Awards season can be both fun and frustrating because it creates some intriguing intellectual exercises but the overall structure leads to some deserving individuals not getting the accolades they deserve. Instead of picking my award winners for the established categories, these awards will be in my categories and formats.

Most Outstanding Player

Explanation: The best player in the league for that season. Simple as that.

Winner: Stephen Curry, Golden State Warriors. Curry is running one of the league’s best offenses while also scoring more than 20 points per game on 63.2% True Shooting and breaking his own record for three-pointers made. Davis gets second for dominating the league in an underappreciated fashion but Curry is this season’s Most Outstanding Player without a shadow of a doubt.

MOP Full Ballot: Curry, Anthony Davis, James Harden, Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook 

Most Valuable Player

Explanation: The player where it would make the greatest difference if you replaced them with a league-average starter at their position. As I have said on the podcast, I would also have a single trophy that passes between the players who win both MOP and MVP in the same season, sort of like the Stanley Cup or a green jacket at Augusta that does not get transferred every season.

Winner: Stephen Curry, Golden State Warriors. It really boils down to two men because both Curry and Harden have played incredibly well in large roles without missing substantial time. Curry takes the award (and the big trophy for getting both MOP and MVP in the same season) because he shapes the Golden State offense. With Curry on the floor, the Warriors shoot more from the restricted area and three while making a higher proportion of their attempts in every area but mid-range. While I generally dislike on/off metrics, Golden State scored 114.2 points per 100 possessions with Curry on the floor and outscored opponents by 17 points per 100 possessions. Without him, opponents slightly outperformed the Warriors and Golden State’s offense went from 1.14 points per possession to 1.00- that is a major change. The choice of Harden can be justified, to be sure. Heck, I had him winning this until last week! However, Curry stands as the primary reason the Warriors are the best team in the league and plays a larger role in that substantially greater success than Harden on the Rockets by just a smidge this season.

MVP Full Ballot: Curry, James Harden, Chris Paul, Anthony Davis, LeBron James

Defensive Player of the Year

Explanation: Here, the change comes in what criteria to use rather than the name of the award. Using “Most Outstanding Defender” clarifies a frustrating vagueness in the award and puts the focus where it should be for DPOY- quality over quantity.

Winner: Andrew Bogut, Golden State Warriors. As great has Draymond Green has been, Bogut is the reason Golden State has the league’s best defense despite playing at the fastest pace. I can point to stats like his status as the best rim protector or him being the top player in Defensive Real Plus/Minus but the eye test shows it even more clearly. The Aussie cleans up the few mistakes his teammates make and provides the safety net that allows some of the more aggressive tactics to work without fear of disaster.

DPOY Full Ballot: Bogut, Kawhi Leonard, Draymond Green, Rudy Gobert, Tony Allen

Coach of the Year

Explanation: No changes from present.

Winner: Steve Kerr, Golden State Warriors. Last season, the Warriors finished with a 51-31 record and the #12 offense in the league despite no starter missing more than 15 games. With a very similar roster, they clinched the best record in the entire league with two weeks to go and finished the season with the #1 defense (best in opponent eFG%) and #2 offense (best in eFG%) while playing at the league’s fastest pace. Kerr and his staff played a huge part in that improvement so he deserves the award in a stacked field.

COY Full Ballot: Kerr, Mike Budenholzer, Jason Kidd

Rookie of the Year

Explanation: Given to the most outstanding player who played his first NBA game that season. I toyed with the concept of splitting up guys who came in with previous professional experience but could not figure out a fair way to draw the line.

Winner: Nikola Mirotic, Chicago Bulls. Kevin Pelton did an excellent job making this case on ESPN Insider and in my eyes the best argument for Mirotic is that he has been a better player on a team with real stakes. Despite having a slew of players in front of him in a stacked Chicago big rotation, the Bulls have played better with Mirotic on the floor, which is quite the accomplishment when your counterparts are Joakim Noah, Pau Gasol and Taj Gibson. Wiggins had a nice rookie campaign and showed me a ton of what makes him so intriguing down the line but Mirotic was more outstanding this season.

ROY Full Ballot: Mirotic, Andrew Wiggins, Nerlens Noel

Most Outstanding Bench Player

Explanation: I hate the “Sixth Man” wording because bench players come in so many varieties now. Limiting the eligible participants to those who have started less than 20% of their team’s games (16 in an 82-game season) helps keep it fair and I prefer Most Outstanding to Most Valuable here because it avoids some of the problems related to non-starters who finish games getting a huge boost.

Winner: Isaiah Thomas, Boston Celtics (and Phoenix Suns). IT2 has apparently been flying under the radar for this award, presumably because he played for two teams and started a majority of his games in each of his previous seasons. Thomas should win the award because he played a huge role in the success of the Celtics, with the sixth-highest usage rate (coincidentally right behind former teammate DeMarcus Cousins) this season. Nikola Mirotic and Brandan Wright both had better overall offensive seasons than Louis Williams and I give the rookie the tiebreaker because he played a substantial role on a team with more to play for. Beyond Lou, Andre Iguodala also merits serious consideration for his massive role in Golden State’s success.

MOBP Full Ballot: Thomas, Nikola Mirotic, Brandan Wright

 

Executive of the Year

Explanation: Same as present except that voters choose first, second and third place rather than a single executive.

Winner: David Griffin, Cleveland Cavaliers. Yes, adding LeBron James should not get Griffin a ton of cred since getting lucky in the lottery and having him want to come home played such a major role. I agree with all that and still give Griffin the award for successfully reworking his team mid-season with some nice moves. They added quality depth pieces in Timofey Mozgov, Iman Shumpert and JR Smith without giving up a ton of future assets in total because they added a first for Dion Waiters somehow.

EOY Full Ballot: Griffin, Sam Hinkie (if only for the MCW trade), Bob Myers 

All-NBA Teams

Explanation: While I understand why some will argue that the All-NBA teams should follow a basic structure of a normal lineup, I prefer a solution allowing for more flexibility by creating teams with two frontcourt spots, two backcourt spots and a wild card. That way the All-NBA squads better reflect who dominated that season for posterity. I lean towards Most Outstanding over Most Valuable for similar reasons.

All-NBA First Team: Stephen Curry, James Harden, Anthony Davis, LeBron James and Chris Paul

All-NBA Second Team: Russell Westbrook, Kyrie Irving, Kawhi Leonard, Marc Gasol and Al Horford

All-NBA Third Team: Klay Thompson, John Wall, LaMarcus Aldridge, Tim Duncan and Blake Griffin

All-Defensive Teams

Explanation: Five best defenders, no positional lines. Makes no sense to require that guards get spots without earning their way on.

All-Defense First Team: Andrew Bogut, Kawhi Leonard, Draymond Green, Rudy Gobert and Tony Allen

All-Defense Second Team: Tim Duncan, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Serge Ibaka, Chris Paul and Nerlens Noel 

All-Rookie Teams

Explanation- Five best players, no positional lines. Only one team because there are never enough players who provided both quality and at least some quantity.

All-Rookie First Team: Nikola Mirotic, Andrew Wiggins, Nerlens Noel, Jusuf Nurkic and Elfrid Payton

As a bonus, here is what I wrote when I had James Harden as my choice for MVP:

It really boils down to two men because both Curry and Harden have played incredibly well in large roles without missing substantial time. James takes the trophy because of how many injuries his team faced this season without suffering too much due to his excellent play: Harden only had one fellow Opening Day starter over 2000 minutes played with Patrick Beverley in third at 1727 minutes despite missing the last 12 games of the season. The Warriors had five players over 2000 with Andrew Bogut playing more than Dwight Howard as well. Stephen Curry deserves a ton of praise for being the key player in the NBA’s best team but the health context means that the Rockets would have been in meaningfully worse shape without Harden than the Warriors without Steph.