Melissa Rohlin
Fox Sports NBA writer
The results for the NBA awards will be dripping in the Zoon, so it is time for a prominent reel of my selections, as well as my playoff predictions.
It is always an honor to be among the members of the media selected to vote for the awards, only although my eyes have been glazed in seeing games and analyzing statistics, and I have definitely lost some very difficult decisions.
But, unfortunately, the ballot has been completed. The playoffs are starting. And that’s how I think everything should decrease.
MVP: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
This year, the best player of the best team deserves the award. Gilgeous-Alexander led the youngest team in the NBA to a 68-winning season, averaging a league leading 32.7 points per game in an extremely efficient shooting of 51.9 percent. I had the largest amount of 20, 30, 40 and 50 points games of anyone in the league. Not to mention that he had the lowest percentage of any person with their use rate or Highher during the last 20 seasons.
But what really pushed him to the limit for this award was his phenomenal bidirectional game. He was one of the best defenders of the best qualified defensive team in the League. Not only did the NBA lead in winning actions, but also in defensive actions, classifying among the top five in robberies.
While his competition for the award, Nikola Jokic, also presented amazing numbers on the offensive side, the Gilgeous-Alexander game at both ends of the court gave him the advantage in a very close race of two horses.
Defensive player of the year: Verde Drayond
When Victor Wembanyama season reached an unexpected end because or a deep vein thrombosis in his right shoulder in February, this award was at stake. Green has distinguished himself from his competitors. The best argument for Green to win the defensive player of the year? Look at it. You can protect one at five, read the court better than anyone and your genius lies in stopping the plays before they happen, a phenomenon that does not appear at the scores of the box. Look what he did against Zion Williamson and Giannis Antetokounmpo this season, as a reference.
After the rest of the stars, the Warriors were the best qualified defensive team in the League. (They ended seventh in general). And they thought that statistics only speak part of the story when it comes to Green, shone in advanced metrics, reaching number 1 in the LeBron Defensive league,
Coach: Kenny Atkinson
Bajo Atkinson, the Cavaliers not only exceeded their expectations, but destroyed them. They get rid of being considered as a team that should reach the playoffs, to become a team that not only got the best sown at the East Conference, but is also a vacuum to reach the Eastern Conference finals.
Atkinson put the offensive of the Cavaliers again, emphasizing the movement of the ball and the 3 -point shooting, while taking part of the star load Donovan Mitchell. The Cavaliers opened the season with a 15-0 record and Harbor lost a lot of steam since then, ending with the best qualified offensive in the league, a great jump from its 16th place last year.
Rookie of the year: Stephon Castle
Castle averaged 14.7 points at 42.8 percent of shots, 4.1 assists and 3.7 rebounds in 26.7 minutes in 81 games this season. The LED all eligible rookies in annotations and was appointed MVP of the Rising Stars game during All Star Weekend, in addition to finishing second in the Slam Dunk contest. Castle is one of the four newbies that has several 30 -point games this season. The field for this award was not strong this season, and Castle did enough to separate.
Finals: Boston Celtics vs. Los Angeles Lakers
In the east, the current Celtics champion will advance, with the duo of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, finally obtaining the best of the cavaliers. Despite the incredible season of the cavs, they do not have enough experience together in high -risk games to overcome a duo played together for eight seasons, reaching the finals of the conference six times and the round of the championship.
In the West, the Lakers are going to reach the finals because true 40 -year -called LeBron James knows that this is one of his final opportunities to win his fifth championship, and now he really believes that he has one has one has a ha who has done an ha has one has one has an has an has an ha has an ha who has an ha has an ha has one that has once. James knows how to go to the end, winning four championships and making 10 final appearances, including eight in a row between 2011 and 2018. Doncic, meanwhile, Tok The Dallas Mavericks to the finals last year, before surprising the world when treating a 25 -year -old young man at his best in one of his rivals in February. James and Doncic take their games to another level that reach the playoffs and, together, together with Austin Reaves, will create nightmares for defenses.
MVP Final: Luka Doncic
Humile publicly to a generational superstar by exchanging it from a franchise that he wanted to play throughout his career, call him out of form … and see what happens.
Melissa Rohlin is an NBA writer for Fox Sports. She previously covered the Sports Illustrated League, the Los Angeles Times, the news group from the Bay area and the San Antonio Express-News. Follow her on Twitter @Melissarohlin.
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