2022 BIYC NBA Awards

The regular season has ended and all that remains is the Play-In, NBA Playoffs and NBA awards. Believe it or not they happen in that order. While that is another conversation for another time, there is plenty of usual award ceremony controversy to discuss. Will the scoring champion be MVP? Will the former #2 pick and Rookie of the Year win Most Improved player? There is plenty to discuss! Keep in mind, we will be using true shooting percentage (TS%) in place of field goal percentage.

Most Valuable Player

1. Nikola Jokic

To win back to back MVP awards it takes some serious skill and determination. The voter fatigue alone is a massive hurdle but I see Jokic taking the back to back crown. He has carried this Nuggets team all year, even though the bench deserves its own massive props, and was always available for an already depleted team. Very little separates this top three and the consistency down the stretch was impressive as well as the deciding factor for me. He led this Denver team to a 6 seed while playing in 74 of 82 games. It has been a long time since we have seen a player control the game from the post the way he does. It’s not wacky analytics folks, it’s durability and consistency.

2. Joel Embiid

Earlier in the year, I was convinced Joel Embiid had his MVP in hand. Then the James Harden trade happened. Naturally the MVP case for one superstar is bound to dip a bit when adding another superstar but it was more than that. Embiid - for the betterment of the team - chose to defer more to Harden. That means less post-ups per game and more pace. This certainly helped periphery players like Tyrese Maxey and Tobias Harris gain steam but it about plummeted the MVP case. Joel is the 2022 NBA scoring champ so the season will still go down in the history books.

3. Giannis Antetkounmpo

While I do believe the top 2 separated themselves by season's end, Giannis certainly made it interesting. Fresh off an NBA championship and Finals MVP, the Greek Freak still managed to add to his game. 2022 has been the year of the jumpshot and fadeaway for Giannis and it's only improved his confidence. Giannis may not win the MVP this year but he is well in the running for best player in the world. His offensive improvements have only made him more dangerous and a potential series with Brooklyn and Kevin Durant looms.

Category	Nikola Jokic	Joel Embiid	Giannis Antetkounmpo	Devin Booker	Ja Morant
PPG	27.1	30.6	29.9	26.8	27.4
APG	7.9	4.2	5.8	4.8	6.7
RPG	13.8	11.7	11.6	5.0	5.7
TOV	3.8	3.1	3.3	2.4	3.4
TS%	66.1	61.6	63.3	57.6	57.5
USG%	30.9	37.5	34	31.3	33
Games Played	74	68	67	68	57

*Top 5 BIYC MVP candidates in order

Defensive Player of the Year

1. Jaren Jackson Jr

This really is a tough year to gauge this DPOY as it's not as simple as slotting in Rudy Gobert and moving on. Jaren Jackson is fresh off a new deal in the pre-season and he rewarded Memphis with a defensive backbone and improving offensive skill set. All the tools are there - length, quickness and IQ - which helped lead the Grizzlies to a top 6 defensive NET rating. His 2.3 blocks per game were also impressive, but his defensive ability goes far beyond the stat sheet.

The ability to close the gap in the P&R and even though the leverage carries him the opposite direction, he uses his recovery and length to flip the hips and stay with the defender all the way to the rim. He is still young and the league may fear there is more to come.

2. Marcus Smart

Finally! A guard has made the list. The history of this award does not suggest guards get love here often, but Smart has been one of the best perimeter defenders for years and the team has started to follow suit. The Boston Celtics enter the Playoffs as the #1 defensive NET rating team in the league. While much improved Robert Williams had a lot to say with that, Marcus Smart has been a consistent presence. He shows effort, IQ, & physicality and that’s everything you need in a good perimeter defender in the NBA. The game often benefits the offensive player but Marcus Smart continues to make his mark defensively.

3. Giannis Antetkounmpo

Giannis won’t boast a NET team rating of top 3 like some above or lead the league in blocks, but he proves it defensively night in and out. I will be honest, this was an eye test pick. Each night you tune into a Bucks game you will see Giannis flying around the floor defensively. Sometimes this leads to blocks and steals, other times it leads to hard fought half court possessions that really slow the game down and make it tough to churn out points efficiently on a points per possession basis. The Bucks have leaned into the Giannis “roam” coverage more this year and teams absolutely must game-plan around it. Giannis, the best two way player in the league. There is no doubt

Rookie of the Year

1. Scottie Barnes

This race was as tight as it can get. Stats wise, there is really no difference between the top two and really not a lot to see in the eye test either. Both overperformed, which allowed their respective teams to also over perform. Barnes specifically filled a need with OG Anunoby hurt much of the year. This Raptors team loves its defense and Barnes fit right in. This was a match made in heaven and you could see it from game one. Toronto, you got your guy.

2. Evan Mobley

As I said above, this one was razor thin and the only difference was the Cavs ending to the year. Mobley hasn’t played poorly but the team has continued to plummet down the standings, when they were once in the top 4. Mobley has shown he has the offensive skill set to fight into this league, with defensive prospects to make him a great two way player in no time. With free throws and fouling hardly an issue, Mobley never has to come off the floor. Great year and I expect to see many analysts pick Mobley as the top spot.

HM: Cade Cunningham

Most Improved Player

1. Afernee Simons

This is a hard award to crack. Are we awarding based on expectations we may have placed falsely? In my mind Simons embodies this award. After not starting a single game in 2020-2021, Afernee Simons went on to start 30 out of 57 games for the Trail Blazers. It was largely a forgettable year for Portland fans but Simons showed a lot of promise. Thrust into a much larger role, Simons improved his points per game nearly 10 points (7.8 to 17.3) and increased his assists from 1.4 to 3.9. He also managed to parlay that increased usage in a higher FG and TS%. Simons played for a bad team but he gave fans a reason to watch this bad team. Give the history books a reason to remember this season for Portland fans and credit Simons for a good personal year in a bad team year.

2. Darius Garland

As if the Colin Sexton injury wasn’t enough, the then rolling Cavs lost Ricky Rubio for the season. Already in an expanded role, Garland now was tasked with 24/7 point guard duties after nearly splitting them up to that point. Garland was having a great year averaging 21.7 and 8.6 assists, but he ramped it up after the all star break. Since the break, he has averaged 25 points and 10 assists. The Cavs haven’t been able to turn it around being in the Play in by the end of the regular season but it was in spite of Garland and his increased production. He improved as a playmaker and became a lot more aggressive offensively. This was a big issue heading into 2021-2022 and it was clearly addressed in the offseason.

3. Jordan Poole

As we saw with Afernee Simons, a lot can happen in a regular season. This time last year, Jordan Poole was in the G league. Fast forward to 2022 and he is averaging 18.5 points a game on a top 5 seed in the Western Conference. His play can be erratic at times but he has proven he belongs in this league with his offensive talent. He really excelled with Steph Curry out towards the end of the year and this could be valuable experience heading into the Playoffs.

HM: Miles Bridges, Robert Williams, Bruce Brown

Sixth Man of the Year

1. Tyler Herro

I will be honest, this truly feels like a one man award this year. Herro has only started 10 of 66 games, yet averaged 32 minutes a game and scored 20 PPG on 56 TS%. The Miami Heat also ended the regular season with the highest scoring bench in the league by more than half a point a game. He was the early favorite before the season began and it came to fruition as most experts imagined. He fills the role perfectly and with some added playmaking this year, his value only increased.

2. Kevin Love

Kevin Love nearly became an after thought on the Cavaliers after Lebron James left for the Lakers, but we have begun to see a mini career resurgence the last two years. While its hard to say without being in the locker room, at times in the past it seemed Kevin Love didn't want to be there. That certainly isnt the case anymore and he filled his sixth man role perfectly. With such a young group all together Love could bring the second group along. With a whole host of injuries all year long the team depending on the shooting abilities down the stretch. The Cavs seemed to succumb to those injuries post-ASB but Love was a big reason they were a top 4 East seed midway through the year.

3. Cam Johnson

The Suns are unquestionably the best team in basketball this year, yet we don't see them represented well in the MVP race. We see this represented with players nominated across multiple awards. They are built on team basketball, chemistry, and knowing your role. Every player had a role to fill and were elevated together due to the team basketball they play. We generally refer to this as the "Chris Paul Effect". Even out with injury to end the year its clear this team has adopted the CP3 mindset. Cam Johnson is just another example of that. Stepping up into a starting role at times with multiple injuries. He managed to parlay that into 12.5 PPG while shooting 42.5% from behind the arc. He is versatile defender that shows almost no difference in home/road splits. This would help explain the Sun's best road record in the NBA at 32-9.

Coach of the Year

Ronald Martinez - Getty Images

1. Monty Williams - Phoenix Suns

Is there really much room for discussion here? There were a few teams that surprised relative to expectations but the Suns were far and away the best regular season team this year. At times it truly felt they were cruising even when injuries hit some stars. When you consider the preseason DeAndre Ayton headlines its incredible to see this team stick together with such unity all year. Monty Williams always had the team ready and this showed in the NBA best record, best road record, and top 5 in both offensive and defensive rating.

2. Chris Finch - Minnesota Timberwolves

What a run! Fresh off a Play In victory to head to the playoffs, the T-Wolves are doing a victory lap right now. We will let them enjoy the much deserved celebration but Chris Finch deserves a lot of credit for how this team plays. What at times seemed like an out of sorts grouping of talent, they are now firing on all cylinders, especially offensively. KAT is likely to be named All-NBA and Anthony Edwards is everything they wanted him to be on draft night. DLo is a great player as well but its clear who the big dawgs are on this team. There is no rich history to lean on here but Chris Finch got that well earned extension to stay in Minnesota. If KAT can perform in the playoffs its a scary team.

3. Ime Udoka - Boston Celtics

An absolutely rollercoaster of a year which began with a new coach and heavy trade rumors between Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown and ended as the #2 seed in the East. At times it seemed Tatum and Brown couldn't pull it together all in the same night. The approach switched and the team was led by defense. The entire roster had the mindset which trickled down from the coach, but inserting the Time Lord into the lineup allowed this team to reach its full potential. Entering the Playoffs, the Celtics have the #1 NET rating and #1 defensive rating in the NBA. They are the hottest team in the Eastern Conference and shouldn't be ignored. Udoka has some work to do as a rookie in the playoffs but he has shown the ability to draw up plays for his superstars out of a timeout or half.

ALL-NBA Teams

1stTeam All-NBA:

G- Devin Booker

G- Ja Morant

F-Giannis Antetkounmpo

F-Nikola Jokic

C-Joel Embiid

2nd Team All-NBA:

G-Steph Curry

G-Luka Doncic

F-Kevin Durant

F-Jayson Tatum

C-Karl Anthony Towns

3rd Team All-NBA:

G-Chris Paul

G-Trae Young

F-LeBron James

F-Demar DeroZan

C-Rudy Gobert

*All stats via NBA.com