Pre-Season Individual Award Predictions
It’s way to early to be making these predictions, but what the hell. It’s fun to just take a stab at who they might be. It’s my birthday, and I have shit to do so I’m going to keep this brief. We did get news about Paul Millsap, he is heading to the Nets, I figured he would be heading to a more serious contender, but I was still holding out hope the Bulls would land him.
Anyway, here are my way too early individual award predictions:
MVP: Luka Doncic - it’s time. I think Luka is going to have an even better season than last, I anticipate the Mavs are going to try to bring in someone to help him, because we all know Porzingis isn’t getting it done. His contract is not easy to move, and he is not all that desirable so it may be tough but I think that is going to be key for the Mavs to progress from last year. If they don’t make any moves, it may only strengthen his MVP case because he will have that much more on his shoulders. Luka for MVP, don’t believe me? Just watch.
DPOY: Giannis Antetokounmpo - Enough Rudy Gobert. Giannis is going to add his 2nd DPOY to his growing resume. The guy is just as his nickname states, a freak. He runs like a deer, is the strongest guy on the court most nights, and has an unmatched skill-set. I imagine he will be in the running for the MVP as well.
Rookie of the Year: Jalen Green - No disrespect to Cade, but Jalen Green is already a superstar. He has that swagger to him, the fans are going to love him, he is competing with John Wall for playing time, but I see no reason he can’t slide in at the 2 and get plenty of minutes along side Wall. I think Jalen will only benefit from having a mentor in John Wall. He is this teams future and they would be foolish not to give him the spotlight. It will be close, but I think Jalen Green edges out Cade Cunningham for the ROY this year.
6th Man of the Year: Derrick Rose - Why not? I think he made a great case last year for the award, and I don’t see any reason that he can’t do it again. If the Knicks are going to continue to succeed they are going to need all the help they can get from their veterans, and D-Rose still has a lot of hooping left him. Might be a homer pick, but I think he has a legitimate chance at the award.
I know there are more individual awards that are handed out, but I am not going to touch on those now. I will probably update my thoughts as the season progresses, and can dive into some of the others, like most improved player etc. I am considering projecting All-NBA first and second teams but that will be in a future post.
I am off to some birthday shenanigans, so that’s all for now, as always, thanks for reading, and have a great weekend, this is ALL NET.