PREDICTIONS

MVP

There are five players who are in contention for the MVP this season, those being the five best talents in the league right now. Giannis, Embiid, SGA, Jokic, and Luka. I think it is unlikely Embiid reaches 65 games. He is already exempting himself from back to back appearances and has a history of injuries. I don't project Giannis' bucks to be a top three seed. Same goes for Jokic and his nuggets. This leaves me with two prime candidates. SGA makes a great case, likely the one seed, elite scorer, good defender, and with some of the shooting he showed in preseason, it would be hard to not give him the award. The player I am going with, is Luka Doncic. I project the Mavs as a top 3 seed and I don't think SGA can compete with Luka this season on pure box score numbers. Klay should bring his assist numbers to an ever higher mark possible eclipsing ten. His stats, team success, and the overall feelings within the media that he is long overdue should give him the MVP.

Winner: Luka Doncic

ROTY

Zach Edey should win this award. Sarr is too raw and a minimal offensively to win this award. Reed is stuck behind a wall of experienced guards to get the run required for an award based so much on box score metrics. I would be leaning castle but I'm under the assumption his integration into the spurs system will be a slow one. I'm not high on the GLI guys because of their shooting. Salaun is very raw. I think Rob could play a role this year but I don't think a scorer will win especially one that needs to put as much strength on as him. Bub has a shot but he would need to shoot the ball better than he did in college and attack the rim more which seems unlikely considering the Wizard's spacing. This leads me to two candidates. Risacher and Edey. Risacher should benefit from Trae giving him easy looks, and he should provide some value as a shooter and defender. But as a player coming off the bench, his stats in those minutes would need to be very high. His burst and frame will prevent him from getting to the rim in the NBA. I find it unlikely a player who will work almost entirely off the ball will win this award. Edey already has a great post game. He is a solid defender already who should be effective in drop. Especially with JJJ roaming on the back side. He will be the day one starter on a team that should be competing for a playoff spot in the West.

Winner: Zach Edey

DPOY

Gobert's rim protection and mastery of drop coverage keeps him in contention. AD's versatility and rim protection are elite but his team will not have an elite enough defense to compete with the guy I have winning. Bam is the smartest defender on this list and is an incredibly versatile player. her disrupts so many actions and is still a solid rim protector at 6 ft 9. My pick however, is Wemby. His raw ability almost won him this award as a rookie and he was still very flawed. He had bad positioning most of the time and was very gullible on pump fakes. Last year, by the end of the season, the Spurs were near average with him on the court which is unheard of with a group of guard defenders with as bad defense as they had. This season they've improved their guard defense with CP3 and Castle. His weaknesses should naturally progress and maybe even be ahead of schedule with such a great coaching staff. Even if the Spurs don't have a top 5 defense this year, I think Wemby still walks away with it. He has the chance next year to be the best post up defender, best rim protector, and best player in drop.

Winner: Victor Wembanyama

MIP

Because there are so many guys, I looked to Vegas to give me ten contenders. Coby White already broke out last season and even if he is an all star, I think others would have a stronger case. He will likely be off ball more this year and Lavine replaces all the shooting opportunities that DeRozan took to Sacramento. Quickley will be the third option this year so I am ruling him out. He is best with the ball in his hand but not an elite enough creator for others to warrant those opportunities. Scottie was already an all star and the Raprots won't be good. Kuminga is unlikely to take the keys as the organization seems to not be fond of him. He doesn't have a great IQ which limits him both offensively and defensively. Podzeimski will take a lot of the new responsibilities as well. Giddey needs the ball in his hands to be effective which won't happen with Coby and Lavine. He is not great as a shooter, defender, or attacking the basket. Jalen Johnson broke out last season and altough he does a lot of things great, the notion that he is in real contention for this award derive from him being the second option. He is not a good self creator, I think he is better suited to be an elite third or fourth option. Jalen Williams is number three for me. He has no glaring flaws in his game. I think he will be an all star next season. He already was playing at all star level by the end of the year but he may not receive as many isolation chances this go around. They still have SGA, Chet will make an offensive jump. And with Ihart being used as a hub I think they will spread the scoring load deeper through the lineup. Wemby is my number two. For him to win he would need to have top ten stats in the NBA. He has the talent to do so, but for this to happen the Spurs would need to run a heliocentric offense around him. Historically the Spurs have had ball movement getting everyone involved so I don't think this happens. With more lob opportunities, natural progression, and a more refined game whether it is better shooting or less turnovers, he should be in the running. Very rarely do second year players actually win. Cade Cunningham is my MIP. I don't think the Pistons will be a lot better but they should be better. The offense is suited around Cade. Tobias can shoot, Malik Beasley is an elite shooter, Simone can shoot, THJ has enough on nights to space the floor a bit, and Ivey shot lights out in preseason. He will have good lob threats Duren and Steward, and he should connect with Ausar on cuts. I don't think the roster is perfect for Cade, they are still the Pistons, but I think his passing opportunities will be better which should not only increase his assists but lessen his turnovers. The narrative around Cade is bad right now and I think his game is suited to have high usage. Can score on 3 levels and playmake. If he makes an all star team this year it is enough to win the award.

Winner: Cade Cunningham

6MOY

This was the easiest decision for me. I think Naz Reid runs away with this award. Monk is a scorer, he will not have the ball as much as he will almost always be sharing the floor with someone better at scoring than him this year in DeRozan and Fox. Levert is solid but I'm not sure what he will do at an elite level to give him the award. Jaime can score and is an okay shooter and defender. For him to win he would have to make a jump as a self creator. Based on his comments this offseason he is working to improve his shooting and defense, in other words, become a high level role player. Naz is a good defender and a great scorer. His handle and driving ability at his size paired with his jumper gives him the ability to destroy defenses on any given night. He is simply too talented not to win. Side note, I think Donte wins the starting spot by midseason disqualifying him from the race.

Winner: Naz Reid