Feb 26, 2017; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Milwaukee Bucks guard Malcolm Brogdon (13), forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) and guard Khris Middleton (22) reacts after beating the Phoenix Suns 100-96 at BMO Harris Bradley Center. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports
The Milwaukee Bucks are the surprise of the NBA season, overcoming significant injuries to make the playoffs. How does the organization stack up in the major NBA awards?
The Milwaukee Bucks are in a position no one expected on day one of the regular season: They are going to make the playoffs. For Khris Middleton to suffer a severe hamstring tear prior to the season, Jabari Parker to go down with an ACL tear, and recent lottery pick Rashad Vaughn give this team absolutely nothing – and they still make the postseason? No one saw this coming.
The Bucks are not going to sneak into the postseason either, but rather have a shot at the fifth seed and are very unlikely to drop below sixth. This is a team that has claimed victories against the Eastern Conference elite, and has confidence heading past the end of the regular season.
With team success certainly comes individual success, and the end of the regular season brings the start of NBA award season. While the MVP discussion is the dominant point of interest, a number of awards are handed out – and Milwaukee deserves to be involved in a number of them.
Starting with the central award and moving down the list, who is the top candidate on the Bucks for each major award? How do they stack up against the competition? And how many of the awards do Bucks players actually deserve to win?
Dec 21, 2016; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) drives to the basket against Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) during the first half at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports
Most Valuable Player
This season, the race for the league's most coveted individual award has been something special. Unprecedented team success is not enough to gain a spot on the ballot, while superhuman individual accomplishment is enough to blow the mind.
Giannis Antetokounmpo is having an inspired two-way season for the Milwaukee Bucks. He is the team's primary ball-handler and scorer on offense. On defense, he shifts between locking down opposing wings to banging around in the paint with bruising centers.
The easiest way to highlight how important Antetokounmpo is to his team is to look at the stats. Giannis leads the Milwaukee Bucks in points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks per game.
Again. Antetokounmpo leads his team in every single major statistical box score category. Every single one.
These are not just low-ball numbers that happen to lead a team where the remainder of the stats are spread out over a number of players, either. For the season Antetokounmpo is putting up 23.1 points per game, 8.7 rebounds and 5.4 assists per game. Only six other players have ever averaged those numbers over a single season: Larry Bird, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Antoine Walker, Chris Webber and Russell Westbrook this year.
Add in Antetokounmpo's 1.7 steals per game, and we lose Kareem and Webber. Of the remaining players, only Larry Bird ever broke one block per game in such a season, with 1.2 blocks during the 1984-85 season. Antetokounmpo is averaging 1.9 blocks per game.
The season that the "Greek Freak" is having is unprecedented, quite literally. Add in the force he provides on defense and how the team around him has been constantly shifting, and his ability to lead this team to the playoffs should be recognized.
The MVP race is a hotly contested one, and rightfully so. The top four of the ballot are already filled out, in some order. For this writer, Russell Westbrook's combination of workload, clutch performance and jaw-dropping statistics give him the top spot.
Behind him, James Harden led the Houston Rockets to the third seed while playing a ridiculous amount of minutes and missing only one game. Simply being available provided his team with significant value, and his efficiency, offensive creativity and numbers that would shock the league in any other season earn him second.
LeBron James proved he was the best player in the world in last season's Finals, but he has not played like it this season. He has taken games off, played lackluster defense and the Cleveland Cavaliers have struggled at times. All of this is true, and yet James is averaging 26-8-8 and has rediscovered his three-pointer. He is third on the ballot.
Kawhi Leonard is the fourth musketeer in the race, putting up tremendous numbers on a team that is once again exceeding expectations. Leonard has always been known for his defense, but is by far the best offensive player on a 60-win team. But for sheer regular season impact he falls short by way of total minutes, as he has rested a number of games as part of the Spurs' plan to rule the world.
That leaves the fifth and final spot on the MVP ballot up for the taking. Kevin Durant was in the mix prior to his leg injury, and Stephen Curry's strong play since that injury has placed him there with other voters. Isaiah Thomas is having one of the best high-volume offensive seasons in NBA history. John Wall is a two-way fiend on another of the league's surprise teams.
But Giannis Antetokounmpo deserves that spot, as this season is one to be remembered. The combination of ways he fills up the box score is unprecedented, and he is leading his team in every way. If that is not valuable, then the word needs to be redefined.
Verdict: Giannis Antetokounmpo is 5th on the ballot
Apr 8, 2017; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) calls for the ball against the Philadelphia 76ers during the second quarter at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
Most Improved Player
This is yet another category where we look to Giannis Antetokounmpo, whose career year is among the very best of its kind in NBA history. It also marks another step up the ladder for one of the league's fastest-rising stars.
Antetokounmpo is in his fourth season in the league. Beginning with his rookie year, he has increased his points, rebounds, assists, steals, blocks and free throws every single season. In almost an identical number of minutes from last season, Antetokounmpo has improved across the board.
Rudy Gobert is a strong candidate for this award. Not only is he a candidate for Defensive Player of the Year, but on offense he has taken a strong step forward as well. He is devastating in the pick-and-roll running to the rim, and his onetime weakness – finishing around the rim – has become an absolute strength. As the only core piece for the Jazz to stay healthy all season, Gobert has been a rock for a 50-win team.
Behind Gobert are a pair of Eastern Conference guards, Isaiah Thomas and Kemba Walker. Thomas has increased his scoring by seven points per game, has been dominant in the clutch (Boston is 30-13 in close games) and has the Celtics in lockstep with Cleveland for the No. 1 seed.
Kemba Walker has likewise been excellent, the lone offensive bright spot in a disappointing Charlotte season. He is bombing from deep, attacking the basket, and stirring the drink for a Hornets team that cannot score without him.
Thomas deserves the nod over Walker for third, and Gobert is a deserving second option. But this award belongs unequivocally to Giannis Antetoknoumpo. He is the NBA's Most Improved Player.
Verdict: Giannis Antetokounmpo is 1st on the ballot
Mar 3, 2017; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Milwaukee Bucks center Greg Monroe (15) drives for the basket against LA Clippers forward Blake Griffin (32) in the second quarter at BMO Harris Bradley Center. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports
Sixth Man Of The Year
Last season Greg Monroe struggled to fit into what the Milwaukee Bucks were seeking to accomplish. He was supposed to step in as the franchise's first major free agency signing in decades and spark an offensive leap without sacrificing on defense.
Instead the Bucks as a whole, and Monroe specifically, cratered and the team dropped out of the playoff race completely. The team eventually moved Monroe to the bench in an effort to get him and the team going.
That has been a season-long setup for the Bucks this season, and Monroe has responded well. While his total stats are down, he is playing well while on the court, serving as the offensive center of bench units. Milwaukee is planting Monroe in the high post and letting him work, finding open cutters or breaking down a hapless defender.
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There are two ways to evaluate this type of an award. The first is simply the bench player who scored the most – last season's award went in this direction with Jamal Crawford. The second way is to look at which player coming off the bench is the best – who would opposing coaches select for their team if given the choice?
The second way is a more accurate way to recognize the best sixth man, if it's not the way the award usually goes. Therefore the front-runner should be Andre Iguodala, who does not put up the scoring numbers of a microwave bench guard but instead provides playmaking and defense. In Kevin Durant's absence Iguodala has stepped up and is a key part of Golden State's current 14-game win streak and overall 66 wins.
Behind Iguodala is Eric Gordon, who has been a dynamic scorer for Mike D'Antoni and the Houston Rockets. Gordon has put together a mostly healthy season and has been perfect for that system, hitting 241 three-pointers on the year. While fellow sixth man candidate Lou Williams has struggled since coming to Houston, Gordon has stayed consistent.
Williams is in the mix for the third and final spot on the ballot, on the back of a strong first half of the season for the Los Angeles Lakers. But he is the seventh-man on the Rockets now, and in high-leverage games that he never saw in Los Angeles, he's gone cold.
That's enough to drop him off the ballot into honorable mentions, along with James Johnson of the Miami Heat, Zach Randolph of the Memphis Grizzlies and Joe Ingles of the Utah Jazz.
That leaves the third spot open for Monroe, who has been the team's most reliable option at center all season and kept the offense afloat in the absence of Antetokounmpo. He has provided energy and hustle on defense as well, something most candidates for this award can't claim.
Verdict: Greg Monroe is 3rd on the ballot
Mar 29, 2017; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Celtics guard Isaiah Thomas (4) watches his three point shot with Milwaukee Bucks guard Malcolm Brogdon (13) during the second half of the Milwaukee Bucks 103-100 win over the Boston Celtics at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports
Rookie Of The Year
NBA teams are not supposed to miss this badly when drafting talent. The amount of resources poured into scouting, analytics, pre-draft workouts and every part of the process is to ensure that the best players go first.
The last time a Rookie of the Year was selected outside of the lottery was 1988, when rookie guard Mark Jackson won the award. Since LeBron James won the award in 2003, only once (Michael Carter-Williams in 2014) has the award gone to a player picked outside the top-6. Six times it has gone to the first overall pick, and twice it's gone to the second pick.
Malcolm Brogdon went 36th overall to the Milwaukee Bucks in last year's draft. He did not even go in the first round. And he should win Rookie of the Year.
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Brogdon has been a key piece for a playoff team, starting 26 games for them and playing in 73. The rookie out of Virginia is third among rookies in scoring, second in games played, and leads the field in assists and steals. None of the other candidates for the award come from playoff teams.
Joel Embiid is an enigma, dominating the court every minute that he played. But he appeared in only 31 games, not enough to take the award away from a player who is key to a playoff team. His teammate Dario Saric has put up numbers, especially in Embiid's absence, but the 76ers have cratered with him at the helm.
Other players have shown flashes, from Skal Labissiere and Buddy Hield in Sacramento to Jamal Murray and Juan Hernangomez in Denver. New York has a Hernangomez of their own, as Willy has put in solid efficiency as the Knicks' backup center. Patrick McCaw and Davis Bertrans have put in work as rotation pieces on elite teams.
Embiid's brilliance has to be acknowledged, and he takes second on this list. The diverse portfolio of Dario Saric earns him the nod at third.
But this award deserves to go to Malcolm Brogdon, the second round pick who has blown the league away and made every team question their draft preparation. He is the Rookie of the Year.
Verdict: Malcolm Brogdon is 1st on the ballot
