My 2020 NBA Awards

Nick Nurse was just named the coach of the year which means I won't be able to get that pick right. Although I think he was an obvious choice coming off an NBA championship losing Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green then still able to put together the Raptors best winning percentage in franchise history. With that said here are the rest of my picks:

Most Improved: Bam Adebayo

All three finalists have their own unique cases this year. Brandon Ingram went from 18pts-5reb-3ast last year with the LA Lakers to 23-6-4 with the Pelicans. Luka Doncic went from 21-7-6 in his rookie season to an MVP candidate averaging 28-9-8 and leading the Mavs to the playoffs. I picked Bam because of his improved numbers (8-7-2 to 15-10-5) although these aren't staggering numbers he is also the defensive anchor of one of the best teams in the east. 

Sixth Man: Dennis Schroder

Although the two Clippers in Montrezl Harrell and Lou Williams are great bench players that play crunch time minutes for the 2 seed in the west to me they cancel each other out. Schroder comes off the bench for a Thunder team that most thought would be in the lottery this year. But Schroder, Chris Paul, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander have carried this team to the 5 seed in the west.

Defensive Player: Giannis 

Although Gobert and Anthony Davis are defensive anchors for their teams Giannis is just built differently. He feels like revolutionary Shaq that struggles with his shooting he is a rim protector that seems to disrupt every passing lane and an MVP candidate unlike the other two.

Rookie of the Year: Ja Morant 

Although Zion is who everyone including myself thought would win this award he only played 19 games before the hiatus of the season. That just isn't enough sample size while Ja played the whole season and led his team to a playoff spot when voting happened. The Grizzlies did lose in the play in-game but that was due to the loss of Jaren Jackson and not on Morant. Zion may have a better career then Ja but for now, it's Morant's time to shine.

MVP: Giannis

If the season had continued all the way to April it would have likely been LeBron James' award to lose. But we end in March and Giannis is the best player on the best team in the league. James was gaining traction and has been a part of this award race for a decade-plus so the storyline looks better for LeBron but Giannis was the best player I saw this year plain and simple.