All-Star Break Winners 2018
Picking the NBA MVP was a chore this time last year. This year, it's a different story.
As the Association hits its annual All-Star break, it's time for us to once again take a step back and survey the league to determine who deserves to be blessed with the hardware—we're talking naming our Rookie of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Sixth Man of the Year, Most Improved Player, and Coach of the Year.
As we take a week off from meaningful basketball, we bestow the league's most prestigious honors on some of the brightest stars but are saving the top award for The Beard for a second straight season. Remember, Harden didn't take it home last year after we gave him the nod at the break. Russell Westbrook played like a madman down the stretch and picked up the award. But Russ is out of the running right now and Harden's only competition might be LeBron James. Here are all the reasons why the Rockets dynamic guard should be the 2017-18 NBA MVP with less than eight weeks left before the playoffs start.
Illustrations by @adambomb44.
MVP — James Harden
James Harden is currently first in points per game (31.3), PER (30.5), win shares (11), box plus/minus (10.9), offensive plus/minus (10.2), VORP (5.9), second in assists (9.0), recorded the first ever 60-point triple-double in NBA history, and the Rockets have the best record in the league—yes, better than Golden State, even with Chris Paul missing 18 games. If the Beard and Houston continue at this pace, it’s going to take a miraculous second half from LeBron James to derail Harden’s MVP chances. The step-back feels more viscous, his turnovers are down, his 3-point percentage is up from last year (38.4 percent); James Harden should win MVP with ease this season. — Angel Diaz
Rookie of the Year — Ben Simmons
Picking a Rookie of the Year is a lot like sorting out who the first pick of the NBA Draft will be. It starts out with a stone-cold lock before vacillations begin, generally trending toward a “never-would-have-thought-of-him” sort who performs well above expectations—the expectations of the media and the Basketball Twitter chorus anyway—and briefly touches on other dark horse candidates before eventually circling right back to where everything started. In this case, the stone-cold lock is do-everything forward Ben Simmons, currently averaging 16.4 points, 7.7 boards, and 7.4 assists for the 30-25 Sixers. Simmons didn’t play at all with his 2016 draft class due to injury, but the delayed start didn’t seem to hurt him any. The 6'10" LSU product posted double-doubles in each of his first three games, and a triple-double in his fourth, becoming the first player since Shaq to post double-doubles in his first four games. Just before the break, he became the first rookie with six-plus triple-doubles in a season since Magic Johnson in 1979-80, according to ESPN. And like the Diesel, Simmons will complete his rookie season by hoisting the Eddie Gottlieb Trophy. (Although, unlike Shaq he won’t be an All-Star, because people are stupid.) So, sorry also-rans Donovan Mitchell and Jayson Tatum—but you’ve got to trust the process. — Russ Bengtson
Defensive Player of the Year — Paul George
You'll hear plenty of arguments for Kevin Durant, who is averaging a career-high in blocked shots this season and defending in ways we've never seen before. KD's teammate, and last year's winner, Draymond Green is a worthy candidate, as well. There's Andre Drummond who is leading the league in rebounds per game, defensive rebounds per game, defensive win shares, and defensive rating and among the league leaders in blocked shots. But we're giving it to Oklahoma City's Paul George who is leading the league in steals per game (2.2)—almost double his career mark—is fourth in steal percentage (3.1), and seventh in defensive win shares. Known as one of the best defenders before he was traded to OKC last summer, George has helped the Thunder become one of the top five defensive squads in the NBA and an emerging threat in the Western Conference to the Warriors and Rockets in the second round. He's now regularly getting the toughest assignments the Thunder losing Andre Roberson and hasn't let it affect his game on the other side of the ball where his numbers are pretty damn close to what they were last year in Indianapolis when he didn't have to share the ball with Russell Westbrook and Carmelo Anthony. — Adam Caparell
Coach of the Year — Brad Stevens
We gave Mike D’Antoni the Coach of the Year award at this point last season, and really, we could do it again. He’s got that whole James Harden and Chris Paul thing that most NBA fans didn’t think would work, well, working. But let’s show some love to Stevens here. Outside of finding a way to seamlessly incorporate Kyrie Irving into the starting lineup after trading away Isaiah Thomas and Jae Crowder last summer, Stevens has also managed to deal with the unexpected loss of the team’s top free agency pickup Gordon Hayward without missing a beat. He’s done it by maximizing the talents of a handful of young players, including Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, and Terry Rozier, while at the same time keeping the Celtics near the top of the league’s defensive standings. Will that be enough to get by the Cavs in the playoffs this season? That’s still the big question. But if nothing else, it sure looks like the Celtics are headed back to the Eastern Conference Finals for a second straight season—and that’s way more than anyone could have expected when Hayward went down for the year about five minutes into the team’s first game back in October. — Chris Yuscavage
Most Improved Player — Victor Oladipo
Sometimes all you need is a change or scenery. Case in point: Victor Oladipo. The young Pacers guard is currently thriving as the new leader in Indy, averaging 24.4 points per game, which is about nine more than last season when he was on the Oklahoma City Thunder. What changed for Oladipo? It's hard to point to one thing, but it's clear that being the main guy on a solid team is his new role. Oladipo will be heading to his first All-Star Game this weekend and has the Pacers positioned to make the playoffs, which many thought would be impossible after they traded away Paul George this summer. However, Oladipo has taken the challenge head on and become a must-see guy night in and night out. From the dunks to clutch threes, Oladipo is a lock for Most Improved, which is not something many probably predicted a few months ago. — Zach Frydenlund
Sixth Man of the Year — Lou Williams
The Clippers first man off the bench is averaging career highs in points (23.2), assists (5.3), box plus/minus (2.5), and VORP (2.0) at 31 years of age in his 13th season. Said stats earned him a contract extension worth three years and $24 million and kept him in L.A. before the trade deadline. He should’ve made the All-Star team over either Draymond Green, Klay Thompson, or LaMarcus Aldridge. I’m sure the Clippers record had a lot to do with it. But if it weren’t for Lou’s productivity off the bench, the second Los Angeles team wouldn’t be three game over .500 and flirting with the postseason after injuries (and the Blake Griffin trade) decimated the Clippers. — Angel Diaz