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2021 NBA Awards

Ball, Edwards, Haliburton Head All-Rookie Team

June 17th, 2021 at 7:28pm CST by Dana Gauruder

LaMelo Ball, Anthony Edwards, Tyrese Haliburton, Jae’Sean Tate and Saddiq Bey comprised this year’s All-Rookie First Team, the NBA announced on Thursday in a press release.

Ball, who was named Rookie of the Year on Thursday, led first-year NBA players in assists (6.1 APG) and steals (1.59 SPG) and ranked second in scoring (15.7 PPG) and rebounding (5.9 RPG) for the Hornets. Edwards, the No. 1 pick in the draft by the Timberwolves, averaged a rookie-high 19.3 PPG.

The Kings’ Haliburton ranked third among rookies in scoring (13.0 PPG) and second in assists (5.3 APG). Bey, the 19th overall pick, made a rookie-high 175 three-pointers for the Pistons. Tate, who went undrafted in 2018 and played in Australia last season, averaged 11.3 PPG and 5.3 PPG for the Rockets.

Ball and Edwards were the only unanimous First Team selections, receiving 99 of 99 potential First Team votes. Haliburton got 98, while Bey had 63 and Tate received 57.

Knicks guard Immanuel Quickley narrowly missed out on the top five, having earned 51 votes for the First Team.

Here are both All-Rookie teams in full, with their voting point totals notes in parentheses. Players received two points for a First Team vote and one point for a Second Team vote.

2020/21 All-Rookie First Team:

2020/21 All-Rookie Second Team:

Nuggets guard Facundo Campazzo (42), Magic guard Cole Anthony (40), and Warriors center James Wiseman (24) were among the players who just missed the cut. Nine other players received votes — you can view the full voting results right here.

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LaMelo Ball Named NBA Rookie Of The Year

June 16th, 2021 at 6:55pm CST by Luke Adams

6:55pm: Ball’s victory has been confirmed by the NBA in a press release. He received 84 of 99 first-place votes, with the others going to Edwards.

Overall, Ball had 465 points, while Edwards was second with 309. Haliburton was third with 114 points. The Pistons’ Saddiq Bey was the only other player to receive votes, garnering three third-place selections.

1:53pm: Hornets guard LaMelo Ball has won the NBA’s Rookie of the Year award for the 2020/21 season, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter). According to Wojnarowski, an official announcement from the league is expected soon.

Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards and Kings guard Tyrese Haliburton were the other finalists for the award. I’d expect Edwards to finish second in the voting, with Haliburton coming in third, but we’ll have to wait for the official breakdown from the NBA.

The third overall pick in the 2020 draft, Ball had a breakthrough rookie year in Charlotte, averaging 15.7 points, 6.1 assists, and 5.9 rebounds per games in 51 contests (28.8 MPG). There were questions about the 19-year-old’s jump shot entering his first professional season, but Ball put up a respectable shooting line of .436/.352/.758, emerging as the Hornets’ starting point guard despite the presence of veterans Terry Rozier and Devonte’ Graham.

A fractured right wrist sidelined Ball for over a month in March and April, but he returned to the court down the stretch to help the Hornets clinch a spot in the play-in tournament. The club was bounced in the first game by Indiana, but Ball’s performance in 2020/21 bodes well for the long-term future in Charlotte.

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NBA Announces 2020/2021 All-NBA Teams

June 15th, 2021 at 8:07pm CST by Eli Cohen

The NBA has officially announced the All-NBA First, Second, and Third Teams for the 2020/21 season, with Giannis Antetokounmpo leading the way as the lone unanimous selection for the First Team.

Antetokounmpo and Nuggets‘ MVP Nikola Jokic were the two top vote-getters, combining for 998 out of a possible 1,000 points, with Warriors guard Stephen Curry following shortly behind. Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard and Mavericks guard Luka Doncic rounding out the top five.

The full All-NBA teams are listed below, with their vote totals in parentheses. Players received five points for a First Team vote, three points for a Second Team vote, and one point for a Third Team vote, so Giannis scored a perfect 500 — First Team nods from all 100 voters.

All-NBA First Team

All-NBA Second Team

All-NBA Third Team

Among the players who just missed the cut were Celtics forward Jayson Tatum (69), Wizards guard Russell Westbrook (44), Nets guard James Harden (41), Pelicans forward Zion Williamson (37) and Heat center Bam Adebayo (32). A total of 12 other players received votes. The full results can be found here.

Today’s announcement has major financial implications across the league. Tatum, who received more votes than Kyrie Irving but still fell 20 votes short of a final forward spot, will lose out on a projected $32.6MM on his rookie scale extension, as his next deal will start at 25% of the cap instead of the 30% he would have received if he’d been named to an All-NBA team. Likewise, Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell, Kings guard De’Aaron Fox and Adebayo will all receive starting salaries worth 25% of the cap on their respective extensions as a result of missing out on All-NBA honors.

Doncic, having been named to his second consecutive All-NBA First Team, will be eligible for a 30% extension that would be worth a projected $201MM+ and is almost certain to be offered this summer. Doncic has previously made clear his intentions to sign the extension when offered. It will go into effect for the 2022/23 season.

Embiid is now eligible for a super-max contract extension, which would run for four years, starting in 2023/24, and would be worth a projected $191MM, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks. It’s unclear whether the Sixers will immediately put this extension on the table this offseason.

Bradley Beal‘s deal will not change with his first career All-NBA selection, as he is already eligible for a 35% contract extension on his next deal. Jokic, having been named MVP previously this week, also sees no change in his possible future super-max extension, which will be worth approximately $241MM.

Hoops Rumors readers accurately picked 12 of this season’s 15 All-NBA players in our poll. Devin Booker, Adebayo, and Tatum were your picks who didn’t make the official list.

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NBA All-Defensive Teams Announced

June 14th, 2021 at 6:24pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

The NBA has officially announced the voting results for its two 2020/21 All-Defensive teams.

Jazz center Rudy Gobert, the Defensive Player of the Year for the third time in four seasons, and Sixers guard Ben Simmons were unanimous selections for the All-Defensive First Team. Both players made the First Team lists of all 100 tallied ballots, for a perfect total of 200 points. Votes are given to 100 media members.

This marks Gobert’s fifth straight appearance on the All-Defensive First Team, and the second consecutive All-Defensive First Team honor for Simmons.

Warriors forward Draymond Green garnered 176 points (including 80 First Team votes). Green was named Defensive Player of the Year in the 2016/17 season. This year’s nod is his fourth First Team honor, and his sixth total All-Defensive team.

Two Bucks players rounded out the All-Defensive First Team this season. Guard Jrue Holiday netted 157 points (65 First Team) and All-Star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, the 2020 Defensive Player of the Year, earned 135 total points (43 First Team). Antetokounmpo has just made his third straight All-Defensive First Team, and his fourth All-Defensive team overall. This is Holiday’s second All-Defensive First Team appearance and his third overall All-Defensive team.

[RELATED: Rudy Gobert Named Defensive Player Of The Year]

Two All-Defensive First-Teamers have unlocked contract bonuses associated with the honor. Bobby Marks of ESPN tweets that Gobert will receive a $500K bonus for the inclusion this season. Marks adds (Twitter link) that Holiday will pocket a cool $100K for making All-Defensive First Team. Holiday has other contract incentives associated with his team’s further postseason advancement.

The All-Defensive Second Team honorees are led by Heat stars Bam Adebayo and Jimmy Butler, who each netted 111 points (37 First Team votes) apiece. Adebayo makes his second All-Defensive Second Team with the nod today. This is Butler’s fifth such honor.

Simmons’s Sixers teammates Joel Embiid and Matisse Thybulle also make the cut. It is the third All-Defensive team nod for Embiid and the first appearance for Thybulle. Clippers All-Star forward Kawhi Leonard, a former two-time Defensive Player of the Year, rounds out the All-Defensive Second Team this season.

Here are the full voting results for the All-Defensive First and Second Teams, with each player’s point total noted in parentheses:

First Team:

Second Team:

Suns guard/forward Mikal Bridges, Hawks center Clint Capela, and Pacers forward/center Myles Turner were among the highest vote-getters who missed the cut for the Second Team. You can find the full voting results right here.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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Rudy Gobert Named Defensive Player Of The Year

June 9th, 2021 at 8:05pm CST by Arthur Hill

Jazz center Rudy Gobert has been selected as the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic. This is the third DPOY honor for Gobert, who also won the award in 2018 and 2019.

During his eight NBA seasons, Gobert has established himself as one of the league’s best shot blockers. He averaged a career-best 2.7 rejections per game this season and ranked first in a number of defensive analytics stats, including defensive real plus-minus and defensive RAPTOR, by a wide margin.

“It takes team effort, mental toughness, hard work and dedication,” Gobert told Eric Walden of The Salt Lake Tribune (Twitter link). “Every day you have to come in with a mindset to make your team better on that end.”

Gobert received 84 first-place votes, along with 14 for second place and two for third place for an overall total of 464 points, the NBA announced in its official press release.

The Sixers‘ Ben Simmons was second with 15/67/11 and 287 points, followed by the Warriors‘ Draymond Green with 0/13/37 and 76 points. The other first-place vote went to Bam Adebayo of the Heat, who came in fourth.

Eight other players received at least one DPOY vote, including Giannis Antetokounmpo, Clint Capela, Joel Embiid, and Jrue Holiday. Perhaps the most unexpected vote belonged to Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who was placed third on one ballot.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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Nikola Jokic Wins Most Valuable Player Award

June 8th, 2021 at 6:45pm CST by Dana Gauruder

6:45pm: Jokic was the runaway winner, per an official press release from the NBA.

[RELATED: MVP Makes Jokic Eligible For Super-Max In 2022]

Jokic received 91 of 100 first-place votes and racked up 971 points. Embiid finished second despite receiving just one first-place vote; he had 586 points, aided by 62 second-place votes; Curry finished third with five first-place votes and 453 points.

Giannis Antetokounmpo and Chris Paul rounded out the top five finishers, while 10 other players received at least one vote. The only real surprise among that group was Derrick Rose, who, oddly, received a first-place vote.

4:39pm: Nuggets center Nikola Jokic has won the league’s Most Valuable Player award, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets.

Jokic averaged a career-high 26.4 points, 10.8 rebounds and 8.3 assists per game this season. In an era in which players are regularly given nights off for rest, Jokic showed his toughness and durability by appearing in all 72 regular-season games.

As the 41st selection in the 2014 draft, Jokic is by far the lowest draft pick to ever earn the honor. He’s also the first Nuggets player to win the award.

Sixers center Joel Embiid and Warriors guard Stephen Curry were the other finalists for the award.

Embiid averaged 28.5 PPG and 1o.6 RPG but only appeared in 51 regular-season games, mainly due to a knee injury. Curry led the NBA in scoring at 32.0 PPG along with 5.8 APG while playing 63 games.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sport Images.

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Tom Thibodeau Named Coach Of The Year

June 7th, 2021 at 6:45pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Tom Thibodeau has been named Coach of the Year, according to a league press release.

Thibodeau guided the Knicks to their first postseason appearance since the 2012/13 season. The Knicks finished the regular season with a 41-31 record, ending a string of seven consecutive losing seasons. They were 21-45 last season and 17-65 in 2018/19.

It’s the second Coach of the Year award for Thibodeau, who also earned the honor in the 2010/11 season with the Bulls in his first season as a head coach.  No one had previously won the award in his first season with two different franchises.

Suns coach Monty Williams actually received more first-place votes (45) than Thibodeau (43). However, Thibodeau earned 351 total points while Williams had 340 points.  The 11-point difference between the first- and second-place finishers was the smallest margin since the voting format was introduced in the 2002/03 season.

The Jazz‘s Quin Snyder finished third with 161 points (10 first-place votes). Four other coaches received votes — Doc Rivers (Sixers), Nate McMillan (Hawks), Steve Nash (Nets), and Michael Malone (Nuggets).

Thibodeau is the first Knicks coach since Pat Riley (1992/93) to win the award.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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Julius Randle Named 2020/21 Most Improved Player

May 25th, 2021 at 6:17pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

All-Star Knicks forward Julius Randle has been named the Most Improved Player of the 2020/21 NBA season, the league announced in a press release.

Randle was listed as one of three finalists for the award last week, along with Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr. and Porter’s former teammate, current Pistons forward Jerami Grant.

Randle received 98 of 100 possible first-place votes from polled reporters and journalists, while Grant netted the other two. Rockets center Christian Wood and Bulls guard Zach LaVine rounded out the top five vote-getters.

JD Shaw of Hoops Rumors supplies the full voting results here (Twitter link).

Randle, who was drafted with the seventh pick out of Kentucky in 2014 by the Lakers, posted impressive numbers with Los Angeles and later the Pelicans, but has secured a true home while blossoming into an All-NBA talent under the bright lights of Madison Square Garden.

Across 71 of a possible 72 games, the 26-year-old averaged 24.1 PPG, 10.2 RPG, and 6.0 APG, all career-bests, while leading New York to its first playoff berth in eight seasons. The 6’8″ forward also posted a slash line of .456/.411/.811 during the 2020/21 regular season.

Thanks to the improvement of Randle and RJ Barrett and the game-planning expertise of new head coach Tom Thibodeau, the Knicks didn’t just make the postseason under Randle’s leadership — they also nabbed the No. 4 seed in the East with a 41-31 record, clinching home court advantage in the ongoing first round of the playoffs.

Randle, who inked a three-year, $63MM deal with the Knicks in the summer of 2019, will be eligible for a veteran extension this summer, ahead of the non-guaranteed final year of his deal. If Randle and the Knicks agree to a maximum four-year extension, such a deal could carry a $106MM+ base value, with added incentives.

Pelicans forward Brandon Ingram won the award last year.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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Jordan Clarkson Captures Sixth Man Award

May 24th, 2021 at 6:49pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Jazz guard Jordan Clarkson has won the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year award, according to a league press release.

This is the first time Clarkson has won the award. He’s also the first Jazz player to be given the honor.

Clarkson, who re-signed with Utah last offseason for four years and $51MM, received 65 first-place votes and earned 407 total points from a global panel of 100 sportswriters and broadcasters. His teammate, forward Joe Ingles, finished in second place with 272 points (34 first-place votes). Knicks guard Derrick Rose finished third with 77 points (one first-place vote).

Clarkson averaged a career-high 18.4 PPG, 4.0 RPG and 2.5 APG in 26.7 MPG while appearing in 68 games. Playing his first full season with Utah and seventh in the NBA, Clarkson recorded two games with at least 40 points, five games with at least 30 points and 23 games with at least 20 points off the bench.

Montrezl Harrell, then with the Clippers, won the award last season. Lou Williams captured the honor with the Clippers the previous two seasons.

Mavericks teammates Jalen Brunson and Tim Hardaway rounded out the top five vote-getters for this year’s Sixth Man award. The full voting results can be found here.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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Finalists For Major 2020/21 NBA Awards Announced

May 20th, 2021 at 6:42pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

During a TNT broadcast ahead of tonight’s Wizards-Pacers play-in matchup, the finalists for six big end-of-season 2020/21 awards were announced. Here is the full list, as voted on by reporters.

NBA Most Valuable Player:

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:

  • Quin Snyder (Jazz)
  • Tom Thibodeau (Knicks)
  • Monty Williams (Suns)

Some of these current contenders are familiar with the hardware they’re up for again. Curry is a two-time MVP, having won the award previously in 2015 and 2016. Gobert and Green have both previously won Defensive Player of the Year awards — Green in 2017 and Gobert in 2018 and 2019. Thibodeau was voted Coach of the Year a decade ago while with the Bulls.

The winners for the awards will be announced during the 2020/21 NBA playoffs.

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