 Coach of the Year award.
It's going to be a brand new season, which means there may be a brand new set of winners for these awards. For this piece, we will talk about the favourite to win the award and some other candidates. For each player, there will be a reason why they could win it, as well as a reason why they won't.
Here are the predictions for the 2018-19 NBA Awards.
Sixth Man of the Year
Prediction: Lou Williams - Guard, Los Angeles Clippers
2017-18 stats: 22.6 PPG, 5.3 APG, 2.5 RPG
Why will he win?
Since coming to Toronto in 2014, Lou Williams has become a scoring force off the bench who has only gotten better and better. He managed to draw up some All-Star discussions despite being a sixth man, which is unbelievable. The name Lou Williams has become synonymous with Sixth Man, and now he has set a standard for bench players to achieve. He's showing that sixth men can be very valuable to a team. He's proven. He has a track record of being a dominant scorer in the league and is familiar with the role.
Why won't he win?
The Clippers have so many guards on their roster. Lou Williams is the best one among all of them, but it will be interesting to see how Doc Rivers balances the minutes for all the guards. The Clippers also drafted a backcourt duo of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jerome Robinson who may need some time on the court to develop their game. As a result, it may reduce Williams' minutes and his touches.
Other Candidates
Fred VanVleet - Guard, Toronto Raptors
Why will he win?
If you ever watch a Raptors game or see highlights, you will notice Fred VanVleet. His presence on the court is one of the reasons for the Raptors' success. The "bench mob" was the title given to the Raptors bench, who were the best bench in the league last year. VanVleet was the primary playmaker and led the "bench mob" that was so successful this season and helped push the Raptors to their best regular season in franchise history. He does everything on the court and is not afraid to get rough. He puts all his efforts into the game, helps get everyone involved and has been one of the best backup point guards in the league.
Why he won't win?
VanVleet's efforts and impact aren't measured accurately with the standard NBA stats. He only averaged 8.6 points, roughly 2 rebounds and 2 assists per game. When people discuss which players are not shown accurately in the boxscore, VanVleet is a name that always comes up in the discussion. The low numbers are due to the fact he does not receive as many minutes as traditional sixth men such as Lou Williams. His numbers are also low because the "bench mob" moved the ball around a lot meaning no one player stood out with big numbers.
Denis Schroder - Guard, Oklahoma City Thunder
Why will he win?
The newly acquired Thunder is very excited for his role as a sixth man and will be getting a lot of touches off the bench. A problem the Thunder faced last year was their lack of depth. This season, they did improve by adding Schroder and Noel. However, offensively their only viable option off the bench will be Schroder. He will have the opportunity to take over the playmaking and scoring when the Thunder's big two need rest. He has proven he can score, as he is coming off a season where he averaged 19 points per game.
Why he won't win?
Not many players have lived up to their potential playing with Russell Westbrook. It is still unknown how head coach Billy Donovan will balance the minutes and play Schroder. If Schroder gets a lot of minutes playing alongside Westbrook, he won't be able to get many touches and therefore his stats won't be as impressive. His chances of winning this award will depend on his fit with the organization.