Views from far far away Vol. 11

Views from far far away-2016-17 NBA Awards
The NBA season is officially over. The cancerous season that was the 2016-17 Brooklyn Nets season is FINALLY over and Nets fans can finally get rid of the body. The Nets record for 2016-17 is 20-62. That is undoubtedly the worst record in franchise history, and one of the quickest seasons to forget as a Nets fan. Just throw this season, and next season in the garbage. The Nets did go under the 20.5-win total that Vegas predicted in October (which I correctly predicted to bet the under), and I will also say the win total should move to 22.5 games for 2017-18. Let’s see if Vegas agrees with this mark for Brooklyn.

Tomorrow also marks the day that the NBA writers must hand in their votes for the MVP, Rookie of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, All-NBA, and the Coach of the Year. I personally don’t have a vote, but for the fun of it, why not just take a crack at it.

I will start with the Coach of the Year. There are some great candidates this year and is one of the most interesting races in recent memory. The case can be made for Boston Celtics coach Brad Stevens for winning the Eastern Conference in the shadow of the great collapse of 2017 for the Cleveland Cavilers. Steve Kerr has to get some votes for Coach of the Year because he has yet again lead the Warriors to the best record in the NBA at 66-15 and the Number One seed in the Western Conference. Erik Spoelstra will be my fifth spot on the ballot because of the run that Miami made this season just barely missing the playoffs thanks to tie-breakers. The seasons that Hassan Whiteside, Goran Dragic, and Dion Waiters have had cannot be overlooked when you look at this season. This team was dead to rights when Dwyane Wade decided to go back home and play in Chicago. The Heat in the preseason where projected to win 36 games and beat the mark by 5 games.

However, none of these coaches compare to the effort that my vote has down. My vote for Coach of the Year is San Antonio Spurs coach Greg Popovich. Pop is the best coach in the NBA because he only has one All-Star in a league that is unfathomable in how top heavy the league is with Stars teaming up. To put this in perspective; the Golden State Warriors have 4 out of the 5 best players in the Western Conference apart from Kawhi Leonard who happens to be a Spur. The Spurs don’t have a “second best player” that they can lean on night in and night out. Yet, San Antonio recorded a 61-20 record, being the 2nd seed in the West. The Spurs also have the best chance to knock off the Warriors before Golden State gets to the Finals. Pop also has lead the resting movement which he must do when you look at the age of their “stars” whether you agree with resting players or not. Pop has been the best coach in the NBA for the past decade, why shouldn’t he be given an award he will care nothing about, and completely disregard the interview that he will have to go through after the award.

The next award up on the list is the Defensive Player of the Year Award. There are to me only two players that should be in questioned for this award. Those two are Golden State Warriors Forward Draymond Green. Green is averaging 7.9 rebounds, 2 steals, and 1.4 blocks per game. The knock for Draymond is that he is on such a good team, but his ability to guard all five positions is unheard of. The other is Utah Jazz Center Rudy Gobert who is averaging 12.8 rebounds, 2.7 blocks per game, and the highest defensive win shares. I will buy into that knock-on Draymond and give my Defensive Player of the Year to Rudy Gobert. Gobert is the best player on the Jazz and is one of the biggest reasons why the Jazz are the 5th seed in the West, and their huge improvement from season to season.

For the Rookie of the Year this year, there is no question that it is Joel Embiid. Even with him playing 1/3 of the season, but the numbers that he provided cannot just not be rewarded. Embiid averaged 20 points, 7.8 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2.5 blocks per game. The other stats that jump off the page are Embiid’s Usage Rate and Player Efficiency Rating. Malcolm Brodgon’s Usage Rate is 18.5% and his PER is 14.8. Embiid’s Usage Rate is 36% and his PER is 24.0 which just seems impossible in the amount of time Embiid was on the floor. Embiid is unquestionable the best rookie that qualifies for the award, but somehow will not win the award because injuries kept him off the floor.

Getting to the All-NBA teams which is one of the most interesting debuts of the year, possibly more intriguing than the NBA debut. The amount of talent that is in the league right now is just mind boggling and almost unfair. Guys like Paul George, Damien Lillard, and DeMar DeRozan are players that have just missed my All-NBA ballot. With that said, here is my teams:
1st Team All-NBA   
1.      Russell Westbrook (G)
2.      James Harden (G)
3.      Lebron James (F)
4.      Kawhi (F)
5.      Gobert (C )
2nd Team All-NBA
1.       Steph Curry (G)
2.      Isaiah Thomas (G)
3.      Kevin Durant (F)
4.      Draymond Green (F)
5.      Anthony Davis (C )
3rd Team All-NBA
1.      John Wall (G)
2.      Jimmy Butler (G)
3.      Giannis Antetokounmpo (F)
4.      Nikola Jokić (F)
5.      DeAndre Jordan (C )

This list has a few players that might bring up some conversation. For me, you cannot leave Draymond Green or Isaiah Thomas off the 2nd team because what they’ve done throughout the course of the season. Green will mostly likely finish second in the Defensive Player of the Year race so that will nail his name to the 2nd team forward slot. Isaiah Thomas on the other hand, took over the NBA and more specifically the 4th quarter for a good month and half. He is also the best player on the best team in the Eastern Conference which has to count for something and to me gives him the edge over Wall. Jimmy Butler outlasts DeRozan because without Butler, the Bulls will not be in the playoffs, there is no Chicago Bulls without Butler.

Now, moving to the most securitized award of the year, the MVP. I won’t waste any time; my MVP is Russell Westbrook. I wrote a column a couple weeks back on why he is my MVP, and with performances against the Suns and Nuggets just add to the collection of games where Westbrook took over the game and there was NOTHING the opposing team could do. I’ve already talked about the Usage Rate, PER, and Value Over Replacement which are all the best in the NBA. Than you get in the conversation of Westbrook breaking Oscar Roberson’s single season Triple-Double record of 41 (now 42), and the fact that Westbrook averaged a Triple-Double (31/10/10) while also leading the league in scoring. James Harden has had an incredible season, and will finish an extremely close second to Westbrook, but not having the same advanced stats that Westbrook has will ultimately be the reason why he is finishing second again in the MVP race. Harden will get his season where he has the best season and will be the unequivocal MVP. What Harden has done will not go without acknowledgement with bringing Houston to where they are, or even validating Mike D'Antoni’s coaching career (possibly even saving his job).

I think it would be a blatant crime not to give Westbrook the MVP, when we look back at the 2016-17 season in 20 years, we will remember this year as “The Year of Westbrook,” and for him not be awarded the MVP would tarnish the memory of an incredible season. Oh, and just one last note. If Westbrook wasn’t on the Thunder this season, by statistics the Thunder would’ve finished 35-46 due to Westbrook’s 12.4 Value over Replacement. That is just two games better than the New Orleans Pelicans, one game worse than the Charlotte Hornets, and four games better than the New York Knicks. How’s that for a mic drop.
Sources:(espn.com, cbssports.com, basketballreference.com)

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