Now that All-Star weekend and all of its festivities are over, we are officially in the second half of the 2024-25 NBA season. Whether you're a team pushing for a playoff spot or you just want to lose as much as possible, this is the most important time of the year for teams and players' futures. Throughout this span of basketball we will see many award races play out with many of them having no clear favorite. With that being said, here are my picks for how every major award race plays out.
Most Valuable Player: Nikola Jokic, Center, Denver Nuggets
Runner-up: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Guard, Oklahoma City Thunder
This is the most controversial award race this season with many arguing for Thunder Guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to win this award. I myself even think Gilgeous-Alexander will likely win the award due to voter fatigue amongst the media voters. Regardless of this Nikola Jokic is having an all time season averaging 29.4 points, 12.7 rebounds and 10.2 assists per game this season. Beyond the basic box score numbers Jokic dominates with an on-off net rating of +19.5.
Defensive Player of the Year: Jaren Jackson Jr., Forward/Center, Memphis Grizzlies
Runner-up: Evan Mobley, Center, Cleveland Cavaliers
With Victor Wembanyama recently being announced as out for the rest of the season, the race for this award has become wide open. While there are many guys in the race for this award, I chose Grizzlies Forward Jaren Jackson Jr. as the winner for this year's award. Jackson has already won the award in the past having been one of the league's best rim protectors for some time now. Opponents shoot an absurd 13.6% worse on shots at the rim when Jackson contests. The Grizzlies this season have boasted an impressive defensive rating of 109.3 when Jackson is on the court which would rank second among all NBA teams.
Rookie of the Year: Stephon Castle, Guard, San Antonio Spurs
Runner-up: Jaylen Wells, Forward, Memphis Grizzlies
While this year's race is a far cry from those in the past there are still plenty of candidates out there that I could see taking the award home. Whether it's Zach Edey, Jaylen Wells or the electric Yves Missi, there's no shortage of talent in this year's rookie class. Despite these names my pick for this award is San Antonio Spurs Guard Stephon Castle. The fourth overall pick in the 2024 NBA draft has been averaging an impressive 16.8 points in his last 10 games played.
Most Improved Player: Trey Murphy III, Forward, New Orleans Pelicans
Runner-up: Norman Powell, Guard, Los Angeles Clippers
In what has otherwise been an terrible season for the New Orleans, the development of 24-year-old Forward Trey Murphy III has been a brightspot with him becoming a key figure on the Pelicans roster. Prior to this season Murphy had only averaged 14 points per game playing primarily off-ball in more of a three-and-D role only playing on-ball 9% of the time. However this season that all changed with Murphy developing as both a ball handler and on-ball playmaker. This saw a rise in his on-ball usage with him improving his scoring to an impressive 22.4 points per game. With Brandon Ingram out of the picture and Zion Williamson’s health forever in doubt, Murphy has emerged as the building block of the Pelicans franchise.
Sixth Man of the Year: Payton Pritchard, Guard, Boston Celtics
Runner-up: De’Andre Hunter, Forward/Guard, Atlanta Hawks
Pitchard is a strange case, as he plays a shockingly low percentage of minutes with the ball in his hands only being on-ball 24% of the time which is shockingly low for a Point Guard. Despite this Pritchard is an incredible shooter knocking down an absurd 41.5% from behind the arc. I have Pritchard winning this award due to his elite shooting and scoring being a driving force in the Boston Celtics quest to win back-to-back NBA titles.
Clutch Player of the Year: Jalen Brunson, Guard, New York Knicks
Runner-up: Trae Young, Guard, Atlanta Hawks
Defining who is and isn’t “clutch” is always a tall task. In this case I have to go with the NBA’s official definition of clutch which is the last five minutes of the fourth quarter and overtime in games with a point differential of five or less. By this definition the most clutch player in the NBA this season is the Knicks Jalen Brunson who averages 4.2 points per game while shooting 50.8% from the field in clutch scenarios.
Coach of the Year: J.B. Bickerstaff, Detroit Pistons
Runner-up: Kenny Atkinson, Cleveland Cavaliers
It’s awfully hard not to give this award to Atkinson and his impressive Eastern Conference leading Cavaliers, but what J.B. Bickerstaff is doing in Detroit this year is borderline unheard of. With a record of 14-68 the Pistons were the worst team in basketball and at one point held a record-breaking 28-game losing streak. This season Bickerstaff has Detroit at the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference with a record of 31-26 through 57 games. At this point last year the Pistons had only won 8 games, which means Bickerstaff is responsible for a remarkable 23 added wins through this point in the season.