How does the NBA awards landscape look a third of the way in?

With the league’s regular season now hovering around the one-third mark, the awards landscape is developing some semblance of shape. The days are still early and odds are few of these picks age gracefully but here is a rundown of how things are transpiring.

Sixth Man of the Year

Last year’s winner Tyler Herro has started in all 20 of his appearances for a 13-15 Heat team and the previous season’s recipient Jordan Clarkson has started 29 games for the Jazz so expect some newer blood to compete for Sixth Man.

Rookie Bennedict Mathurin leads the league in bench scoring this season (17.7 ppg) on a .500 Pacers squad and is hitting 36.4% on 5.3 threes per game, Dallas’ Christian Wood is putting up 16.2 ppg and 7.6 rpg whilst Malcolm Brogdon is averaging 13.9 ppg, 4.0 rpg and 4.0 apg for the league-best Celtics. Russell Westbrook is, however, the betting favourite at this stage with the future-Hall of Famer warming to his super-sub role under head coach Darvin Ham and averaging 15.2 ppg, 5.8 rpg and 7.9 apg off the bench for the Lakers. Sacramento’s Malik Monk (14.5 ppg, 3.8 apg), Denver’s Bones Hyland (14.2 ppg, 3.3 apg), Golden State’s Jordan Poole (14.1 ppg, 4.6 apg) and Milwaukee’s Bobby Portis (13.4 ppg, 9.8 rpg) all have a chance of shooting into consideration but Westbrook and Mathurin appear to be the early pacesetters.

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Rookie of the Year

Topping the production of last year’s rookie class that included the likes of Scottie Barnes, Evan Mobley, Cade Cunningham, Franz Wagner, Jalen Green and Josh Giddey was always going to be a tall task for this year’s crop – particularly with number two pick Chet Holmgren ruled out for the season due to a Lisfranc injury – but several names have made their mark early.

Early on, it appeared a two-horse race for the Rookie of the Year but one candidate may just be separating himself from the pack. It comes as little shock that Orlando’s number one pick Paolo Banchero has had the most productive start out of this year’s class with the former-Blue Devil averaging 21.8 ppg, 6.9 rpg and 3.8 apg. Banchero is looking to join Zion Williamson, Luka Dončić, Donovan Mitchell and Joel Embiid as the only rookies of the past decade to average 20-plus points per game. Indiana’s Bennedict Mathurin is not far off with the Montréal-native putting up 17.6 ppg and 4.0 rpg of his own whilst Detroit’s Jaden Ivey is averaging 15.3 ppg, 4.4 rpg and 4.0 apg. Houston’s Jabari Smith Jr. (12.1 ppg, 7.1 rpg) and Sacramento’s Keegan Murray (11.6 ppg, 4.0 rpg) look the early favourites to round out the All-Rookie 1st Team whilst Oklahoma City’s Jalen Williams (10.9 ppg, 2.6 apg), Atlanta’s A.J. Griffin (10.1 ppg, 1.1 spg), and Indiana’s Andrew Nembhard (8.9 ppg, 4.0 apg) are among the names who will hope to make a run towards that tier.

Most Improved Player

It came as somewhat of a shock when Memphis star Ja Morant took home last year’s Most Improved Player award considering he was only a season removed from a playoff series in which he averaged 30.2 ppg, 4.8 rpg and 8.2 rpg and stole a game from the one-seeded Jazz. Many had thought the former number two pick’s ascension was not only foreseen but expected and it appeared he thought as much too gifting the trophy to teammate Desmond Bane.

An early Most Improved frontrunner has already made himself clear this season: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. The Thunder star has appeared in just 91 games over the previous two seasons but has been superb this season averaging 31.2 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 5.8 apg and 1.8 spg on 62.4 TS%. Now casually mentioned alongside the league’s elite guards, Gilgeous-Alexander looks certain to earn a maiden All-Star nod and will hope to contend for the league’s scoring title – he is currently sitting at third. Aside from Gilgeous-Alexander, Lauri Markkanen has enjoyed a career renaissance in Utah putting up 22.1 ppg (+7.3 from last season) and 8.6 rpg (+2.9) and shooting 40.8% (+5.0%) on 6.4 threes per night, San Antonio’s Devin Vassell is averaging 20.2 ppg (+7.9) and 3.5 apg (+1.6) and is shooting 41.1% (+5.0%) on 7.2 threes per game, and Indiana’s Tyrese Haliburton is revelling after being dealt from Sacramento at last year’s deadline averaging 19.4 ppg (+4.1) and a league-leading 10.8 apg (+2.6) and has kept the Pacers within reach of the playoff picture in the early going. Bol Bol’s 12.4 ppg (+10.0), 7.4 rpg (+6.0) and 1.8 bpg (+1.7) has turned a plethora of heads in Orlando whilst Anfernee Simons’ 23.7 ppg (+6.4) and 4.5 apg (+0.6) shooting 38.8% on 10.3 threes per night has buoyed Portland in the absence of Damian Lillard.

Defensive Player of the Year

Boston’s Marcus Smart became the first guard since Gary Payton to take home the Defensive Player of the Year award last season and, whilst Smart’s Celtics are again rolling, the odds of him going back-to-back appear slim.

Milwaukee teammates Brook Lopez and Giannis Antetokounmpo – currently the two shortest-priced favourites among the bookmakers – may have to compete against each other for the award. The Bucks have the NBA’s best defensive rating thanks in part to Lopez’s league-leading 2.9 bpg and Antetokounmpo’s absurd switchability, athleticism, and motor. It would be unfair to delve into the Bucks’ defence without praising lockdown guard Jrue Holiday who already has two All-Defensive 1st Team nods on his résumé. Across the rest of the NBA, Toronto’s O.G. Anunoby leads the league in steals per game with 2.4 and will have his sights set on an All-Defensive 1st Team berth whilst Memphis’ Jaren Jackson Jr. has amassed 40 blocks and 11 steals in just 11 games after missing the opening chunk of the season through injury a year on from his maiden All-Defensive 1st Team selection. Cleveland possess the league’s second best defensive rating largely due to the work of bigman duo Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen who will certainly draw All-Defensive chatter as the season progresses whilst other perennial contenders – Miami’s Bam Adebayo, LA’s Anthony Davis, Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid and Minnesota’s Rudy Gobert – will hope to shoot into calculations. Lopez is the current frontrunner – a reality that seemed a mere pipe dream several seasons ago – but expect some movement as the season goes on.

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Most Valuable Player

After collecting the past two MVPs, Denver star Nikola Jokić had a tentative, invisible line put through his name preseason. Not since Larry Bird in the mid-‘80s has a player earnt an MVP three-peat and, given Jokić has won just five playoff games across his two MVP seasons, odds are voters look elsewhere when filling out their ballots this season even if he has averaged 30.2 ppg, 12.1 rpg and 5.3 apg in those playoffs outings.

Unlike some other seasons, no one player has begun carving their name on the newly-renamed Michael Jordan Trophy as of yet. Boston’s Jayson Tatum, Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Dallas’ Luka Dončić are the three shortest-priced names at this point and each have cases. Tatum is averaging 30.2 ppg, 8.3 rpg and 4.1 apg on 61.1 TS% for a league-best Celtics team and is the league-leader in plus-minus which is not a statistic generally cited when discussing these awards but gives some indication of the value he has added to the Celtics this season. Tatum currently leads the league in total points and minutes and has spearheaded the Celtics to 22 wins from 29 games. Winning a lot and scoring a lot has generally boded well for MVP hopefuls and Tatum fits the traditional criteria. Antetokounmpo – the world’s best player and two-time MVP already – is averaging 31.1 ppg, 11.3 rpg and 5.3 apg on 58.2 TS% for Bucks team tied in the loss-column with Boston. Antetokounmpo’s two-way dominance may offer him a point of difference among the voters and, whilst Tatum is no slouch on that end, Antetokounmpo’s Defensive Player of the Year votes may hold the key to his MVP chances. Dončić, meanwhile, is probably the most valuable player in the strictest sense of the word; Dallas are rudderless with him off the floor and struggle creating scoring opportunities away from him. He is averaging 33.1 ppg, 8.6 rpg and 8.8 apg on 60.5 TS% and the Mavericks are barely above .500 – no player has ever averaged 33+ ppg, 8+ rpg and 8+ apg for a season. Golden State’s Stephen Curry (29.6 ppg on 66.2 TS%) and Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid (33.3 ppg, 9.7 rpg) have the talent to shoot up the leaderboard whilst New Orleans’ Zion Williamson (25.0 ppg on 65.2 TS%) is the newest name to earn MVP buzz after the Pelicans claimed the top spot in the West this week. Boston and Milwaukee may find themselves in a tussle for the league’s best record and, in the process, determine where the MVP resides.

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