I just want to say thank you for the response to my article post. I love to do those types of posts, and they take a lot of my energy so to see the reactions I got from some of the biggest guys on the platform. I really appreciate it.
Anyway, something a little less time consuming. We have pretty much reached the mid-season. Some teams are about to have their 41st game of the year and so it's time to reveal the guys I've been wanting to see in the all star game and who I think deserves each award.
I WANT TO STRESS. These aren't predictions, they are who I would want to win these awards or get picked. Im not doing ALL NBA selections, but at some point down the line I will release those.
If I leave someone off a list you want to see, I don't hate them or want to offend them, these are just my opinion and this isn't meant to be all too serious.
Lets start With the All star selections
EAST:
Starters:
PG: Jalen Brunson
SG: Donovan Mitchell
SF: Jason Tatum
PF: Giannis Antetoukunmpo
C: Karl Anthony-Towns
Reserves:
G: Trae Young
G: Lamelo Ball
F: Evan Mobley
F: Paolo Banchero
F: Pascal Siakam
Flex: Cade Cunningham
Flex: Damian Lillard
Ok the east is very difficult, the guard depth in the east is huge and this means I had to leave, Maxey, Herro, Haliburton off the board. I really considered Zach Lavine for that last spot, but I really respect how Dame has looked much better this year in Milwaukee.
Unlike the guards, the forwards aren't very deep. Just off the board you have Jaylen Brown, Jarett Allen, Jalen Johnson. There is a ton of injured guys or people who haven't played a lot. But I put Paolo in, I just think it's wrong to have the magic have no all stars although I respect the injury talk. I want to talk about leaving Jaylen Brown off the list, it's crazy for an FMVP but he hasn't been that impressive. The Celtics have been up and down and I just think Siakam's ridiculous consistency has really helped steady this pacers team and is the reason why they are so high after a down year from a lot of guys
WEST:
Starters:
PG: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
SG: Anthony Edwards
SF: Kevin Durant
PF: Victor Wembanyama
C: Nikola Jokic
Reserves:
G: Stephen Curry
G: De'aaron Fox
F: Alperen Sengun
F: Lebron James
F: Anthony Davis
Flex: Kyrie Irving
Flex: Jaren Jackson Jr
Wow this was tough. Now im pretty happy with the guard selections, obviously the assumption is that Luka is still injured come February but I think these guys deserve it the most. Respect to James Harden, Ja Morant and Devin Booker but I think the others have performed better.
The forwards was the most difficult section of this entire list. I had to pick Bron and AD, Sengun is by far the best Rocket and deserves to be an all star and that left me with Sabonis, JJJ, Jalen Williams. Now each one of these guys have an argument, but I think that Memphis would be done a diservice if they didn't get an all star and JJJ has been incredible this year so far so he deserves the last spot
So that's my all star Ballot, lets move on to my mid-season awards.
MVP: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
Teams are throwing everything at him and he's cooking everyone, he gets 2 steals a game, his team is on track to a top 5 winning % all time. I think team success is one of the most important things for me when deciding MVP and I think Shai has both the statistical and team greatness which makes a great MVP
ROY: Jaylen Wells
I think he's been the most impressive and has had the most effective year, he has benefited from a very weak class but I don't feel confident about this at all. I could see 5 other guys winning this trophy.
DPOY: Victor Wembanyama
It isn't a conversation, shoutout to Dyson tho.
6MOY: De'andre Hunter
Been incredibly consistent this year and has been super impressive. As soon as he came back we went on a 7 game winning streak so he obviously effects the success of the team meanwhile putting up almost 20 a game in a bench role. And his defence is slept on. This is really a two man race, him or Pritchard and right now I think Dre deserves it more.
MIP: Norman Powell
He's kept playing at an insanely high level, he's playing like a fringe all-star out of nowhere, he took the opportunity he's shown so much improvement, I think these type of guys is what the meaning of this trophy is meant to be. someone who improves out of nowhere, unlike what we've had a for a few years. Shoutout Cade, he could win it but again I prefer older guys deserve this award more but he definitely improved, I just expected this to happen.
Clutch POY: Trae Young
heavy bias on this one but I definitely think he should be a candidate, he does end up scoring a lot late in games, he's had the big moments with two game winners and the hawks have been able to pull through a lot of close game which shows when you see the scores in our schedule. Huge clutch performances vs the Cavaliers, Jazz, Lakers, Phoenix etc. definitely have some bias though.
Coach of the Year: Kenny Atkinson
Pretty obvious selection, same players as last season , you change the coach and now you have one of the best winning % of all time. All I need to see 🤷
Let me know what you think of this man, lets have some good debates in the comments.