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2020 NBA Awards

Community Shootaround: NBA Bubble Awards

August 14th, 2020 at 3:30pm CST by Luke Adams

They won’t exactly be as meaningful as the end-of-season MVP, All-NBA, and Coach of the Year awards, but the NBA will announce the winners of similar awards for its summer bubble on Saturday. Based exclusively on performances from July 30 to August 14, the league will name a Player of the Seeding Games, a Coach of the Seeding Games, and an All-Seeding Games Team.

The one-off awards will give the NBA an opportunity to shine a spotlight on the summer’s most pleasant surprises, such as the 8-0 Suns, the only undefeated team of the restart. Phoenix didn’t end up qualifying for a play-in tournament in the Western Conference, but it seems safe to assume that coach Monty Williams and star Devin Booker (30.5 PPG, 6.0 APG) will get plenty of award votes from media members this week.

With apologies to Jacque Vaughn (Nets), Terry Stotts (Trail Blazers), Nick Nurse (Raptors), and a few other worthy candidates, Williams looks like the overwhelming favorite for the Coach of the Bubble award. The Suns were viewed by many observers as unworthy of an invite to Orlando, but their 8-0 run – without key veterans like Aron Baynes and Kelly Oubre – left no doubt that they belonged.

Booker will face stiff competition for Player of the Bubble honors though. The frontrunner is probably Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard, who averaged a staggering 51.3 PPG in his team’s last three games — Portland needed to win all three in order to qualify for a play-in tournament, and did, by a combined margin of seven points. Lillard, who averaged 37.6 PPG and 9.6 APG on .497/.436/.888 in eight total games, came up big when it mattered most for the Blazers.

John Hollinger of The Athletic and D.J. Foster of The Athletic each included Booker and Lillard on their All-Bubble First Team alongside Rockets guard James Harden, Pacers forward T.J. Warren, and Mavericks guard Luka Doncic.

Harden has put up numbers that are even more eye-popping than usual in six games at Walt Disney World, averaging 35.3 PPG, 9.2 RPG, 8.7 APG, and 3.0 SPG as the Rockets moved up a spot in the standings.

Warren will miss Indiana’s last two games, but his 53-point performance on August 1 vs. Philadelphia was one of the single-best games of the summer. He finished with averages of 31.0 PPG and 6.3 RPG on .578/.524/.889 shooting.

Doncic, meanwhile, came just two assists away from averaging a triple-double in seven summer games, with 30.0 PPG, 10.1 RPG, and 9.7 APG.

There are other worthy contenders for All-Bubble First Team consideration, including some of the usual suspects, such as Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo (27.8 PPG, 12.2 RBG, 4.2 APG, .626 FG%) and Clippers star Kawhi Leonard (28.8 PPG, 4.8 RPG, 4.3 APG, .479/.485/.865 shooting). Kristaps Porzingis was actually the Mavericks’ leading scorer over Doncic, with 30.5 PPG, 9.5 RPG, and 1.5 BPG in six games.

And while their numbers aren’t quite as gaudy, young players like Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr., Spurs guard Derrick White, and Nets wing Caris LeVert were among the most impressive summer performers.

What do you think? If you were voting for the same awards as media members – a Player of the Bubble, Coach of the Bubble, and two All-Bubble teams, what would your picks look like? Does a Lillard/Booker/Harden/Warren/Doncic First Team look right to you, or are there other players you believe deserve a First Team spot?

Head to the comment section below to weigh in with your thoughts!

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NBA To Announce Awards For Top Bubble Performers On Saturday

August 11th, 2020 at 1:56pm CST by Luke Adams

The NBA announced today in a press release that it will name an All-Seeding Games Team and the Player of the Seeding Games to honor the top performers of the summer restart.

According to the league, media members – sportswriters and broadcasters – who have been on site at the Walt Disney World campus covering the restart will vote on the awards. Those voters will select a total of 10 players for the All-Seeding Games First Team and Second Team.

The winners will be announced on August 15 – this Saturday – before the first game of the Western Conference play-in tournament.

Because these awards will only reward the top performers for the eight seeding games played between July 30 and August 14, players from the bottom eight teams obviously won’t be eligible.

However, players who may not receive serious consideration for full-season awards – such as Pacers forward T.J. Warren – will have an opportunity to earn a spot on the All-Seeding Games Team based on their strong play this summer.

The NBA recently announced the finalists for its full-season awards, including MVP, Defensive Player of the Year, and Rookie of the Year, among others.

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NBA Announces Finalists For 2019/20 Awards

August 8th, 2020 at 12:01pm CST by marksuleymanov

The NBA has announced the finalists for several awards as the seeding games on the Orlando campus move forward and the postseason nears. It was announced in July that all awards for the 2019/20 season would be based on games up until March 11, when the coronavirus pandemic shuttered play. Media members made their votes before the seeding games began on July 30.

NBA Most Valuable Player Finalists:

NBA Defensive Player of the Year:

NBA Rookie of the Year:

NBA Most Improved Player:

NBA Sixth Man of the Year:

NBA Coach of the Year:

  • Mike Budenholzer (Bucks)
  • Billy Donovan (Thunder)
  • Nick Nurse (Raptors)

The winners for the awards will be announced during the NBA playoffs after the seeding games period concludes on August 14.

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Voting For 2020 NBA Awards To Take Place During Next Week

July 21st, 2020 at 2:45pm CST by Luke Adams

The NBA has confirmed a weekend report, announcing today in a press release that its 2020 awards will be based on games played through March 11, without this summer’s “seeding games” being taken into account.

To ensure that the media members who vote on the awards aren’t influenced at all by the upcoming seeding games, voting will take place during the next week, from July 21-28, according to the league. The 2019/20 season is set to resume on July 30.

“The decision to exclude seeding games from awards voting ensures a fair process in which players and coaches from all 30 NBA teams will have the same opportunity to be honored as top performers for the 2019/20 regular season,” NBA president of league operations Byron Spruell said in a statement.

With July and August games not being taken into account, certain award winners look like foregone conclusions. For example, Grizzlies guard Ja Morant is a virtual lock to be named the 2019/20 Rookie of the Year.

However, in other instances, it remains unclear which direction voters will go — notably, Lakers forward LeBron James built a strong Most Valuable Player case and is a threat to Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, who will be seeking his second consecutive MVP award.

Defensive Player of the Year, Sixth Man of the Year, and Coach of the Year are also up for grabs, along with this season’s All-NBA, All-Defensive, and All-Rookie teams.

According to today’s announcement by the NBA, TNT will announce this season’s award winners during its coverage of the postseason this summer.

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NBA End-Of-Season Awards To Be Predicated On Pre-Hiatus Play

July 17th, 2020 at 5:20pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

The 2019/20 NBA season’s year-end awards will be voted on based on player performance up to the league’s coronavirus-necessitated hiatus on March 11, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium (Twitter link).

Those awards include Most Valuable Player, Defensive Player of the Year, Sixth Man of the Year, Rookie of the Year, Coach of the Year, Executive of the Year, and the All-NBA, All-Defensive, and All-Rookie Teams.

[RELATED: Hoops Rumors Reader Poll Results: 2020 All-NBA Teams]

Charania went on to note (via Twitter) that season statistics will incorporate player performance during the NBA’s eight “seeding” games that kick off July 30 for the NBA’s Disney World season restart, so league leaders in certain stat categories could still change.

The league’s decision on awards could have several ramifications for potential recipients of the various accolades. Players like Bradley Beal, who will not participate in the restart, will have a better shot at making one of the three All-NBA teams for the season. Rookie of the Year favorite Ja Morant and MVP frontrunner Giannis Antetokounmpo will no longer need to further cement their arguments for consideration.

According to Charania (Twitter link), the NBA will soon announce the voting process and its plan to announce this year’s award winners. Typically, media members would vote in the spring and the league would reveal the winners during a televised award show in June. However, it seems unlikely that an in-person ceremony will take place this year.

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Poll Results: Hoops Rumors’ 2020 All-Rookie Teams

May 11th, 2020 at 1:53pm CST by Luke Adams

The coronavirus pandemic and the resulting NBA hiatus have thrown award season into disarray, but it’s probably safe to assume that any remaining regular season games for 2019/20 won’t affect award races too significantly. With that in mind, we asked you to vote last week on the 10 players you feel deserve All-Rookie spots for ’19/20.

We opened voting for the All-Rookie First Team last Tuesday before moving onto the Second Team on Friday. The results of all those polls are in, so let’s check them out.

All-Rookie First Team:

All-Rookie Second Team

The rest of the top vote-getters in the final round of polling who didn’t quite earn spots on the All-Rookie Second Team were Cameron Johnson (Suns) and Michael Porter Jr. (Nuggets), followed by Terence Davis (Raptors) and Matisse Thybulle (Sixers).

I think these results will end up being pretty close to what the actual All-Rookie teams for 2019/20 look like. In fact, it wouldn’t be a total shock if these match up exactly with the official results.

I expect Paschall and Washington to receive some First Team votes, but given the roles that Morant, Clarke, Nunn, and Herro had on playoff teams, they’re all very worthy choices. And I anticipate Williamson will make the cut too — 19 games isn’t a lot, but I think it’ll be enough for voters, especially in a shortened season.

Given my personal bias toward rookies that play important roles on playoff teams over those who rack up counting stats on lottery-bound clubs, I’d give strong consideration to Porter, Davis, and/or Thybulle for the Second Team. Their offensive numbers – especially Thybulle’s – paled in comparison to those posted by Barrett, White, and Hachimura, but the minutes they saw were more important.

Porter probably didn’t play enough overall – and wasn’t a strong enough defender – to earn one of my spots, and Thybulle’s limitations on offense hurt his case. But I’d at least make room for Davis, who had a +10.0 net rating and was the only Raptors player not to miss a game this season. Hachimura, who appeared in just 41 games and ranked 91st out of 95 power forwards in defensive real plus-minus, would likely be my odd man out.

What do you think? Do our poll results match up closely with your picks, or do you think we made some major missteps? Do you expect these results to line up pretty closely with the actual All-Rookie teams for 2019/20, or do you think the official voters will make some different choices?

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Poll: 2020 All-Rookie Second Team

May 8th, 2020 at 11:09am CST by Luke Adams

The NBA’s usual award season is in flux in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. Under normal circumstances, the regular season would be over by this point and voting would have taken place on the league’s major awards. This year, however, it’s still unclear if or when the season will resume after being suspended in March, creating uncertainty about whether players will get any more regular season games to make their cases for award consideration, and about when voting will take place.

Resolving end-of-season awards is hardly the most pressing concern facing the NBA, but while we wait for further updates on the fate of the ’19/20 season, we’re passing the time with some award-related speculation.

Earlier this week, we asked you to vote on your All-Rookie First Team for 2019/20, and the results of that poll are now in. Here are the players you selected:

All-Rookie First Team:

As those results show, many of this year’s most impressive rookies could be found on just two clubs, with Memphis and Miami each getting a pair of first-year players on the First Team.

While Morant was expected to have a significant impact after being selected second overall last June, Herro (No. 13), Clarke (No. 21), and Nunn (undrafted in 2018) flew under the radar during the 2019 offseason and have exceeded expectations as rookies. They’re all worthy First Team choices, in my opinion.

Williamson rounds out the team, despite playing just 19 games so far. His per-game numbers (23.6 PPG, 6.8 RPG, 2.2 APG) and his impact on the Pelicans were so impressive that it’s hard to argue with the choice, though I wonder a few voters will leave him off their First Team ballots this summer due to his limited playing time.

Today, we’re moving onto our vote on the 2020 All-Rookie Second Team. Unlike the All-NBA squads, which feature 15 players, there are only a pair of All-Rookie teams, featuring 10 total players. As such, this will be our last All-Rookie poll. We’ll break down the results on Monday.

You can make your picks below for the players you believe are worthy of spots on the All-Rookie Second Team. Be sure to choose five players, regardless of position, then take to the comment section to explain your choices!

Trade Rumors app users, click here to vote.

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Poll: 2020 All-Rookie First Team

May 5th, 2020 at 11:53am CST by Luke Adams

The NBA’s usual award season is in flux in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. Under normal circumstances, the regular season would be over by this point and voting would have taken place on the league’s major awards. This year, however, it’s unclear if or when the season will resume after being suspended in March, creating uncertainty about whether players will get any more regular season games to make their cases for award consideration, and about when voting will take place.

Resolving end-of-season awards is hardly the most pressing concern facing the NBA, but while we wait for further updates on the fate of the ’19/20 season, we might as well pass the time with some award-related speculation.

Last month, we asked you to vote on the 15 players who deserved spots on the 2020 All-NBA teams. Now, we’re shifting our focus to the league’s two All-Rookie squads.

While an All-Rookie berth is a less prestigious honor than a spot on an All-NBA team, All-Rookie debates among fans can get heated. After all, clubs like the Knicks, Hornets, or Cavaliers have no chance of getting a player on this year’s All-NBA teams, so fans can focus on making their cases for the likes of RJ Barrett, P.J. Washington, Darius Garland, or Kevin Porter as All-Rookie players.

Additionally, unlike All-NBA voting, All-Rookie teams don’t adhere to positional limits, which means voters – and fans – are free to pick the top 10 players, regardless of whether they’re guards, forwards, or centers. Not having to worry about those restrictions means we’re able to drill down on the question of which 10 rookies were the most valuable.

Do players like Barrett or Garland, who had major roles on lottery teams, deserve spots over guys like Terence Davis or Matisse Thybulle, who played smaller rotation roles and posted more modest numbers on playoff clubs? How about Zion Williamson? Is he a lock for the All-Rookie First Team despite only appearing in 19 games for the Pelicans this season?

You can make your picks below for the five players you believe are worthy of spots on the All-Rookie First Team. We’ve started with a field of 20 players, but if you feel like I’ve omitted anyone who deserves consideration, please mention them in the comments and I’ll add them to our list when we conduct our Second Team vote later this week.

Vote for your All-Rookie First Team below (choose five players), then take to the comment section to explain your choices!

Trade Rumors app users, click here to vote.

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Poll Results: Hoops Rumors’ 2020 All-NBA Teams

April 27th, 2020 at 3:43pm CST by Luke Adams

The coronavirus pandemic and the resulting NBA hiatus have thrown award season into disarray, but it’s probably safe to assume that any remaining regular season games for 2019/20 won’t affect award races too significantly. With that in mind, we asked you to vote last week on the 15 players you feel deserve All-NBA spots for ’19/20.

Last Monday, we opened voting for the All-NBA First Team. We moved on to the Second Team on Wednesday, then opened the polls for the Third Team on Friday. The results of all those polls are in, so let’s check them out.

2020 All-NBA First Team

2020 All-NBA Second Team

2020 All-NBA Third Team

Your top vote-getters in the final round of polling who didn’t quite earn spots on the Third Team: Trae Young (Hawks), Russell Westbrook (Rockets), and Paul George (Clippers).

My own All-NBA Teams would look somewhat similar to the ones you picked, though the guard position is a tricky one. Booker likely wouldn’t be one of my 15 choices, and Beal would be a Third Team pick at best for me. Both players put up great offensive numbers, but their teams didn’t have great seasons and they’re poor defenders (Booker ranked 132nd out of 137 shooting guards in Defensive Real Plus-Minus, per ESPN; Beal was 137th).

There’s no shortage of candidates who could replace Booker and potentially Beal — Kyle Lowry and Kemba Walker were veteran leaders on two of the league’s best teams, Westbrook had a monster season in Houston, Donovan Mitchell was the leading scorer for a top-four team in the West, and Ben Simmons’ elite defensive ability makes his case stronger than his offensive numbers would suggest.

I might opt for Westbrook and Lowry over Booker and Beal. I’d also be tempted to find room for Khris Middleton at forward and Bam Adebayo or Rudy Gobert at center, though Butler and/or Embiid would be tough cuts. I’d likely bump Tatum up to the Second Team as well, pushing Siakam down to Third Team.

Of course, the official All-NBA teams will hinge in part on what positions are assigned to certain players. Can Davis be considered a center or will he be deemed a forward? Will James be eligible for a guard spot? Will Butler be a guard or a forward? Those positional decisions, particularly for the Lakers’ stars, could have a ripple effect on other selections.

What do you think? Do you disagree strongly with any of these choices? Do you expect major discrepancies when the official All-NBA teams are announced? Let us know in the comment section!

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Poll: 2020 All-NBA Third Team

April 24th, 2020 at 3:36pm CST by Luke Adams

With the coronavirus pandemic and the resulting NBA hiatus throwing award season into disarray, we’re assuming the 2019/20 regular season is close enough to over that it’s safe to start making our unofficial picks for the league’s end-of-year honors. And we’re working on our All-NBA teams this week.

After closing the polls for the All-NBA First Team on Wednesday, we’ve brought the vote for the All-NBA Second Team to an end today. Some of the results in those Second Team polls were predictable — Nikola Jokic, for instance, was the runaway winner at center. However, there were much tighter races for the Second Team guards and forwards.

Here are the voting results so far:

2020 All-NBA First Team

2020 All-NBA Second Team

A pair of cornerstones on last year’s title-winning Raptors claimed the forward spots here, with Siakam narrowly edging out Jayson Tatum for the second spot. Meanwhile, Lillard and Beal will likely both miss the postseason this year, but had monster individual seasons for losing teams and earned your Second Team votes.

We’re moving on today to the All-NBA Third Team, so be sure to cast your votes below for the two guards, two forwards, and one center that you believe are most deserving of being named to that squad. Don’t forget that a few players qualify at two positions.

You’ll have the entire weekend to finalize your votes before we round up the results on Monday. You’ll also have the opportunity to select two players apiece in the guard and forward polls, so be sure to take advantage of that.

Guards:

(Choose two)

Trade Rumors app users, click here to vote on the All-NBA Third Team guards.

Forwards:

(Choose two)

Trade Rumors app users, click here to vote on the All-NBA Third Team forwards.

Center:

(Choose one)

Trade Rumors app users, click here to vote on the All-NBA Third Team center.

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