2017-18 NBA Midseason Awards
February 19, 2018
With the All-Star break coming to an end, we’re over halfway through the season and a lot of basketball has been played. There has been so much drama and excitement this season that the ending will be such a sad thing to see. As like any other season, there have been players who have balled out hard this year and have definitely earned an award to this point. Here are the Tailgate Sports NBA Midseason award winners:
Most Valuable Player – G James Harden, HOU
Stats: 31.3 PPG 5.1 RPG 9.0 APG 1.8SPG 0.7BPG 44.8 FG%
Harden at this point is out in front of all of the closer competition. He extremely distanced himself with a historic triple double Jan. 30th against the Magic scoring 60pts grabbing 10 rebounds and dishing out 11 assists while shooting 19-30 from the field and 17-18 from the line. We have seen countless triple doubles from him this year and he and the Rockets have thrived with new addition Chris Paul making them the second seed in the West. Harden has been on an island all year seperate from the competition and it would take a dip in his play or an extreme surge in someone else to knock him away from the trophy this year.
2nd place – F/G Giannis Antetokounmpo, MIL
Stats: 27.8 PPG 10.4 RPG 4.8 APG 1.4 SPG 1.3 BPG 54.0 FG%
3rd Place – F Kevin Durant, GSW
Stats: 26.0 PPG 6.8 RPG 5.5 APG 0.8 SPG 1.9 BPG 52.3 FG%
Rookie of the Year – G Ben Simmons, PHI
Stats: 16.4 PPG 7.8 RPG 7.3 APG 1.9 SPG 0.9 BPG 52.7 FG%
It would take the end of the world to stop Simmons from winning this award. While it is a little unfair that he has had a whole year training and practicing in the NBA due to injury, he still is by far the most talented rookie in the draft and one of the most talented rookies we have seen in a while. Simmons is a 6’10” point guard who is the closest comparison to LeBron/Magic Johnson that we have seen in the NBA. An extremely tall player who can ball out with point guards all around the league and some day very soon Simmons is going to be handed the torch to take the NBA and run with it.
2nd Place – G Donovan Mitchell, UTAH
Stats: 19.6 PPG 3.5 RPG 3.5 APG 1.5 SPG 0.4 BPG 43.9 FG%
3rd Place – F Jayson Tatum, BOS
Stats: 13.5 PPG 5.1 RPG 1.4 APG 0.9 SPG 0.8 BPG 47.5 FG%
Defensive Player of the Year – C Andre Drummond, DET
Stats: 15.1 PPG 15.7 RPG 3.6 APG 1.6 SPG 1.6 BPG 53.5 FG%
As long as Kawhi Leonard doesn’t get a lot of games in Drummond is the DPOY. Kawhi Leonard is by far the best defender in the league and has been since he won his first DPOY and should have won three in a row. Aside from that conversation, Drummond does everything for the Pistons and more. He gets almost 2 steals per game as a big man which is very unheard of and he rebounds the ball better than anyone in the league. He is one of the last dying out Centers in the NBA who are crash the boards hard, dunk the ball on everyone, and defend the rim like no one else. Drummond is the DPOY standout right now and his play should increase more with the gain of Blake Griffin and the loss of the two top scorers Bradley and Harris.
2nd Place – F Paul George, OKC
Stats: 22.5 PPG 5.4 RPG 3.1 APG 2.2 SPG 0.5 BPG 44.8 FG%
3rd Place – C Al Horford, BOS
Stats: 13.3 PPG 7.7 RPG 5.1 APG 0.6 SPG 1.2 BPG 50.8 FG%
Sixth Man of the Year – G Lou Williams, LAC
Stats: 23.2 PPG 2.5 RPG 5.3 APG 1.1 SPG 0.2 BPG 44.0 FG%
While it is so unfair that Lou is still a sixth man he literally gets starter minutes. He was nearly an all star as well and could have very well gotten into the game with some help in the votes. He is by far ahead of any 6th man in the game right now and the numbers don’t lie at all. He is 16th in scoring around the league and has really shined bright with the Clippers. The Clippers ended up not trading him at the deadline, so it looks like he is going to bring the trophy home to LA.
2nd Place – G Eric Gordon, HOU
Stats: 18.5 PPG 2.3 RPG 2.4 APG 0.6 SPG 0.4 BPG 41.8 FG%
3rd Place – G Will Barton, DEN
Stats: 14.7 PPG 4.8 RPG 4.1 APG 1.1 SPG 0.6 BPG 44.3 FG%
Most Improved Player of the Year – G Victor Oladipo, IND
Stats: 24.4 PPG 5.3 RPG 4.1 APG 2.1 SPG 0.8 BPG 48.4 FG%
Oladipo has absolutely exploded since going to Indiana in the trade for Paul George. His statline last season was 15.9 PPG 4.3 RPG 2.6 APG 1.2 SPG 0.3 BPG 44.2 FG%. You can see extreme climbs in his numbers from last season and he was also named an all star this season for the first time in his career. He has thrived as the number one option and has played like the player the Pacers were hoping to get in the trade with OKC. He has had some great compliments playing alongside him in Domantas Sabonis and Myles Turner. For Oladipo, the sky is the limit if he can keep up this fantastic play.
2nd Place – G Kris Dunn, CHI
Stats (2017-18):13.5 PPG 4.6 RPG 6.3 APG 2.0 SPG 0.4 BPG 43.1 FG%
Stats (2016-17): 3.8 PPG 2.1 RPG 2.4 APG 1.0 SPG 0.5 BPG 37.7 FG%
3rd Place – F Aaron Gordon, ORL
Stats (2017-18):18.4 PPG 8.3 RPG 2.2 APG 0.9 SPG 0.7 BPG 44.7 FG%
Stats (2016-17):12.7 PPG 5.1 RPG 1.9 APG 0.8 SPG 0.5 BPG 45.4 FG%
Coach of the Year – Brad Stevens, BOS
Team Stats: W-L 40-19 44.6 FG% 103.1 PPG 99.6 OPP PPG
Stevens is long overdue for a Coach of the Year award. The Celtics are consistently a Top-5 defense in the league every year and even with so much personal change, Stevens still finds a way to be a top team in the league. Stevens is one of the top strategic coaches in the league and has built such a solid system since leaving Butler to join Boston. I could also say that he is responsible for the acquisitions of Al Horford and especially Gordon Hayward. The Celtics are 2.0 back from the Raptors and are arguably the top team in the East and he has worked hard to get this team where they are and it is about time he gets an award for it.
2nd Place – Dwane Casey, TOR
Team Stats: W-L 41-16 47.0 FG% 111.9 PPG 103.4 OPP PPG
3rd Place – Mike D’Antoni
Team Stats: W-L 44-13 46.2 FG% 114.1 PPG 105.4 OPP PPG
Written by Nick Kazandjian
