My Picks for This Year's NBA Awards

This article is going to cover my picks for each of the NBA awards which are given to the most deserving player by a panel of sportswriters and broadcasters in the U.S and Canada. Please feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments.

MVP

My Pick: Stephen Curry

OK even though this is the most prestigious of all the awards, it is the least controversial especially this season. The answer is obvious, the only question is if he will be the only player in NBA history to win this award unanimously. Even though Curry won this award last season, hes only gotten better this season. He has led his Warriors team to a 73-9 record up to this point (Supposing they win on Wednesday) and he has changed the way basketball is being player. Curry leads the league in PER, win shares, and true shooting percentage. He shattered his own record for most 3-pointers made in a season for a third time! While there are other names to consider, Russell Westbrook, LBJ, Kwahi Leonard, none even come close to this guy. That is why thePass is picking Stephen Curry to win MVP.

DPOY

My pick: Kawhi Leonard

This was another fairly easy pick. According to Basketball-reference.com, Leonard ranked first in real defensive plus minus, defensive win shares, and defensive rating. Kawhi has won this accolade last year as well and hasn't slowed down one bit in the defensive stand point. He has taken his offensive game to the next level and is showing some MVP consideration. Leonard can be counted on to stop the opposing team's best player and usually does. Another name that has a good chance of winning the award is Draymond Green. Draymond has been a consistent defensive player throughout this year, yet doesn't have the same skill on that side of the ball as Kawhi Leonard does.

ROY

My pick: Karl-Anthony Towns

This is the one award that should, and most likely will, go unanimously. Towns is putting up monster numbers in only his first season, 18.3 PPG and 10.5 RPG, and is already being compared to the greats of the game such as Tim Duncan. He has showed maturity beyond his years and will be a force in the NBA in the near future. While for a long time we thought that Knick's rookie sensation Kristaps Porzingis will challenge KAT in this award, it just hasn't turned out that way. Porzingis was plagued with many injuries following his amazing first couple months in the NBA. He still has proved the doubters wrong and his future is looking bright. 

Most Improved

My pick: C.J McCollum

Throughout the season, C.J McCollum has pleasantly surprised us with him turning into a star in Portland. He compliments Damian Lillard well and has completely elevated his game from last year, going from 6.8 PPG to 20.9 PPG this season. He showed everyone that he belongs in the starting lineup and that him and Lillard make for a scary back-court.

Giannis Antetokounmpo was another name that I believe will receive a lot of consideration. Following the All-Star Break, The Greek Freak has been on an absolute tear. While head coach Jason Kidd moved him to point-guard, his numbers have been staggering. He had been averaging a near triple double and to have a 6'11" player playing that spot was almost unfair. 

Sixth Man 

My pick: J.J Barea

This is probably this most arguable of all my picks. Even though Barea is really not receiving much consideration for the award, he has been a consistent threat coming off the bench and now starting. He has provided the Mavs with steady scoring and even won the NBA's Player of the Week last week (Not our blog's POW). Now the most likely choice will be Jamaal Crawford, if he does win it will be a record 3 times he has won this award, he has led the Clippers to a definitive spot come playoff time and has made up for Blake Griffin's absence. 

Coach of the Year

My pick: Steve Kerr/Luke Walton?

There have been several reports that the NBA will try to add assistant coach Luke Walton to this award race and rightfully so, however we don't know if he will be a separate candidate or if he will split it with Steve Kerr. Anyways, this award should be in the hands of Kerr because of his marvelous job at leading the Warriors to at least a 72 win season. While he did get credited for all the wins, Luke Waton stepped in as interim head coach, while Steve Kerr had been recovering from a surgery, and produced probably the most impressive interim record in NBA history. He led the Dubs to a 39-4 record, even though he didn't get credit for them, and even coached his team to a 24-0 start this season.