The 2015-16 NBA season is mere nights away from commencing and the debates about the league’s most valuable player and top rookie are already in full swing. While the NBA rarely sees players come out of obscurity to win any of the coveted awards it is fun to speculate on just who of the well-knows will walk away with some hardware at season’s end. Without further adieu let’s delve into the debate as we throw down eDraft’s choices for the 2015-16 NBA season award winners.
Coach of the Year
There are so many good candidates for this award that it is hard to simply narrow the list much less pick a winner here. With all the top teams in the league like Cleveland, San Antonio, Houston, Oklahoma, Golden State and the Los Angeles Clippers having viable candidates it is tough to pick a winner from that crowd.
Two teams that don’t get a lot of credit for their play; however, are the Boston Celtics and the Milwaukee Bucks and indeed I do see Brad Stevens and Jason Kidd battling it out for this award come season end.
Stevens certainly has less expectations on him in Boston as that team is in rebuild mode and any playoff success would be deemed a massive success. Milwaukee on the other hand has some pressure as they spent some money this offseason to improve their playoff positioning and hopefully make a run through the Eastern Conference.
Jason Kidd will get his Bucks playing together and with the emergence of Jabari Parker and Giannis Antetokounmpo complementing players like Khris Middleton and Greg Monroe; this Bucks team could make some serious noise this year. Look for Kidd to win this award in a close fought battle.
Defensive Player of the Year:
The top three candidates for this award in our opinion are Kawhi Leonard, Draymond Green and Rudy Gobert. Green is the easy pick to repeat here as he continues to demonstrate his versatility in defending a variety of positions and players on a nightly basis. Green is certainly worthy of consideration; however, he isn’t out pick here. Leonard is without a doubt one of the league’s premier lock-down defenders and he can single handedly change the outcome of a game defensively.
A consideration for Leonard heading into this season is that he now has a better rim protector in LaMarcus Aldridge playing behind him and that safety blanket may hinder his nomination come season end.
Our projected winner here is none other than the Utah Jazz’s Rudy Gobert who will anchor that Jazz team defensively. Gobert is a true game changer defensively as he can protect the lane and the rim like no one else. If he can stay healthy and the Jazz make a playoff push towards that eighth seed in the West then look for Gobert to garner serious consideration for this award.
Rookie of the Year
This year’s rookie crop has the potential to be quite impactful. Just how impactful they will be this season remains to be seen however. With young players like Jahlil Okafor Karl-Anthony Towns and D'Angelo Russell in the mix along with some very talented european players; this rookie class could be headlining the league in a few years.
With that in mind, there are two players in particular who are just a bit more setup for early success than the others and those two are Emmanuel Mudiay for the Denver Nuggets and Mario Hezonja from the Orlando Magic.
This season it is Mudiay who has the edge in terms of playing time and opportunity as he has already been anointed the starting point guard for the Nuggets. Mudiay will certainly have his struggles this season, however, that maturity that came with playing professional ball last season in China will help him cope with the travel, long season and the physicality of the league. Look for Mudiay to win the honour come season’s end, although it will be closely contested to be sure.
Sixth Man of the Year
This award is one of the hardest to predict as team’s rotations often change throughout the season due to injuries and playmaking abilities. With that being said there are a couple players who will likely be firmly implanted in their role regardless of what goes down during the season. The most likely recipient of this award is Boston’s Isaiah Thomas and it is tough to argue against him as the early front-runner here.
With that in mind there is an interesting situation developing in Utah where both Alec Burks and Rodney Hood are battling it out for the starter’s spot with the other being relegated to bench duty. The loser of this competition could become a de-facto front-runner for this award as the Jazz will need their bench depth in order to compete with some of the more talented Western Conference clubs.
For my money, Burks could find himself relegated to the sixth man role due to his versatility in being able to play point guard if need be. Even if Burks is the guy for utah, he will still lose to Thomas come season end for this award.
Most Valuable Player
So many players to choose from, yet there is still only one logical choice here to make.This battle really boils down to two players and that is of course Kevin Durant and LeBron James. While many will want to pick James here, one must realize that coach David Blatt will be looking to rest LeBron at every opportunity he can and there is simply no way that James plays a full complement of minutes or games this season.
With a supporting cast of Kyrie Irving (once healthy) and Kevin Love (once back in form), James will see his role diminished as the Cavs likely cruise to their top-three playoff seeding.
The choice for MVP this season will be Kevin Durant as he is returning from those foot injuries that sidelined him for so long. Durant will want to do everything to lead his team to another championship series and the voters will take note of this. Durant is also entering a restricted free-agent year and although he certainly doesn’t need to offer any further incentives to the league for a max-money deal; he will want to prove that he is worth every penny of that new money set to come his way. A league MVP award would certainly go a long ways in shaping his legacy and he knows it.