2018 NBA Midseason Awards

Writer: Jared White

Most Valuable Player: LeBron James, Cleveland Cavaliers

(nbapassion.com)

In year fifteen of LeBron James’ amazing career he is leading his team in every way imaginable as he always does. He is averaging a career high in assists (8.8 per game) while still managing to grab eight rebounds a game and sit in the top three in PPG (27.1). But LeBron has showed his longevity once again as he has not missed a single game this season while other major candidates, like James Harden, have missed significant time. So far this season it looks like LeBron will capture his fifth MVP trophy and match Michael Jordan and Bill Russell for second most regular season MVP awards (Only Kareem has more with 6).

Most Improved Player: Victor Oladipo, Indiana Pacers

After being traded with Domantas Sabonis from OKC to a now virtually wing talentless Indiana Pacers Victor Oladipo was given an opportunity to become the face of the team and he did not hesitate. He is putting up career numbers across the board and has helped the Indiana Pacers become a suprise playoff team. He is now in conversation for one of the best shooting guards in the NBA and is virtually a lock for the All-Star game.

Rookie of the Year: Ben Simmons, Philadelphia 76ers

(billypenn.com)

Ben Simmons has proven to be one of the best all-around players in the entire NBA. He is a great inside scorer, passer, rebounder, defender, and young leader. If Simmons can get a good jump shot he may even be fighting for an MVP award in 3-4 years. Honorable mentions to Donovan Mitchell who has played great recently and is almost averaging 20 PPG.

Defensive Player of the Year: Draymond Green, Golden State Warriors

This award has no clear front runner as Kawhi Leonard, a usual fan favorite, has missed the majority of the season and players like Joel Embiid, Kevin Durant, Draymond Green, and Giannis Antetokounmpo are all having great defensive seasons. But I have Draymond as the favorite now because out of these four players he has the most defensive win shares and highest defensive box plus/minus. Plus Draymond Green has been most known for his defense over the last several years. Hopefully we have a clear cut favorite jump out during the second half of the season.

Coach of the Year: Brad Stevens, Boston Celtics

Although Gregg Popovich and Mike D’Antoni have had great coaching season Brad Stevens gets the nod for a few reasons. First the Celtics have missed Gordon Hayward, who was going to be their second best player, for the entire season. Secondly they have virtually an entire new team and while it takes most teams over a full season to build chemistry it seems it only took this young group a few weeks. And Finally the Celtics have the second best record in the NBA only behind the defending champion Warriors. Stevens and his Celtics will more than likely not make the NBA Finals, but they have surely been the best team in the east this regular season.

Sixth Man of the Year: Lou Williams, Los Angeles Clippers

Lou Williams is having an unbelievably great scoring season for a bench player. He is averaging 23.1 PPG which is more than Lamarcus Aldridge, Klay Thompson, Kemba Walker, CJ McCollum, Jimmy Butler, Paul George, John Wall and any teammate of his on the Los Angeles Clippers. He is also scoring very efficiently as he is recording a career high in FG% (44.8) 3P% (41.4) and FT% (90.8). And finally he is also passing the ball better than ever with a career high 4.9 APG and is doing all of this in just over 30 minutes per game. But he will need to keep up his great effort off of the bench as there is other great candidates for this award including Tyreke Evans, Eric Gordon, Will Barton, and Dwyane Wade.

The Process Isn’t Over…..Yet

Writer: Caleb Akpan

For years in Philadelphia, basketball fans were told to “trust the process”. Their team was awful and regularly accused of losing games on purpose. This deliberate tanking led to GM Sam Hinkie being fired and replaced near the end of last season, and with Philly still not improving. The team was consistently the worst in the league, reaching near all-time lows, and the draft picks they were getting due to their terrible records couldn’t stay healthy. One of these draft picks was Kansas product Joel Embiid. Drafted third in 2014, Embiid had received comparisons to legend Hakeem Olajuwon prior to the draft, but he failed to get on the court for even a second in his first two seasons to try and prove them.

Finally able to heal a foot injury after two years, Embiid played in the NBA for the first time in 2016-2017 and immediately started to live up to the hype. The seven-foot Cameroonian averaged 20.2 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 2.5 blocks per game in 31 appearances before his year was again cut short due to a left knee injury. Embiid was able to heal to start the 2017-2018 campaign healthy, and he seems to have had enough time to work on his game as well. Now known as The Process across the league, Embiid may already be nearing completion as he is dominating competition, and after having the best game of his career against the Lakers on Wednesday, there’s no telling where the ceiling is for him or Philadelphia’s future.

A monster line of 46 points, 15 rebounds, 7 blocks, and 7 assists summed up the night for Embiid in Hollywood, where he dominated and made a near quadruple-double look like nothing. The points and blocks were career highs and the statline as a whole had never been seen in NBA history (blocks became a recorded stat in ‘83-’84). All-time greats like Shaquille O’Neal and the previously mentioned Hakeem Olajuwon were never able to reach these numbers, so how do their career stats stack up to what Embiid is doing this year? Looking at per 36 minute numbers, Embiid’s career stats (28.7 PPG, 12 RPG, 3.1 BPG) top even the best years O’Neal or Olajuwon ever saw, and they were winning MVPs and championships at their peaks. Embiid’s potential along with Ben Simmons could see the same kinds of things coming Philly’s way, but it’s probably best that people don’t get too excited for the 76ers just yet.

For one, Embiid’s production has been limited to say the least. From one point of view, it’s great that Embiid has been able to dominate the game in restricted minutes; just now topping 30 minutes in a game for the first time in his career, but it’s also possible he won’t be able to be as consistent when his workload increases. There’s also no guarantee he stays healthy, really it seems correct to assume Embiid will miss time at some point with his injury history. Any time he’s off the floor, Philadelphia’s production drops and they won’t be able to compete for a playoff spot if he’s gone most of the time, even with rookie Ben Simmons taking the league by storm. Philly needs both of them and more before they can truly compete.

Then there’s the fact that his competition includes LeBron James and the Warriors as a whole, among others. The Sixers are clearly talented, but their roster has a ton to learn as the fifth youngest in the league. They’ll probably need a couple of years of playoff experience before they can really start taking care of their opponents when it matters most. The good news is they seem on track to finally break their playoff drought this season and get their feet wet, hopefully speeding up the time it takes to truly contend for a championship.

It’s a bit easier for fans to trust the process now that signs of progress are showing, but it’s not over just yet. They’ve found their franchise centerpiece in Joel Embiid and the perfect player to match him up with in Ben Simmons. J.J. Redick and Robert Covington providing shooting and defense, and there’s still time for them to figure out their point guard situation, hopefully with Markelle Fultz getting healthy. If all things continue to go well, Philly will be back as a top NBA franchise sooner than later, especially if Joel Embiid continues to dominate. If he keeps up these performances and continues to grow with the Sixer’ young core, The Process will soon be over.