Welcome TSA Readers to the first NBA 2024 Awards Blog – a week-to-week, growing think piece that will showcase the thought processes behind some of the great NBA contributors here at The Sports Affiliation. We are going to tackle the following awards: Most Valuable Player (MVP), Coach of the Year (COY), Rookie of the Year (ROY), Defensive Player of the Year (DPOY), 6th Man and Most Improved Player (MIP). Now, some answers may change with each iteration, and this will allow you to cross-compare. But even better, you may also get a moment to add your input and query ours as well. 

Most Valuable Player – 

Coach Craig – Jalen Brunson. This man has almost single-handedly kept the Knicks in contention. 

JR Thompson – Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Possibly one of the biggest Canadian players in the NBA, and my front-runner for a Thunder team that has great improved year-after-year, SGA has gone scorched earth in what looks to be a deep playoff run, at minimum. You can tell how much FIBA did for his overall play and presence as a leader, the maturity in his decisions when handling the ball late, and the overall effect he has has on this team. ‘A rising tide raises all ships,’ and a rising SGA is raising the bar for his team and the league.

Rookie of the Year – 

JR Thompson – Victor Wembanyama –“While I personally think its odd that Chet Holmgren is considered a Rookie, it is nice that Wembanyama has a player to constantly be compared to. The game between San Antonio and OKC helped break what was essentially a media-driven tie. Statistically, his numbers are off the chart. From a hoops perspective, he’s a very effective player. For now, he’s got my vote.” 

CC– Victor Wembanyama. Tight race here between “Wemby” and Chet Holmgren. I ultimately went with Victor for his efforts on the defensive end and playing on the lesser team. 

Defensive Player of the Year –

CC – Rudy Gobert. Chalk Answer here. Leader in Defensive Rating at 104 (1st among players that qualify) and Defensive Win Share at 4.8 (1st).

JR – Franz Wagner. Although he’s Orlando’s double-double guy, part of the reason Orlando went on that Eastern Conference-leading tear early in the season was thanks in part to Wagner’s interior defense. Orlando is, in fact, still holding on to their playoff chances thanks in part to that too. 

6th Man of the Year 

JR – Jordan Clarkson. This is more of a de facto choice than a pure analytical one, mainly due to. how warped this season has become. Thanks to the implementation of the 65-game minimum rule, and the qualifier of a player needed to play >50% of their games from the bench, this really limited my choices. However, if Utah goes back into a rut, I’ll have to look elsewhere. 

CC- Bennedict Mathurin.  Before the trade deadline it appeared Tim Hardaway Jr. would run away with this award. However, his minutes have decreased significantly as of late. So I was left choosing between Jordan Clarkson and Bennedict Mathurin. While Clarkson leads in points per game and assists per game it has been Mathurin who has been the more efficient player overall. Mathurin has also taken an extra step up since the Pacers traded Buddy Hield away.

Most Improved Player

CC – Coby White. Earlier in the year this clearly would have be Scottie Barnes for me. Due to his unfortunate injury I have pivoted to Coby White. White continued his progress from the end of last season. He has increased his minutes, points, rebounds and assists while improving his overall efficiency.

JR – Coby White. This man has taken the moment by the horns, so to speak. The Lonzo Ball injury definitely helped open the door for Coby to shine, and every point, pass and game-changing moment has helped the Bulls keep some semblance of competition with an-injury riddled season. His 3s and scoring are up, he still turns the ball over a little too often, but he has matured and has become a dependable leader and floor commander. 

Coach of the Year –

JR – Chris Finch. I don’t know what they did with Anthony Edwards in the offseason/FIBA to get him and this team going, but man is it working. For a little bit, the league forgot about Jokic, MVP races or that Denver was the team to beat! That takes some great effort from a coach perspective for a team who (checks notes) lost the opening Play-In Tournament game and got mollywhopped by the eventual Champs last year.

CC – Rick Carlisle. Has coached this young Pacers team to a winning record for the first time since the 2019-2020 season. Mark Daigneault would be my runner-up for his work with a young Thunder team as well.

These are our votes so far. Take some time to share your thoughts. Will these votes stay the same, or are you confident in a big name change by next week? Keep an eye out for our post next week!