By the time one of the wildest final nights of any regular season wrapped up Wednesday night, the Golden State Warriors set an unthinkable record with 73 wins, Steph Curry finished the 2015-16 season with 102 more three pointers than anybody in history, and Kobe Bryant broke Twitter after dropping 60 points on 50(!!!) shots in a comeback win during his final NBA game. A fitting end to what was an incredible campaign. We can only hope the momentum carries into the playoffs, but until then Sportsnet’s NBA panel breaks down the winners and losers from a record-setting season.
First up, the 2015-16 NBA Awards:
MVP
Michael Grange, columnist: Steph Curry. An historic individual season sparks an historic team performance.
Dave Zarum, NBA Editor: Steph Curry, who seemingly sealed this award a month into the season. A mind-numbing statistical campaign coupled with being the centrepiece of the greatest regular season team in NBA history. A no brainer, and one of only two unanimous decision in the roundtable.
Eric Smith, Raptors broadcaster: Steph Curry. There is no other choice. Many “close” but Steph should win this unanimously.
Blake Murphy, contributor: Steph Curry. If he’s not your pick, you’re trying too hard.
Craig Battle, senior editor: Steph Curry. See above and/or below. He had a good year.
Steven Loung, associate editor: Stephen Curry. Just plain unfair. If this isn’t a unanimous selection, then whoever doesn’t give him a first-place vote should have their media credential revoked for life.
Donnovan Bennett, staff writer: Steph Curry. He has improved in every major statistical category other than assists from his MVP campaign a year ago. He has raised his PER a ridiculous three points from last year. And he was by far the best payer on a historically great team.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Battle: Draymond Green. The advanced stats are split several ways: Whiteside led in defensive rating; Paul Millsap led in defensive win shares; Tim Duncan (of course) led in defensive box plus-minus. I was tempted to go with Millsap here as he’s the only one to appear in the top five of all three metrics, but Atlanta has somehow been better defensively with him off the court. When Draymond Green leaves the court, however, the Warriors go from a great defensive team (97.5 defensive rating) to an absolute nightmare (109.7). He’s a small power forward who often plays centre while switching easily onto wing players—and gives up nothing in any situation. You’d assume his lack of height would hurt him most at the rim, but that’s not the case: He’s ninth in the league in FG% allowed at the rim, giving up just 45.1 percent. Not bad for a six-foot-seven dude who often checks seven-footers.
Murphy: Kawhi Leonard. It’s a coin-flip between Leonard and Draymond Green, and Green’s a bit more versatile, but I think Leonard could be if needed, too, and he quarterbacked the NBA’s best defense of the last four years.
Grange: Kawhi Leonard.
Loung: Kawhi Leonard. The Spurs are the best defence in the league by a wide marging and Leonard is the primary reason for that. Like Green, Leonard can guard every position on the floor. The biggest difference, however, is that Leonard will often get the assignment of the opposing team’s best player, regardless of position, whereas Green will usually just be relegated to forwards or the occasional centre.
Zarum: Draymond Green. He deserved this award last season, too, and his ability to guard centres gives him the edge (I acknowledge Leonard could probably, too, we just don’t get to see it with regularity). Green’s defense is a major ingredient to Golden State’s success, and after a season like they had, they deserve all of the awards.
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
Smith: Karl-Anthony Towns. Kristaps Porzingis made a run early in the year, but KAT blew him away in the second half.
Jeff Simmmons, staff writer: Karl-Anthony Towns. Sorry Norman Powell. This should be another consensus pick. Towns is going to be a star, if he isn’t already.
Grange: Karl-Anthony Towns. Future all-star? I’ve had wise old NBA heads predict he’ll be a HOFer.
Loung:: Karl-Anthony Towns. He’s the only rookie to be averaging a double-double (18.2 points and 10.4 rebounds per game) and is shooting 54 per cent from the field and 81 per cent from the charity stripe.
Battle: Karl-Anthony Towns. If he were playing on a better team, he’d be getting all-NBA buzz. He’s one of the youngest guys in the league and already there’s little he can’t do. He shoots threes, he dunks in traffic, he protects the paint, he gets steals, and so on. He also took the all-star weekend skills competition seriously—a somewhat brazen move considering how many entrants phone it in—and won. What’s more, everyone loved it.
Zarum: Karl-Anthony Towns. The perfect modern day big man and already a top 20 player in the league. His rapid ascension has setup the Timberwolves’ franchise for legitimate title hopes in the future.
Bennett: Karl-Anthony Towns. He won rookie of the month in the West every month this year and became one of the best bigs in the league in his inaugural season. Unlike his only real competition, Kristaps Porzingis, Towns never hit the rookie wall.
Murphy: Karl-Anthony Towns. With respect to Boban Marjanovic, Towns is the most terrifying prospect in years.
MOST IMPROVED
Simmons: C.J. McCollum. McCollum increased his scoring by over 14 points per game, while his PER jumped by over four points and in his third NBA season. Incredibly with the spike in minutes and touches, his field goal and three-point percentages actually increased.
Battle: Kawhi Leonard I know, I know—he was already really good last season. And for that reason he’s probably not going to win this. But look at the year-over-year improvement: In 2014–15 he had a PER of 22 (good for 13th in the league); this year that number hit 26 (good for sixth). Last year: .204 win shares per 48 (11th in the league). This year: .278 (2nd). In his fifth season, he took on an even larger role in the Spurs’ offence (career highs in minutes per game and usage rate), and his efficiency improved. But here’s the most telling thing, for me: He didn’t even make third-team all-NBA last year, and this year he’s providing a counter-argument to Stephen Curry for MVP in a year when no one should be able to.
Murphy: C.J. McCollum. Took on a huge role for a surprise playoff team, increasing his usage rate substantially in larger minutes while actually improving from an efficiency standpoint.
Zarum: Will Barton. I don’t think McCollum necessarily improved so much as he was able to take advantage of a bigger role. Barton, on the other hand, improved in nearly every aspect of his game and played his way from fringe NBA player to a promising two-way threat.
Loung: Stephen Curry. Think of it this way: He won MVP last season, but this season he increased his scoring average by over six points per game, is averaging career highs in rebounds and steals and crushed his previous single-season three-pointers made mark by over 100. Now that’s real improvement.
Bennett: Stephen Curry. See above.
Grange: Kemba Walker. He shot more, and better, and lifted the offense for a stagnant Hornets team.
SIXTH MAN OF THE YEAR
Loung: Andre Iguodala. Yes, he may have missed some time with injury, and his numbers aren’t nearly as flashy as some of the other candidates, but he’s integral to what the Dubs do as a key defensive stopper and just another weapon for them to throw at you.
Grange: Patrick Patterson. The Raptors season doesn’t rest on the shoulders of two players. Patterson’s versatility and consistency deserve recognition.
Battle: Tristan Thompson. If only Hassan Whiteside would’ve started coming off the bench just a little bit earlier this season (as it stands he started 41 games and came off the bench for 30). But no. So we’re left with imperfect options. Among guys who’ve come off the bench more often than they’ve started Thompson is the leader in win shares, with 8.8. He also leads the league in offensive rating—no, really— while improving as a defender. He’s not a sexy pick, but he helps the first-place Cavs a great deal.
Murphy: Andre Iguodala. I’d understand if people hesitate because of the time missed, but that’s the only argument against the league’s most important and most impactful reserve.
Smith: Will Barton. Barton gets the edge in a close race with Jamal Crawford and Andre Igoudala.
Simmons: Jamal Crawford. I feel like he wins this award every year, but Crawford ranks first among all NBA reserves in scoring since Christmas (14.1 PPG) and leafs the Clippers’ in fourth-quarter scoring.
COACH OF THE YEAR
Grange: Dwane Casey. From the ashes of the Washington blowout, integrated four new rotation players, one of whom ended up being hurt all season, and set franchise records for wins, road wins and home wins.
Smith: Steve Kerr. Factor in The team’s record, plus defending the title, plus battling off court health issues, and Kerr’s a deserving winner.
Simmons: Steve Kerr & Luke Walton. I know traditionally voters tend to reward coaches who surpass expectations in the coach of the year discussion, but when a team ties/sets a the all-time record for wins in a season, I’m voting for their coach.
Murphy: Terry Stotts. Steve Kerr and Gregg Popovich deserve all the credit in the world, but Portland blew away my expectations, and Stotts made some pretty delicious chicken salad out of LaMarcus Aldridge’s departure.
Bennett: Terry Stotts. The Blazers on paper are one of the worst teams in the NBA. Not only did they qualify for the playoffs in the West they are one of the few teams that beat the historically good Warriors. Stotts has literally performed a miracle.
Loung: Dwane Casey. This would be more like a reward for the excellent job he’s done building up the Raptors ever since he first came to Toronto, as he’s seen his team improve every year since he arrived, culminating in three straight Atlantic division titles and new wins records in each of the last three seasons, including the team’s first 50-win season. All season long he’s had to deal with multiple injuries and his team has still performed above board. That’s no accident. Casey deserves this.
Zarum: Steve Kerr & Luke Walton. Stotts absolutely deserves this. Popovich and Casey, too. But Kerr, and Walton earlier in the season, did as perfect a job imaginable, smartly managing minutes and lineups and helping to put Curry & Co. in a position to post the best season we’ve ever seen.
