Hoops Rumors Originals

Community Shootaround: Coach Of The Year

March 31st, 2020 at 1:48pm CST by Luke Adams

After discussing our hypothetical ballots for the NBA’s 2019/20 MVP, Rookie of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Most Improved Player, and Sixth Man of the Year awards, we’re shifting our focus today to the Coach of the Year.

Raptors head coach Nick Nurse has emerged as a likely favorite for this award after losing NBA Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard and starting shooting guard Danny Green in the offseason. Without a superstar, Toronto was expected to come back down to earth following its surprise championship run in 2019. Instead, the Raptors put up a 46-18 record prior to the NBA’s hiatus, good for second in the East and third in the league.

Dan Devine of The Ringer, Zach Harper of The Athletic, and Mark Murphy of The Boston Herald all placed Nurse atop their hypothetical Coach of the Year ballots, pointing out that the Raptors’ head coach didn’t just overcome the loss of Leonard — he also had to deal with an injury-plagued roster all season long. Kyle Lowry, Pascal Siakam, Fred VanVleet, Marc Gasol, Serge Ibaka, and Norman Powell each missed double-digit games in 2019/20, and Nurse just kept finding ways to plug the holes in the lineup and continue winning.

Of course, he didn’t win as much as Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer, the NBA’s reigning Coach of the Year, who made a strong case for the award again this season. No team had a better record than Milwaukee’s 53-12 mark, and while the Bucks almost certainly weren’t going to win 70 games, they likely would’ve gotten pretty close.

The Bucks’ average margin of victory in 2019/20 was one of the best in NBA history, and it’s not as if their roster is jam-packed with stars. Giannis Antetokounmpo is the MVP frontrunner and Khris Middleton is an All-Star, but most of the rest of the club’s contributors are role players. Budenholzer, – who was the runner-up behind Nurse for Devine, Harper, and Murphy – had the group looking like a juggernaut.

Beyond Nurse and Budenholzer, there’s no shortage of impressive Coach of the Year candidates. Devine’s third-place pick was Taylor Jenkins, a first-year head coach who took a Grizzlies team viewed as one of the league’s bottom-feeders and steered it to a playoff spot in the West.

Harper, meanwhile, gave his No. 3 spot to Lakers head coach Frank Vogel, who was considered L.A.’s Plan C when he was hired last spring. Vogel’s team had a 49-14 record when the NBA suspended play, holding a commanding 5.5-game lead for the top seed in the Western Conference. Even the most enthusiastic Lakers supporters would have had a hard time envisioning a better-case scenario last fall.

Murphy’s runners-up were Billy Donovan (Thunder) and Erik Spoelstra (Heat). Expectations for both teams – particularly Oklahoma City – were modest entering the season, but they’ve exceeded them, comfortably claiming postseason spots in their respective conferences.

While the coaches mentioned above are probably the strongest candidates for award-season recognition in 2020, you could make a case for several others, including Brad Stevens (Celtics), Michael Malone (Nuggets), Rick Carlisle (Mavericks), Nate McMillan (Pacers), Scott Brooks (Wizards), and James Borrego (Hornets).

We want to know what you think. Who is the 2019/20 NBA Coach of the Year? And who would you put on your three-man ballot?

Head to the comment section below to weigh in with your picks!o

Tentative 2020 NBA Draft Dates, Deadlines

March 30th, 2020 at 4:00pm CST by Luke Adams

In the past, the NBA and NCAA have worked together on an annual calendar that provides fairly rigid dates and deadlines each year for draft-eligible prospects and players who decide to enter the draft early. However, given the coronavirus pandemic currently affecting every aspect of life in North America and around the world, that calendar could be a whole lot more fluid this year.

Already, the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament, a key part of the pre-draft schedule for NBA scouts and evaluators, has been canceled, and that event is highly unlikely to be the last one in the draft process impacted by COVID-19.

With that in mind, we’re using this space to keep tabs on the 2020 NBA draft dates and deadlines, as currently scheduled. If deadlines listed below are changed or certain events are eliminated altogether, this post will be updated to reflect that.

So, with the caveat that these dates and deadlines are extremely tentative for the time being, here are the dates worth watching in the coming weeks and months:

April 16 (11:59pm ET): Deadline to request evaluation from NBA Undergraduate Advisory Committee

An early entrant who requests an evaluation from the NBA Undergraduate Advisory Committee can hire an NCAA-certified agent without worrying about losing his remaining college eligibility.

~~April 26~~ August 17 (11:59pm ET): Deadline for early entrants to declare for the draft (Rescheduled)

College underclassmen and international early entrants initially had until the end of the day on April 26 to submit their names into the 2020 NBA draft pool. However, the NBA retroactively pushed that deadline back to August 17, essentially creating a second window for early entrants to declare.

Those early entrants can always withdraw their names later if they decide they’re not ready to go pro this year.

~~May 17-19: G League Elite Camp~~ (Canceled)

In a typical year, 40 NBA G League invitees would participate in the first half of this mini-camp before 40 top draft-eligible players who weren’t invited to the combine participate in the second half. Those invites would be sent out at the start of May.

However, this year, the event will almost certainly be postponed, canceled, or revamped to avoid having 80 players brought together.

~~May 19~~ August 20: NBA draft lottery (Rescheduled after being postponed)

In theory, the lottery could be conducted without needing to bring reporters, league executives, draft prospects, and representatives from every lottery team into one room. However, given how much scrutiny the lottery process faces from fans and team executives alike, the NBA may have to get creative to find a way to do it remotely.

~~May 19-24~~: NBA draft combine (Postponed indefinitely)

This five-day event typically allows NBA teams to get a first-hand look at many of this year’s top draft-eligible players. It’s particularly important for early entrants who have yet to decide whether or not to stay in the draft. The feedback they get at the combine goes a long way toward dictating whether they keep their names in the draft or return to school for another year.

In 2020, the combine won’t look anything like it typically does. There’s an expectation that some sort of virtual regional events can take place and some in-person interviews may be permitted, but teams’ abilities to scout players in person will be extremely limited, if not nonexistent.

~~June 3 (11:59pm)~~ August 3 (11:59pm): NCAA early entrant withdrawal deadline (Rescheduled after being postponed)

College underclassmen who want to retain their NCAA eligibility will have to withdraw their names from the draft pool by August 3 or 10 days after the combine, whichever comes first. We’re assuming for now that August 3 will come first, since there are still no plans for a rescheduled combine.

NBA rules call for a later withdrawal deadline, but the NCAA has its own set of rules that call for a player to pull out by a certain date if he wants to be able to play college ball again.

~~June 15 (5:00pm)~~ November 8 (5:00pm): NBA early entrant withdrawal deadline (Rescheduled)

This is the NBA’s final deadline for early entrants to withdraw their names from the draft pool and retain their draft eligibility for a future year. By this point, we generally know whether an NCAA underclassman kept his name in the draft or not, but this is an important deadline for international players, who aren’t subject to the same restrictions as college players.

~~June 25~~ November 18: NBA draft day (Rescheduled)

It remains to be seen what form this year’s draft will take. The WNBA completed a “virtual draft” in April — the NBA will likely opt for a similar arrangement.

In any case, with the NBA intending to resume its season in July, the June 25 draft had to be postponed. After initially pushing it back to October 16, the league and players’ union delayed it again. November 18 is the new date.

Information from the NCAA and NBA.com was used in the creation of this post.

Community Shootaround: Hypothetical Sixth Man Ballot

March 30th, 2020 at 12:14pm CST by Luke Adams

Last week, we discussed hypothetical 2019/20 ballots for the MVP, Rookie of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, and Most Improved Player awards. We’re finishing up our look at the NBA’s major awards this week, starting with Sixth Man of the Year.

Any discussion for this award generally has to start with Clippers guard Lou Williams, who has been named the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year twice in a row and three times in the last five years. In 2019/20, the 33-year-old was once again one of the league’s leading scorers off the bench, with 18.7 PPG and a career-high 5.7 APG.

However, with Kawhi Leonard and Paul George in the picture, Williams wasn’t leaned on quite as heavily this season, and his .416 FG% was his lowest mark since 2015/16. Mark Murphy of The Boston Herald still had Williams atop his hypothetical Sixth Man of the Year ballot, but neither Dan Devine of The Ringer nor Zach Harper of The Athletic even had him in the top three.

Devine’s Sixth Man pick was one of Williams’ teammates: Montrezl Harrell. As Devine points out, a handful of advanced stats favor Harrell, who led all reserves in value over replacement player and total win shares in 2019/20. The big man’s traditional stats, including 18.6 PPG and 7.1 RPG, were pretty impressive too, earning him a runner-up spot on Harper’s and Murphy’s ballots.

Harper, however, went in another direction with his choice, opting for Thunder guard Dennis Schroder. Chris Paul‘s return to All-Star status and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander‘s breakout sophomore season may have earned more headlines, but Schroder played a major role this year in Oklahoma City’s unexpected success. His 19.0 PPG ranked first among reserves, and he has scored those points efficiently (.468/.381/.839) while chipping in 4.1 APG and 3.7 RPG as well.

Heat guard Goran Dragic, who accepted a backup role and enjoyed a nice bounceback season, with 16.1 PPG and 5.1 APG, earned the third spot on Harper’s and Murphy’s ballots. Bucks guards George Hill and Donte DiVincenzo, who provided key depth for the NBA’s best team, tied for third place on Devine’s list. Pistons point guard Derrick Rose (18.1 PPG, 5.6 APG) earned an honorable mention from Harper.

Wizards sharpshooter Davis Bertans, Jazz sparkplug Jordan Clarkson, Kings wing Bogdan Bogdanovic, and big men like Dwight Howard (Lakers) and Christian Wood (Pistons) are some of the other players who deserve consideration, though Bogdanovic and Wood were among those who had become starters by the time the season was suspended.

What do you think? Who is your pick for Sixth Man of the Year in 2019/20 (assuming the regular season is over or close to it)? How would you fill out your top three if you had a ballot?

Head below to the comment section to share your thoughts!

Hoops Rumors Glossary: Non-Bird Rights

March 30th, 2020 at 10:08am CST by Luke Adams

Players and teams have to meet certain criteria to earn Bird rights and Early Bird rights, but Non-Bird rights are practically a given. They apply to a player who has spent a single season or less with his team, as long as he finishes the season on an NBA roster. Even a player who signs on the last day of the regular season and spends just one day with his club would have Non-Bird rights in the offseason.

Teams can also claim Non-Bird rights on Early Bird free agents if they renounce them. The primary motivator to do so would be to allow the team to sign the free agent to a one-year contract, a move that’s not permitted via Early Bird rights.

Teams are eligible to sign their own free agents using the Non-Bird exception for a salary starting at 120% of the player’s previous salary, 120% of the minimum salary, or the amount of a qualifying offer (if the player is a restricted free agent), whichever is greatest. Contracts can be for up to four years, with 5% annual raises.

The cap hold for a Non-Bird player is 120% of his previous salary, unless the previous salary was the minimum. In that case, the cap hold is equivalent to the two-year veteran’s minimum salary. If a Non-Bird free agent only has one year of NBA experience, his cap hold is equivalent to the one-year veteran’s minimum salary.

The salary limitations that apply to Non-Bird rights are more severe than those pertaining to Bird rights or Early Bird rights, so in many cases, the Non-Bird exception may not be enough to retain a well-regarded free agent. For instance, the Bucks held Brook Lopez‘s Non-Bird rights last summer, but were unable to realistically use them to re-sign the free agent center.

Because Lopez’s 2018/19 salary was only $3,382,000, the club’s ability to offer a raise using the Non-Bird exception was extremely limited — 120% of Lopez’s previous salary worked out to just $4,058,400, which wouldn’t have been a competitive starting point for an offer.

In order to bring back Lopez, who ultimately signed a new four-year, $52MM deal with Milwaukee, the team had to use cap room or another exception. The Bucks ended up making a series of moves that allowed them to carve out the cap space necessary to pay Lopez $13MM annually.

Holding Non-Bird rights on a free agent didn’t really help the Bucks in that scenario, but there are cases in which the exception proves useful. For instance, the Clippers will only have Non-Bird rights on Marcus Morris this offseason, but because his ’19/20 salary is $15MM, Los Angeles would be able to offer a starting salary worth up to $18MM. That should give the club plenty of flexibility to re-sign Morris without using cap room or another exception, if there’s mutual interest in a new deal.

Although no contracts signed during the 2019 offseason fit the bill, Luke Kornet‘s 2018 contract with the Knicks provides an example of a team using Non-Bird rights on a minimum salary player. Kornet, whose minimum salary would have been $1,349,383 in ’18/19, was eligible to sign for up to 120% of that amount via the Non-Bird exception. As such, his one-year deal with New York was worth $1,619,260.

Finally, it’s worth noting that a player who re-signs with his previous team on a one-year deal and will have Early Bird or Bird rights at the end of that contract would surrender those rights if he consents to a trade. In that scenario, he’d only finish the season with Non-Bird rights.

This happened to Rodney Hood in 2019, when he agreed to a trade that sent him from Cleveland to Portland. Because he lost his Bird rights by consenting to the deal, Hood only had Non-Bird rights during the 2019 offseason, so the Trail Blazers had to use their taxpayer mid-level exception to re-sign him.

Note: This is a Hoops Rumors Glossary entry. Our glossary posts will explain specific rules relating to trades, free agency, or other aspects of the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement. Larry Coon’s Salary Cap FAQ was used in the creation of this post.

Earlier versions of this post were published in previous years by Luke Adams and Chuck Myron. Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Hoops Rumors Originals: 3/22/20 – 3/28/20

March 28th, 2020 at 2:27pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Every week, the Hoops Rumors writing team publishes original content to complement our news feed. Listed below are our original segments and features from the past seven days:

Luke Adams supplied a helpful list of the NBA draft’s early entrants.
For our Hoops Rumors Glossary entries this week, Adams defined Bird Rights and Early Bird Rights.
In our Community Shootaround conversations this week, we asked:
- Who was the most improved player this season? (link)
- Who was the best defensive player this year? (link)
- Who deserved to make your hypothetical Rookie Of The Year ballot? (link)
- Which players would qualify for your hypothetical MVP ballot? (link)

Categories:
Hoops Rumors Originals

Community Shootaround: Most Improved Player

March 27th, 2020 at 4:01pm CST by Luke Adams

Over the course of this week, we’ve discussed a handful of awards for the 2019/20 NBA season, exploring what your ballots might look like if the regular season ends up being over. After tackling MVP, Rookie of the Year, and Defensive Player of the Year, we’re moving on today to Most Improved Player.

As Dan Devine of The Ringer notes, there was no shortage this season of candidates for the MIP award. Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Hornets guard Devonte’ Graham, and Heat sharpshooter Duncan Robinson were among the many second-year players who made substantial improvements in year two.

For those who prefer to shy away from second-year players – who are, after all, expected to improve – Pistons big man Christian Wood could be a strong candidate. So could Celtics wing Jaylen Brown or Magic point guard Markelle Fultz, former top picks who had breakout seasons in 2019/20 — both earned honorable mentions from Zach Harper of The Athletic.

Many of the names that ultimately landed on Devine’s and Harper’s hypothetical ballots overlap. Heat big man Bam Adebayo, who was Devine’s runner-up, was Harper’s top choice. Celtics forward Jayson Tatum and Pelicans forward Brandon Ingram rounded out Harper’s top three, and also tied for third place on Devine’s list.

Devine’s choice for the award was a second-year player: Mavericks star Luka Doncic, who evolved from the league’s top rookie into a legit MVP candidate.

Mark Murphy of The Boston Herald, meanwhile, picked Tatum as this year’s Most Improved Player and gave honorable mention to Kings sharpshooter Buddy Hield and Pacers big man Domantas Sabonis. I’m not sure I’m on board with the Hield pick – many of his numbers were better a year ago and he was removed from Sacramento’s starting lineup in January – but Sabonis is a strong candidate after emerging as one of the top centers in the conference.

The names provided by Devine, Harper, and Murphy don’t form an exhaustive list of candidates — you could identify at least one player who made major strides on just about every NBA team. Hawks star Trae Young, Wizards marksman Davis Bertans, Grizzlies forward Dillon Brooks, and Raptors point guard Fred VanVleet are among the others I’d look at if I were considering my own ballot.

But we want to know what you think. If you were putting together a three-man ballot for Most Improved Player in 2019/20, who would be on it?

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

Hoops Rumors Glossary: Early Bird Rights

March 27th, 2020 at 8:51am CST by Luke Adams

Bird rights offer teams the chance to sign their own free agents without regard to the salary cap, but they don’t apply to every player. Other salary cap exceptions are available for teams to keep players who don’t qualify for Bird rights. One such exception is the Early Bird, which applies to players formally known as Early Qualifying Veteran Free Agents.

While the Bird exception is for players who have spent three seasons with one club without changing teams as a free agent, Early Bird rights are earned after just two such seasons. Virtually all of the same rules that apply to Bird rights apply to Early Bird rights, with the requirements condensed to two years rather than three. Players still see their Bird clocks restart by changing teams via free agency, being claimed in an expansion draft, or having their rights renounced.

As is the case with Bird rights, a player’s clock stops when he’s released by a team and clears waivers, but it would pick up where it left off if he re-signs with that same team down the road without joining another club in the interim. For instance, if DeMarcus Cousins – released by the Lakers last month before the end of his one-year contract – were to sign a new one-year deal with L.A. during the 2020 offseason, the team would have his Early Bird rights in the 2021 offseason.

The crucial difference between Bird rights and Early Bird rights involves the limitations on contract offers. Bird players can receive maximum-salary deals for up to five years, while the most a team can offer an Early Bird free agent without using cap space is 175% of his previous salary (up to the max) or 105% of the league-average salary in the previous season, whichever is greater. These offers are also capped at four years rather than five, and the new contracts must run for at least two years (with no second-year options).

Christian Wood (Pistons), De’Anthony Melton (Grizzlies), Nerlens Noel (Thunder), and Brad Wanamaker (Celtics) are among the free agents who will have Early Bird rights at the end of the 2019/20 season.

In some instances, teams can benefit from having Early Bird rights instead of full Bird rights if they’re trying to preserve cap space. The cap hold for an Early Bird player is 130% of his previous salary, significantly less than most Bird players, whose cap holds range from 150-300% of their previous salaries.

That could help a team like the Pistons, who project to have cap space in the 2020 offseason. The cap hold for Wood, who is earning a minimum salary this season, will be worth the ’20/21 minimum, but the big man will be in line for a much more lucrative salary than that. If the Pistons reach an agreement to re-sign Wood near the start of free agency, they could wait to make it official, keeping his cap hold on the books until they use the rest of their cap room, maximizing that space. Then they could go over the cap to finalize Wood’s deal using the Early Bird exception.

Meanwhile, some players with limited NBA experience are subject to a special wrinkle involving Early Bird rights, called the Gilbert Arenas Provision, which applies to players who have only been in the league for one or two years. We cover the Gilbert Arenas Provision in a separate glossary entry, so you can read up on the details there. It would apply this offseason to a player like Melton.

Finally, one more distinction between Bird rights and Early Bird rights applies to waivers. Players who are claimed off waivers retain their Early Bird rights, just as they would if they were traded. Those who had Bird rights instead see those reduced to Early Bird rights if they’re claimed off waivers. This rule stems from a 2012 settlement between the league and the union in which J.J. Hickson was given a special exception and retained his full Bird rights for the summer of 2012 even though he had been claimed off waivers that March.

Earlier versions of this post were published in previous years by Luke Adams and Chuck Myron. Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Community Shootaround: Defensive Player Of The Year

March 26th, 2020 at 4:00pm CST by Luke Adams

After exploring hypothetical ballots for 2019/20’s Most Valuable Player and Rookie of the Year earlier this week, we’re moving on today to a third award, Defensive Player of the Year.

Unlike the MVP or Rookie of the Year races, where one or two obvious frontrunners have emerged over the course of the season, the Defensive Player of the Year race is a little more wide open. There are certainly basic and advanced defensive statistics we can use to assess a player’s impact on that end of the court, but the eye test plays a significant role in evaluating a player’s defensive ability, so the award is more subjective.

One player most analysts agree deserves to be in consideration for this year’s Defensive Player of the Year award? Lakers big man Anthony Davis. Although teammate LeBron James looks like the stronger MVP candidate, Davis has often been the club’s last line of defense, protecting the rim and helping turn L.A. into one of the NBA’s stingiest teams — the Lakers rank third in defensive rating.

Mark Murphy of The Boston Herald and Zach Harper of The Athletic both had Davis atop their hypothetical Defensive Player of the Year ballots, while Dan Devine of The Ringer placed him second.

Devine’s top choice is Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo, whose elite defense is a major factor in his case for a second consecutive MVP award. Devine argues that Milwaukee’s top-ranked defense is as good as it is because Antetokonmpo can “essentially erase half the floor,” roaming around the court like an NFL free safety. Among high-volume defenders, Giannis ranked first in opponents’ field goal percentage, at 36.1%. He was on Harper’s and Murphy’s ballots as well.

Ben Simmons (Sixers), Bam Adebayo (Heat), Marcus Smart (Celtics), Brook Lopez (Bucks), and P.J. Tucker (Rockets) were among the other players to earn Defensive Player of the Year consideration from at least one of Devine, Murphy, and Harper. Interestingly, none of their three ballots included reigning DPOY Rudy Gobert, though Harper did give the Jazz center an honorable mention.

What do you think? Would you pick Davis, Antetokounmpo, or someone else as this year’s Defensive Player of the Year, assuming the season is over or close to it? What would your top three look like if you were submitting an official ballot?

Head to the comment section below to share your thoughts!

Community Shootaround: Rookie Of The Year Ballot

March 25th, 2020 at 2:52pm CST by Luke Adams

Earlier this week, we asked you for your hypothetical 2019/20 NBA ballot, based on the possibility that the regular season is essentially over. Today, we’re shifting our focus to another one of the NBA’s major end-of-season awards: Rookie of the Year.

Entering the season, No. 1 pick Zion Williamson was viewed as the overwhelming favorite for the Rookie of the Year award. However, health issues delayed Williamson’s NBA regular-season debut until January 22, and the Pelicans forward ultimately only appeared in 19 games.

Williamson was as good as advertised in those games, averaging 23.6 PPG, 6.8 RPG, and 2.2 APG on 58.9% shooting in just under 30 MPG. However, it’s tough to put the former Duke star atop any Rookie of the Year ballot, considering he didn’t even reach the 20-game threshold. Joel Embiid, who appeared in 31 games in 2016/17, didn’t earn ROY honors either, and he wasn’t up against a competitor like Ja Morant, who looks like the overwhelming favorite to take home the award in 2020.

Morant, the No. 2 overall pick in last year’s draft, filled up the box score by recording 17.6 PPG, 6.9 APG, and 3.5 RPG on .491/.367/.770 shooting in 30.0 minutes per contest. He put up those numbers while starting 59 games for the Grizzlies and leading the overachieving squad to a No. 8 seed in the Western Conference.

Zach Harper of The Athletic writes that “it feels impossible” to give this year’s Rookie of the Year award to anyone besides Morant, while Dan Devine of The Ringer refers to the former Murray State standout as “the no-doubt-about-it pick” for the trophy. ESPN’s analysts agreed — all 70 straw poll respondents placed Morant atop their ballots.

Although Morant seems like a lock for the actual award, it’s still worth exploring how you’d fill out the rest of your three-man ballot.

Despite his small sample, Williamson earned 51 second-place votes from ESPN’s panel, and placed second on Harper’s list too. However, Devine left Zion off his ballot entirely, opting for Grizzlies forward Brandon Clarke and Raptors guard Terence Davis instead, pointing to a series of impressive advanced stats to make his case for the two less heralded rookies.

Heat guard Kendrick Nunn deserves consideration as well — he placed third on ESPN’s list and on Harper’s ballot. Warriors big man Eric Paschall and Knicks forward RJ Barrett earned honorable mentions from Harper and at least one second-place vote apiece from ESPN’s voters. Bulls guard Coby White, Hornets forward PJ Washington, Wizards forward Rui Hachimura, and Heat sharpshooter Tyler Herro were among the players receiving third-place votes from ESPN’s panel.

What do you think? Can you make a case for anyone besides Morant as this season’s Rookie of the Year? Were Williamson’s 19 games enough to earn him a spot on your ballot? Who would your top three picks be for the 2020 Rookie of the Year award?

Head to the comment section below to share your thoughts!

Community Shootaround: Hypothetical MVP Ballot

March 23rd, 2020 at 4:00pm CST by Luke Adams

Before the 2019/20 NBA season was postponed, LeBron James seemed to be building some momentum in an MVP race that Giannis Antetokounmpo had dominated for much of the year.

James had just led the Lakers to signature wins over the Bucks and Clippers, the two top threats to the Lakers’ title hopes. At the same time, a knee injury sustained in that Bucks/Lakers showdown had sidelined Antetokounmpo for the two games leading up to the stoppage.

With the NBA now in an indefinite hiatus, the MVP race has been put on hold. In fact, it’s possible it might be over altogether. While team owners and players alike want to resume the season, it’s not clear if or when that will happen. And if it does resume, the rest of regular season figures to be significantly reduced or perhaps even excised entirely in order to quickly advance to the playoffs.

With that in mind, we want to get your hypothetical MVP ballot for the 2019/20 NBA season. Do you have Giannis or LeBron in the top spot? How would you fill out the rest of your top five?

Dan Devine of The Ringer tried his hand at putting together a ballot, picking Antetokounmpo as his MVP, followed by James, Rockets star James Harden, LeBron’s teammate Anthony Davis, and reigning Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard. Mark Murphy of The Boston Herald had the same top three (Giannis, LeBron, and Harden) on his unofficial MVP ballot, as did ESPN’s panel of voters.

ESPN’s straw poll respondents had Leonard and Davis in their top six as well, but were more bullish than Devine on Mavericks star Luka Doncic, who finished fourth. Thunder guard Chris Paul, Nuggets center Nikola Jokic, Raptors forward Pascal Siakam, and Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard rounded out ESPN’s top 10, with Jayson Tatum (Celtics) and Bradley Beal (Wizards) each receiving a lone down-ballot vote as well.

What do you think? How would you fill out your five-man MVP ballot based on what we’ve seen so far?

Head to the comment section below to share your list and your reasoning!

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