Most Valuable Player: Stephen Curry
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| A repeat is almost a forgone conclusion. |
The reigning MVP probably won't win the award unanimously, but he should. To go along with leading the defending champs to a record setting 73-9 season despite having a target on their backs every game, Curry accomplished the following personal feats:
- Led the league in Player Efficiency Rating (31.5), Win Shares (17.9), scoring (30.1 points per game) despite sitting out 19 fourth quarters, steals per game (2.1), and total steals (169).
- Became just the 7th player to record a 50/40/90 shooting season and had the highest scoring season of anyone in that club.
- Broke his own record for most 3's in a season from last season, 286, with an eye-popping 402. J.J. Redick's incredible 47.5% 3 point percentage may have beaten Curry's 45.4%, but he made less than half the total number of shots with 200. Just an insane stat.
Defensive Player of the Year: Kawhi Leonard
Another repeat winner from last year, he again edges out Draymond Green for me, and it's more deserving now than when he missed 18 games last season. It's almost a coin flip between the two since Green's versatility to basically guard 1 through 5 unlocks so much for the 73 win Warriors, but I decided to go with the spearhead of the best defense in the league. The Spurs won 67 games in their own right, and they gave up 2.2 points per 100 possessions fewer than the second best defense.
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| Towns will pick up a lot of hardware in his career. |
Rookie of the Year: Karl-Anthony Towns
This one should be unanimous, as well, as Towns won Rookie of the Month all 6 times. I had no doubts about him as the top pick in last year's draft, but I had no idea he'd be able to be this good this fast. He's also seems like such a good kid that I view him like a better shooting Tim Duncan, which is incredible praise, but I think Bill Simmons captured his style better as a combination of Chris Webber and Rasheed Wallace.
