The NBA gives out six major individual awards each season. Here are our picks for the Sixth Man of the Year, Coach of the Year, Most Improved Player, Clutch Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, and Most Valuable Player, with an honorable mention for each one:
Sixth Man of the Year — Donte DiVincenzo, Minnesota Timberwolves
The Timberwolves swapped Karl-Anthony Towns for Julius Randle late in the offseason, but it’s possible the biggest prize in the deal for Minnesota was Donte DiVincenzo. He’s going to come off the bench for his new team, but it would not be surprising to see DiVincenzo in closing lineups. Those lineups will also include two low-usage players — Rudy Gobert and Jaden McDaniels — allowing Divincenzo to initiate offense and get plenty of shots up. His defense and shooting make him an ideal fit next to Anthony Edwards.
Honorable Mention — Amen Thompson, Houston Rockets: The Rockets have incredible depth, forcing the promising sophomore into a bench role. But, he doesn’t need a ton of minutes to make an impact. As a rookie, Thompson averaged 9.5 PPG, 6.6 RPG, 2.6 APG, 1.3 SPG, and 0.6 BPG in just 22 MPG. It’s hard to imagine he plays less in Year 2.
Coach of the Year — Charles Lee, Charlotte Hornets
Nobody has ever won the NBA’s Coach of the Year award in consecutive seasons. So, we can scratch Oklahoma City’s Mark Daigneault off the list. The Thunder increased their win total by 17 games from the previous season. Houston is being pegged as a team that could go from 40 wins to the high 50s, but the Rockets still don’t have a player on the level of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Look out for Charlotte, instead. The Hornets won 21 games last year but were a play-in team with 43 wins during LaMelo Ball’s last healthy season in 2022. Add in Brandon Miller’s Year 2 leap, and Charlotte could certainly challenge for a .500 record this season.
Honorable Mention — Erik Spoelstra, Miami Heat: The Heat likely won’t be good enough for Spoelstra to be considered. But, he’s the best coach in the league who hasn’t won the award yet. He’s earned some type of recognition.
Most Improved Player — Scoot Henderson, Portland Trail Blazers
The popular pick for this award is San Antonio’s Victor Wembanyama. The second-year player will assuredly see a boost in numbers. Even if he puts up the same stats he did during the second half of last season, Wembanyama will be in a good spot to claim the Most Improved Player award. However, it feels strange to give this award to a player who was already quite good last season. Instead, we’ll go with another sophomore — the No. 3 overall selection, Scoot Henderson. Henderson had a rocky rookie campaign, but he struggled in the way that many young guards do. He’s an elite athlete with impressive physical tools. Plus, Portland will give him every opportunity to succeed.
Honorable Mention — Andrew Nembhard, Indiana Pacers: Nembhard will try to continue the momentum he built during last year’s playoff run. He plays well off of Tyrese Haliburton and gives the Pacers a spark in the backcourt. Indiana plays with one of the fastest paces in the league and there are plenty of shots to go around.
Clutch Player of the Year — Trae Young, Atlanta Hawks
This award is skewed towards teams in the middle of the standings. Teams that win too much (and by a lot of points) are less likely to be in clutch situations. Teams that lose a lot are probably losing because their top players aren’t coming through down the stretch. The Hawks will hover around .500, and Trae Young will be asked to bail them out time and time again in crunch time. He’s always had a flair for the dramatic and should feel comfortable going back to a more familiar offense as the only lead guard.
Honorable Mention — Stephen Curry, Golden State Warriors: Never count out the greatest shooter of all time. Curry saved his best for last during the Olympics, nailing shot after shot against Serbia in the semis and France in the finals. There’s no doubt where the ball is going late in games when the Warriors need a basket, and Curry has often delivered.
Defensive Player of the Year — Victor Wembanyama, San Antonio Spurs
This award is all but assured as long as Wembanyama stays healthy. His defensive numbers were off the charts as a rookie. And, he got better as the season progressed. Over the last 24 games, Wembanyama averaged 11.9 RPG, 4.6 BPG, and 1.5 SPG. For comparison, Rudy Gobert won his fourth Defensive Player of the Year award last year with averages of 12.9 RPG, 2.1 BPG, and 0.7 SPG. Wemby nearly matches Gobert’s rebounding while doubling his output in blocks and steals.
Honorable Mention — Anthony Davis, Los Angeles Lakers: The Laker big man has a chance to go down as the greatest defender in NBA history to not win a DPOY. He finished fourth last year and made the All-Defensive team for a fifth time. If Wemby misses some time, the door would open for somebody like Davis to take the lead.
Most Valuable Player — Luka Dončić
It’s time for Dončić to finally seize the award that has eluded him. He’s been named to the All-NBA First-team five years in a row. He’s received MVP votes in each of those seasons and finished third behind Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and eventual winner Nikola Jokić last season. The numbers will be there. Last season, Dončić led the league in scoring (33.9 PPG) on good efficiency while nearly averaging a triple-double (9.8 APG and 9.2 RPG). The Mavs project to be a better regular-season team and finish near the top of the Western Conference rankings. A top-3 finish in the West could earn Dončić his first MVP.
Honorable Mention — Jayson Tatum, Boston Celtics: An easy exercise for identifying possible MVP candidates is picking the best player on the best team. The defending champion Celtics are the best team, and Tatum is their best player. If his shooting stabilizes, Tatum will have a chance at becoming the first Celtic to win the regular season MVP since Larry Bird won the award three years in a row from ’84-’86.
