Brew Hoop’s 2022–23 NBA Award Winners

It’s that time of year: NBA writers are casting ballots for regular-season awards and while none of us here at Brew Hoop have (or should have!) votes in these races, we’re gonna tell you what we think anyway!

Editor’s note: there is a strong pro-Milwaukee Bucks bias from this segment of voters. If you find yourself compelled to call that out in the comments, take a moment to think about where you are before clicking the ‘Post’ button.

---

Most Valuable Player

Van: I agonized over this one for several days/weeks because there truly is no wrong answer to this. Ultimately, I found the advanced metrics making a stronger case for Jokic and Giannis than Embiid, primarily because of just how terrible Denver is without Jokic and the floor (a putrid 102.3 ORtg), while Giannis is... Giannis. Yes, his efficiency took a hit this year as his usage soared (out of necessity with Middleton missing 49 games), but leading a team to the best regular season record while assuming that gargantuan load and comfortably possessing the best defensive numbers of the trio puts him over the top.

Julie: Unlike Van, I did not agonize. The answer is Giannis, and who gets second place is a bit trickier. I went with Jokic based on what Denver accomplished, getting them to their first-ever one-seed. Yes, with how good Denver seemingly always tends to be, they never had that happen before. I then went with a shocker and put Jayson Tatum over Joel Embiid for three reasons, and first is that I don’t like to be boring. Secondly, Tatum was the runaway MVP in the 2022 portion of the season, and I think that should be accounted for as well. Finally, I don’t like Embiid and this is my vote.

Dru: Honestly, all three of these dudes played at an MVP level this season, but at the end of the day there’s one player who is the consensus “best player alive,” and his name is Giannis. Not only that, but he led the Bucks (who were without Middleton for over half of the season) to the number one seed in the Eastern Conference, and the best record in the entire league. Put some respect on his name.

Kyle: The best player on the best team who had a very good season makes a pretty compelling argument for why it’s Giannis. The only reason people are trying to make this close is that Giannis won twice and there’s voter fatigue. Jokic is also deserving and again were it not for the fatigue, could have a very strong argument as well. Embiid feels more of a “here, bro” type of candidate compared to the two ahead of him.

Mitchell: Giannis Antetokounmpo is a better overall player than either Nikola Jokic or Joel Embiid. They’re both stellar, he’s just better. Furthermore, his team has achieved a higher level of success this season than either Philadelphia or Denver, and Giannis did it while carrying a much higher load than originally expected due to the availability of his teammates (similar to Jokic last year, where he won MVP). And on top of all that, both Jokic and Embiid seem to have been spared the “but he hasn’t won in the playoffs so he can’t be MVP again” treatment that was applied to Giannis after his second award, which is the type of goalpost-shifting you need to engage in for Joel Embiid to come out as the winner. All jokes aside, Jokic and Embiid are both fully worthy of the Most Valuable Player award this season. Giannis is just better than them in the ways that matter, narratives be damned.

Defensive Player of the Year

Van: This was a two-horse race all season, and if it weren’t for his significant difficulty staying out of foul trouble, Jackson would be a clear favorite. As gaudy as the block numbers look, putting opponents and playing your elite defensive self off the floor at the line is not good for your team’s defense, even one that ranks second in the league. Meanwhile, Milwaukee’s defense would still be first (per Cleaning The Glass) if it weren’t for those meaningless last two games, and the lion’s share of that credit goes to Brook Lopez. There simply is no better rim protector: he contested the most shots of any NBA player by far (8.5 more per game than Jackson), led the league in total blocks, and forced opponents to shoot 4.7% worse on those shots. Mobley led one of the league’s best units too, and he just sneaks in over Giannis.

Julie: I don’t know why guards don’t get more consideration, and how many times did you hear people this season say that Jrue Holiday is the best defensive guard in the NBA? He has locked down guards all season long and will look to do the same to Tyler Herro or Zach LaVine in the first round. Everyone else put Brook ahead of JJJ, which I feel is a bit biased, but we also know the stat that Brook has contested more shots at a better percentage than anyone this season. Finally, three blocks per game is something only four players have averaged in NBA history throughout their careers, so in my opinion, three blocks per game is similar to averaging 30 points per game.

Dru: For my money, Jaren Jackson Jr. is the only non-Buck to be in the DPOY race. I think there’s a very good chance that JJJ wins over Brook Lopez simply because Brook is on a team with two other players who are very likely going to be voted All-Defensive 1st Team, and I could see voters being like, “Well, Lopez had more help whereas Jackson Jr. did it all by himself...” or something silly like that. Van already pointed out the stats showing why Lopez was astronomically dominant this season as a rim protector. He also only missed 4 games this season, and the Bucks were 1-3 in those games. Lopez is the anchor of his team’s defensive identity and enjoyed an absolute renaissance of a season at the age of 34 (he turned 35 on April 1st). Give Splash Mountain some hardware! He’s earned it!

Kyle: JJJ was close but I can’t ignore what Brook has done for this team, especially with all the injuries and absences around him.

Mitchell: Jaren Jackson Jr. is a legitimate game-changer on defense. He produces more countable stats on that end of the court than all-time defenders (such as Giannis, who is correctly absent from conversations about this year’s award) and absolutely ruins offenses. The only catch with JJJ is that he fouls way too often, which undermines his case. Evan Mobley is also a revelation in Cleveland, and he will probably win this award at some point in his career. But Brook Lopez—amidst possibly the best season of his entire career—has once again helmed Milwaukee’s elite defensive scheme while also sitting atop the leaderboards for blocks, significantly decreasing opponents’ shooting frequency and percentage against the Bucks, and driving the team’s top-notch rebounding efforts with his effective positioning and box-outs. Brook Lopez is the most deserving player for DPOY this year, with all due respect to the other candidates.

Most Improved Player

Van: Though SGA went from an up-and-coming, high-scoring guard on a weak team to an All-NBA lock and 30+ PPG scorer, that wasn’t anywhere near as unexpected as Markkanen’s transformation. Markkanen seemingly hit a wall after a couple of promising years to begin his career in Chicago, playing himself out of their plans before assuming a tertiary role last year for Cleveland. It looked like he might have hit his ceiling or found a niche as a decent starter, then whoa. His TS% (64%) was bested by only six players who appeared in over 2200 minutes, and two of them will be MVP finalists, maintaining that efficiency while taking 45% of his shots from deep, Those numbers aren’t too far south of Steph Curry (65.6% TS% on a 56.4% 3PAr). Brunson is my honorable mention for morphing from sixth-man/elite backup PG to borderline All-Star that runs the league’s third-best offense.

Julie: I feel like SGA scoring more points per game than Giannis, whether expected or unexpected, is a stat by itself that should put him number one on this list. Ten years ago, if someone who was considered a borderline All-Star all of a sudden jumped ahead of LeBron James in scoring, don’t tell me they wouldn’t be considered for Most Improved Player. Markkanen made a big jump too, and it was pretty close for me, but the impact SGA had on the success of the Thunder was the tiebreaker. I also decided to put in Tyrese because he had the Pacers playing like a playoff team—instead of a dumpster fire—the first two-thirds of the season.

Dru: It was a great year for a whole slew of players who took big leaps forward. Any of the three I voted for could win Most Improved and it would be deserved. Like Julie, I was impressed by the fact that SGA averaged more points than Giannis this year. Her point about leaping ahead of an all-timer in scoring is salient. He went from not being on many people’s radars to someone you can’t ignore and have to plan for. But as I said, any of these three guys could win this award. Lauri Markkanen found himself in Utah, and Jalen Brunson did the same in the Big Apple. This is a close one, in my opinion.

Kyle: Lauri was looking like someone who was lost in the abyss of Chicago and has come out looking like an All-NBA player. I would not have seen that coming two years ago.

Mitchell: I want to echo Van’s logic above: Gilgeous-Alexander made a huge jump, but Lauri Markkanen made an unexpected leap to a similar stratosphere of player. SGA is clearly better (and therefore will earn All-NBA nods) but The Finnisher (an S-tier nickname IMO) improved his game by leaps and bounds to buoy the refurbished Utah Jazz this season. He, quite simply, improved the most. Not to be unnoticed, Jalen Brunson stepped out of Luka’s shadow in Dallas to lead a resurgent Knicks team, and his performance not only showed individual improvement but also allowed Julius Randle to thrive with a lighter workload as a ball-handler and playmaker.

Sixth Man of the Year

Van: I like the two-way impact of both The President and Quick. It’s worth noting that the latter started 25% of his team’s games to the former’s zero (which shouldn’t disqualify him by any means), but Brogdon has the clear edge in shooting and efficiency, while the rest of their numbers are remarkably similar. There’s also no wrong answer between him and Quickley, in my opinion. Any other year, Portis might take this award handily; his 38 double-doubles ranked ninth league-wide, and his scoring numbers rival the other two candidates. Efficiency-wise, though, he matches Quickly but again is outclassed by Brogdon on a similar volume. Ultimately, this is coming down to defense, where Portis clearly doesn’t shine compared to the two guards. Whodathunk it, defense factoring into Sixth Man of the Year? It’s a new day!

Julie: This was a pretty rough group when it comes to Sixth Man. Bobby averaged almost a double-double off of the bench, which I think is an insane accomplishment and he is clearly a runaway. I chose Norman Powell as third because among qualifying players, he was the leading bench scorer in the NBA.

Dru: Bobby Buckets. Mr. Milwaukee. The Underdog. Sure, I know there are solid arguments for Malcolm Brogdon, but I ain’t trying to hear all that. Bobby Portis was an absolute beast off the bench this season. As both Van and Julie said, homeboy damn near averaged a double-double off the bench, and he was in the top ten for the number of double-doubles on the season. As questionable as Bobby’s defense can be at times, you can’t ignore those gaudy offensive numbers off the bench.

Kyle: Bobby is a double-double machine and it would feel unfair to not consider him for this award.

Mitchell: I really wanted to give this award to Bobby Portis, but Malcolm Brogdon’s performance in Boston is simply a stronger case. We know his game well and he flourished off the bench with the Celtics, which when combined with his injury history and the difficulty of transitioning away from being both a starter and The Guy (like he was in Indiana), it took a lot of effort for things to all come together for The President. Portis is still a deserving candidate for the way he produced off the bench this season, and Quickley’s steady production on offense and difference-making on defense is also a compelling story.

Rookie of the Year

Van: This is really the only award with no drama. Williams made a bit of a push with sensational post-All-Star numbers (18.6/5.4/4.3 on .546/.429/.880 shooting), but he’s not leading his team’s offense (18% usage to Banchero’s 27.2%). Neither is Kessler, who looks primed to become one of the league’s best rim protectors in the coming seasons. A 20-year-old averaging 20 PPG in nearly 34 minutes per game and only missing ten games as a rook is a no-brainer future star, well-deserving of this award.

Julie: Banchero was an easy choice. I went with Kessler second based on his defensive impact, and how he really made the Timberwolves look silly for trading him, and all of those firsts, for a player who makes way more money and has posted similar stats. I’m finishing with Ivey over Williams based on my familiarity, but it is pretty close.

Dru: Paolo Banchero is hands-down the best rookie of the season this year. Sure, Ivey and Kessler both had good seasons as well, but neither of them look like a future All-NBA player. Paolo does. The most impressive thing about his year in my opinion is how darn comfortable he looked out there. He looked like he belonged in the NBA from the jump.

Kyle: Sometimes it’s ok to go with the obvious choice.

Mitchell: Banchero was the best player in the rookie class. Scoring 20 points per game might not carry the same cachet it once did, but it’s still really hard to do, even on a rebuilding team. He looks worthy of the top overall pick that Orlando spent on him. Meanwhile, Walker Kessler’s rim protection translated from college to the NBA much better than anyone expected, and he’s efficient on offense to boot. He’s primed to have a long NBA career. Jalen Williams is an intriguing young player who really thrived later in the season, but this season will be remembered as Paolo Banchero’s debut.

Clutch Player of the Year

Van: Without any precedent to go from, I merely looked up whose scoring numbers and percentages in clutch situations were best. By far and away, this honor should go to Fox who led one of the league’s better clutch teams (FYI: the Bucks had the best clutch record at 27-8) in scoring during those situations. Jimmy Butler and DeRozan came up big in tight spots too, but Brunson shot better from three in the clutch than all the names I just mentioned, which is why he makes my list. Mitchell’s numbers don’t leap out compared to the others, but he had some massive late-game moments throughout the year that secured Cavs Ws, so he has something of a narrative advantage.

Julie: I should have done what Kyle did. See Van’s, but I went with Luka over Brunson based on how he carried the Mavs prior to Kyrie Irving demolishing them.

Dru: I mean? It sort of comes down to who has the most impressive moments in close games, and Mitchell, Fox, and Doncic are the top three I could think of.

Kyle: I don’t care enough to try and make up a vote or know what the parameters of this award are.

Mitchell: As a resident of Sacramento, I’m more exposed to Kings basketball than I used to be, and I can confidently say that De’Aaron Fox does not shy away from taking—and making—shots in crunch time. When Milwaukee visited back in March, it was Fox that put up the most fight against Milwaukee’s comeback late in the fourth quarter.

Coach of the Year

Van: I’m not always a fan of handing this award to someone in their first year with a team, particularly when there’s a compelling case of a coach who improves their team’s record significantly from the year prior, like Monty Williams in 2020–21. With apologies to Daigneault, who took a cellar dweller that most expected to stay in that range to a play-in spot (if OKC made the top six, it’d be harder to deny his case), Brown is the obvious choice here. The Beam Team is one of the league’s best (if not the best) feel-good stories, and Brown shaped a somewhat-revamped bunch of underachievers into a lethal offense, elevating its two stars to All-NBA candidates. Bickerstaff gets my third-place vote over Bud and Mazzulla because of the big step forward Cleveland took into a higher tier of contention.

Julie: Mazzulla went into a toxic situation and had Boston one win away from being the number one seed in all of the NBA. With all due respect to the Kings, that’s pretty impressive. I also don’t entirely mean to discredit the Kings, but the West self-destructed for the first two-thirds of the season which allowed the Kings to gain enough ground over the semi-contenders below them. I finished with Bud, based on Bucks bias and getting the top record.

Dru: Lots of people deserve credit for the Kings ending the longest playoff drought in NBA history (16 years) but no one deserves the lion’s share of that credit more than Mike Brown. At the end of the day, it’s up to the head coach to make all the pieces fit into the puzzle of winning games, and Brown helmed that project with expertise. Budenholzer gets my second vote simply because he had the Bucks ending the season on top of everyone, and did so (mostly) without his second-best player. I gave Mazzulla the third vote for lots of the same reasons Julie already mentioned.

Kyle: We were mocking the Kings for hiring Mike Brown in the first place and now they are the three-seed. Brown has exceeded all expectations this year.

Mitchell: Mike Brown led the Kings to the 3rd seed in the Western Conference. When they light the beam, they light it knowing that Mike Brown’s coaching is a huge reason for their success. Similarly, Mark Daigneault navigated what was expected to be another rebuilding year in OKC not to a high playoff seed, but to a much better performance than anyone would have guessed. Lastly, our own Mike Budenholzer led the Bucks to the best record in the league while dealing with several lengthy absences from roughly half of the team’s roster all year long, which is worth recognition.

Executive of the Year

Van: Similarly to my rationale for Coach of the Year, I have the Kings’ and Thunder’s front office czars atop this ballot. McNair should probably receive more of the credit for Sacramento’s success than Brown by nailing the Kevin Huerter trade, signing Malik Monk, and drafting Keegan Murray. However, it’s the much-maligned Domantas Sabonis-Tyrese Haliburton trade’s vindication that’s propping up his case over a year after it went down. Presti also drafted really well this year and last, plus finding diamond-in-the-rough Isaiah Joe. I was a fan of Booth’s moves last summer (less so at the deadline) and he found two great rookies at the back end of the first round, plus his team led the West for practically the entire season.

Julie: I think if you include the Sabonis trade from last year, which the Kings won at this point, you have to go with McNair. Bringing in Huerter, Monk, and drafting Keegan Murray were all slam dunks as well. I had to refresh myself on who Scott Perry was, but the Brunson signing was impressive. That is basically all he did this offseason, but the Knicks’ success is the biggest factor here. I also think that the Thunder were supposed to be trash, but the drafting and diamond-digging of Sam Presti really earned him a spot on this list. Basically, these are the three teams I expected to be significantly worse.

Dru: Speaking of other individuals who deserve some credit for the Kings’ success this season, McNair must be mentioned for reasons that have already been mentioned above. Scott Perry deserves recognition for snagging an absolute steal in Jalen Brunson from the incapable jaws of the Mavericks. Koby Altman swung for the fences when trading for Donovan Mitchell, and I think it’s safe to say that was a home run, and the definition of “high risk, high reward.”

Kyle: Similar reasoning as Mike Brown when it comes to exceeding expectations.

Mitchell: The Kings are no longer laughingstocks, and while the Sabonis trade was technically last season (not in the offseason), putting together all the other ancillary pieces as a part of the Sacramento puzzle is a triumph in its own right. Similarly not a joke (this year, at least) are the Knicks! Sure, there may have been some light tampering to acquire Jalen Brunson, but the results don’t lie and New York seems to have their act together. In OKC, Sam Presti has continued navigating the lengthy Thunder rebuild by making smart acquisitions and accumulating assets; they’re not great now, but they have the tools to become great in very short order.

All-NBA Teams

Van: I’ve already extolled the virtues of Giannis and Jokic above, so naturally they relegate Embiid to the second team here. SGA is now one of the league’s best-scoring guards, averaging comparable numbers to Damian Lillard and Curry while appearing in more games. Tatum played more than anyone atop the scoring leaderboard and was an MVP candidate for quite a while. Doncic is certainly partially to blame for Dallas’ late-season disaster, so he slips to second team for me despite outstanding numbers. Now we get into the always contentious issue of games played. Lillard at 58 was my cutoff point—I’d rather it be more like 62, but he qualified for the scoring title, unlike LeBron James and Curry. Generally, missing significantly more than 25% of the season is a demerit to me, so I threw out KD quickly. James, Davis, and Curry were harder omissions, but their squads just weren’t as good as those of deserving players—like Jrue Holiday—that were on the court more regularly. If Fox, Brown, Randle, and Holiday weren’t so outstanding this season for good-to-great teams, I wouldn’t have qualms about naming the less-durable to third team. What can I say, I like availability. Siakam and Markkanen’s teams are certainly among the weaker represented, but I didn’t want to indict them among an already-thinned forward field. Sabonis was just outstanding all-around at 19/12/7 per night; an amazing passer, outrageously efficient (66.8% TS%), and only missed three games.

Julie: Guard was pretty stacked this year, and Ja Morant and De’Aaron Fox would be on my hypothetical fourth team. That’s insane. I went with Curry due to how well the Warriors played with him on the court vs. when he was injured. Luka’s overall stats and being in the MVP conversation for much of the season put him in the other spot. Therefore, SGA and Mitchell are on the second team, even though they both could easily be first-team. I went with Jrue over Fox/Morant due to his defense and how he definitely deserves an All-NBA spot. Damian Lillard got on there based on his scoring average and his ability to lift Portland as high as he could. At forward, the first team was incredibly easy and self-explanatory. I don’t care about games played, so Durant and LeBron both get second team, and this might be the year where the changing of the guard happens at the forward spot (pun intended). Finally, I feel like AD’s pre-injury stretch was so impressive to earn him a place, as well as how he lifted the Lakers without LeBron into the postseason. As far as center, I went with Jokic over Embiid in the MVP vote and did so here. Sabonis was also a really easy third-team center.

Dru: Nothing out of the ordinary here. My one deviation from the rest of the staff is giving Jrue Holiday a vote for second team instead of third. I gave him the spot over Lillard and Curry for two reasons: 1) his defensive mastery the other two lack, and that 2) he stepped up in a huge way this season while Middleton was out and carried a massive amount of the offensive load during stretches when Giannis was resting. Let’s not forget he also got his second All-Star selection this season.

Kyle: The centers were able to pick themselves and so were the forwards. I had a tough time trying to decide on the guards as you can mix and match them but still get the correct answer. Ultimately, Mitchell has had a really impressive season and it’s hard to ignore what Luka did. SGA and Dame were unstoppable forces on offense, and Jrue really should get some shine.

Mitchell: It’s weird that one of the two centers contending for MVP will be guaranteed to end up on the Second Team, but that’s how the rules are set up right now. I won’t go into too much detail on the other selections besides calling out that Jrue Holiday definitely deserves a Third Team nod, and while Brook Lopez also deserves it with how well he performed on both ends of the court, I simply couldn’t deny Domantas Sabonis his due.

All-Defensive Teams

Van: This is a Bucks site, so I don’t really need to tell you why Holiday belongs on the first team. Similarly, I’ve gone over the frontcourt guys, and that makes Giannis a tough omission from the first team. So let’s talk about why Marcus Smart is not on either team this year. For one, Derrick White is now the best defender Boston has on the perimeter, leading all guards in blocks and charges drawn. The Celtics have a 107.2 defensive rating (which would lead the league) with him on the floor, a number that drops 4.5 points when he sits. Meanwhile, Boston is 4.2 points better defensively when Smart sits. The numbers just don’t back up Smart’s eye test this year, if they ever actually did. He’s now probably the third-best defender on the team behind White and Robert Williams. Moving on, the Bulls were outstanding defensively in the second half, and Caruso has a lot to do with that. He led the league in deflections, plus a number of advanced stats, and the Chicago D was 6.5 points better per 100 possessions when he plays. Claxton blocked nearly as many shots as Lopez for a vastly-improved Nets rim protection unit. There was no one better than Anunoby defending across the positional spectrum this year, who led the league in steals and was second in deflections. Brooks’ on-ball defense is nearly as critical to Memphis’ prowess on that end as Jackson’s do-everything abilities; their defense is ever so slightly worse (.5 points per 100) when he sits compared to when Jackson does.

Julie: The first team was easy for me, going with three Bucks, Jackson Jr., and Marcus Smart. The second team was tougher at the guard spot for me, so I went with VanVleet based on being third in steals and his pesky defense. Anunoby led the league in steals and is a great two-way defender, and Mobley could be first team over Giannis if you want fresher faces. Claxton also has had an impressive impact on the Nets defensively with his rim protection.

Dru: Van probably has a valid point about choosing Derrick White over Marcus Smart to make an All-Defensive team this year. As far as the rest of my choices go, I think the Bucks will sweep the All-Defensive nods this season, getting three of our starters into the first team. If Evan Mobley gets the nod over Giannis, it will be deserved for the sophomore prodigy. But I’m voting Bucks all the way every day.

Kyle: Again no need to complicate things if you don’t have to. Caruso actually plays defense unlike Smart, whose shenanigans get dubbed as “defense” when it really isn’t.

Mitchell: This is indeed a Milwaukee Bucks site, but I have something that I need to get off my chest: it’s entirely possible that Giannis Antetokounmpo either doesn’t make an All-Defensive team this season... and it may be because other forwards simply deserve it more than him. Don’t get me wrong, he’s still among the most impactful defenders in the history of the game and he will wreak havoc in the playoffs. But there are a lot of other great defenders at the forward spots this season, and Giannis has (understandably!) taken his performance on defense down a notch or two to compensate for the heavy lifting he’s done on offense.

All-Rookie Teams

Van: Beyond the three Rookie of the Year finalists, Murray had one of the most efficient years (59.7% TS%, 41.1% from three on a whopping 64.1% 3PAr) from a rookie that I can remember, all while starting 78 games for the West’s third seed. It’s a shame that he’s not a finalist, but that’s how good Williams, Kessler, and Banchero were. Jaden Ivey had similar scoring numbers on a much more rookie-like shooting line, but Bennedict Mathurin’s late-season dip made me swap the two guards. Nembhard’s all-around play was enough to join his teammate on second team, his steal and assist numbers standing out over Shaedon Sharpe. Sochan also looks like a do-everything type, and I like how he tries to channel Dennis Rodman in several ways. Jalen Duran shouldn’t be forgotten among a promising crop of young big men, leading all rookies in rebounding and finishing third in blocks all before the age of 20. Tari Eason is one of the best defenders among the rookie class, nearly eclipsing Williams in steals despite playing 500 fewer minutes, but in all 82 games.

Julie: The top seven is pretty clear-cut, and I went with Mathurin over Murray based on remembering that the season’s earlier games should have the same impact on voting, and that’s when Mathurin was right there with Banchero as a potential ROY. Williams, Ivey, and Kessler were my other candidates for ROY, so they obviously get on the team. I think the drop-off to the quartet of Nembhard, Sochan, Duren, and Smith is pretty steep, but they all had a solid impact the whole season. Smith also did improve as the season went on, so he barely gets on the list. Let’s also not forget Tari Eason and Jaylin Williams.

Dru: Voting for the best rookies of the year is always tough because their sample size is generally smaller than other players who’ve been in the league longer. Some of the guys on my second team could very easily end up on the first team, and vice versa. Except Paolo. Homeboy is getting his ROY hardware this season, without a doubt.

Kyle: Another category where it picks itself at the top (Banchero, Ivey, Kessler, Murray) and then becomes more “ there is no wrong answer.”

Mitchell: I just picked who I thought were the ten best rookies. After the obvious top four, I didn’t really know enough about who else even had a case strong enough to merit debate.

---

That’s what we say about awards this season, but what say you? Let us know in the comments below.