Official year-end award voters in the NBA will receive their ballots this week and be required to complete them soon after. Balloting is scheduled to be completed between Tuesday and Friday.
It’s a procedural change from longstanding league policy that required voters to turn in their ballots on the day after the regular season. This revamp was ushered in as an offshoot of the new 65-game eligibility rule that applies to MVP, All-NBA, Most Improved, Defensive Player of the Year and All-Defensive teams.
I could have written the usual column featuring my faux ballot, which I have traditionally posted annually even after withdrawing from the process as an official voter, but I decided it would A) be more enjoyable to make this a community endeavor and B) make for a fun curveball to our usual Monday Musings. I can make all the same cases and arguments by responding in the space below, which allows readers of The Stein Line to do the same with their selections.
To assist I’m providing names that I’ve considered for the six traditional year-end awards that I always weigh in on. The floor is yours, too, if you want to discuss All-NBA selections, Executive of the Year or Clutch Player of the Year picks … although I will likely address All-NBA in a separate piece at a later date.
MVP: Nikola Jokić, Luka Dončić, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Brunson, Jayson Tatum, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Anthony Edwards
Rookie of the Year: Victor Wembanyama and Chet Holmgren (with Brandon Miller third)
Coach of the Year: Mark Daigneault, Chris Finch, Jamahl Mosley, Joe Mazzulla, Tom Thibodeau, Jason Kidd and Ime Udoka
Sixth Man: Bogdan Bogdanović, Naz Reid, Malik Monk, Bobby Portis and Russell Westbrook
Defensive Player of the Year: Rudy Gobert, Wembanyama, Anthony Davis, Herb Jones and Holmgren
Most Improved Player: Tyrese Maxey,Coby White, Jonathan Kuminga, Jalen Williams, Deni Avdija and Alperen Şengün (two games shy of eligibility unless the NBA rules otherwise)
Now YOU tell me who you like in these various categories in the thread below. The official ballots require a 1-2-3 order except for MVP, which is 1-2-3-4-5.
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This is the same (fitting) image utilized by NBA.com on its staff roundtable post on 2023-24 awards.
Ballots have indeed gone out to the official voters and are due back into the league office tonight before the Play-In Tournament starts. I will be responding to various commenters below tonight while watching the Play-In games ... and AFTER I post the final Power Rankings of the season today.
Mazzulla, like Tatum, will probably see his COY bid impacted by the fact that Boston's top five players look SO good on one roster. Brad Stevens should win Executive of the Year thanks to the team he has assembled.
I'm biased, but having watched every Spurs game, when he's on the floor that team was totally different. Plus, I've never seen someone cover as much space as he can, it's just unreal
With you to a degree on Westbrook. He hasn't received nearly enough praise for the 45-23 record (off the top of my head) that the Clippers have when he's in uniform. However ...
MVP - SGA - Not getting the respect he deserves but he was the best player in the league this past regular season. Curious to see if he can carry that over to playoff ball.
ROY - Wemby or Chet - First half of the season was Chet. Second half was Wemby. Flip a coin. Chet played every game.
Sixth man - Pick one. Lots of arguments to make. I doubt the Clips are where they are without Westbrook.
Suggs hasn't gotten much mention in the DPOY race. Glad you brought him up. The Magic finishing third in defensive rating is truly something. (Shoutout Jonathan Isaac as well) ...
It's probably unfair to Tatum -- to a degree -- but my expectation is that he will not finish higher than fourth in actual MVP voting. As mentioned in the Power Rankings, when your fifth-best player (Derrick White) is capable of winning Eastern Conference POTW ... it makes it harder -- fair or not -- to win MVP (or COY).
I've had a front-row seat for Exum's rise and I know Mavs fans would love to see him get some MIP love. The competition, I'm afraid, is too fierce. Think Exum will have to settle for the unofficial Best Bargain Contract In The League award. After the big shot he recently made in the Houston game, I asked my pal Keith Smith to look it up and I think Exum is the 289th highest-paid player in the whole league.
MVP - Brunson. Where did this guy come from? Led his team to 50 wins, and did it without argumentally the best player on the team (Randle).
ROY - Wembanyama. Has to be. A highlight waiting to happen, every night.
Coach of the Year - Ime Udoka. One can argue he took a team much further than they were expected. Others did too, but Ime may have had the longest odds against any success.
Sixth Man - Westbrook. Really took off in this role, even though he was a starter and the focal point of his teams for years.
Defensive Player of the Year - Herb Jones. Much more difficult to be so successful in "space". Rudy is always a solid choice, but maybe not this year.
Most Improved. I was going to say Donte from the Knicks should be on the list. Since he's not, my vote goes to a guy who seemed to stand out every game - Jalen Williams.
There don't appear to be too many competitive races here. The one that is tight is COTY, since no one ever seems to know how to judge it. I'm going with Mazzulla, whose team never lost more than 2 in a row and had the 3rd best net rating, ever.
MVP - Jokic
ROY - Wembanyama
MIP - Maxey
DPOY - Gobert, but there are so many other good candidates
Your Monk point is important. I totally agree that he shouldn't be punished for his injury ... but I think what it did do is bring some attention to candidates like Bogdanovic and Portis who probably didn't get enough attention previously.
MVP Joker
Roy Wemby
Coach Carlisle
Dpoy Wemby
6th man Monk
Mip Maxey
MVP: SGA
Rookie: Wemby
Coach Finch
Sixth man: Monk
Defense: Robert
MIP: Maxey
MVP: Jokic
ROY: Wembenyana
Coach: Jamahl Mosley
6th Man: Monk
DPOY: Gobert
Most Improved: Sengun ( if he is doubtfully made eligible) otherwise Tyrese Maxey
Yep.. sending you fresh philly cheese steak! I stand by zone defense doesn't belong in the nba.
Im late but...Luka (shai close 2nd)...wemby...portis...naz...Maxey....abstain from dpoy and coach.
I won the imaginary sandwich ... right?
MVP
Luke - Jokic - Shai
ROY
Wemby - Chet - Miller
COY
Daigneault - Finch - Kidd
6th Man
Monk - Portis - Westbrook
DPOY
Wemby - Goober - AD
MIP
Maxey - White - Kuminga
MVP: Jokić, SGA, Jalen Brunson, Luka, Tatum
ROY - Wemby-Chet-Miller
COY-Daigneault-Finch-Mazzulla
6th man - Portis-Monk-Westbrook
DPOY-Wemby-Golbert-Davis
MIP-Maxey-White-Williams
Luka fourth? Tough crowd, Ray ...
MVP is so tough this year. Putting Tatum FIFTH seems wrong but there are so many worthy guys.
Ballots have indeed gone out to the official voters and are due back into the league office tonight before the Play-In Tournament starts. I will be responding to various commenters below tonight while watching the Play-In games ... and AFTER I post the final Power Rankings of the season today.
MVP: Luka-Jokic-SGA-Giannis-Brunson
ROY: Wemby-Chet-Miller
COY: Daigneault-Finch-Mazzula
6Man: Monk-Reid-Westbrook
DPOY: Gobert-Wemby-Adebayo
MIP: Maxey-Jalen Williams-Dante Exum
I think Bogdanovic would have been my Sixth Man. The competition for that one turned out to be more crowded than expected ...
MVP: Jokic, Doncic, SGA, Tatum, Edwards
RoY: Wemby, Holmgren, Miller
CoY: Daigneault, Finch, Udoka
6th man: Portis, Monk, Bogdanovic
DPOY: Gobert, Herb Jones, Wemby
MiP: Maxey, White, Sengun
Love #NotOnHerb. Second might be a touch too high for DPOY, though ...
DONCIC
WEMBY
THIBS
MONK
GOBERT
MAXEY
Not sure if Thibs will crack the top three in COY voting but it's good to hear him generate some buzz ...
MVP-Jokic, SGA, Doncic, Tatum, Edwards
ROY- Wemby, Holmgren, B. Miller
Coach- Daigneault, Finch, Mazulla Based on wins over Las Vegas Preseason win projections
6th Man- Bogie, Portis, Reid
DPOY- Wemby, Holmgren, A. Davis
MIP- Maxey, Jalen Williams, C. White
Mazzulla, like Tatum, will probably see his COY bid impacted by the fact that Boston's top five players look SO good on one roster. Brad Stevens should win Executive of the Year thanks to the team he has assembled.
MVP: SGA, Jokic, Doncic, Brunson, Giannis (1-2-3-4-5)
ROY: Wemby, Chet and Miller (1-2-3)
Coach: Daigneault-Thibs-Finch
6th Man: Monk-Bogie-Portis
DPOY: OG-Gobert-Wemby
MIP: Maxey-Williams-Sengun
OG? As in Anunoby?
Yes - OG Anunoby
MVP: Jokic
Rookie: Wembanyama
Coach: Thibs
Sixth Man: Malik Monk
Defensive: Rudy Gobert
MIP: Colby White
I think we could all argue with passion about every category except ROY ...
MVP: Still Joker and it's ok that he's gonna win again because he should
Rookie: Vic and it ain't even close
Coach: I never know how to do this one.
DPOY: Vic, again, his on/off numbers, raw stats, and overwhelming presence take this from Rudy (plus doing it on an awful team)
MIP: Shai. But really Maxey or Coby
6th: NAZ REID
Interesting take on the DPOY. That being on an awful team HELPS Wemby's case. Maybe I've been looking at it the wrong way ...
I'm biased, but having watched every Spurs game, when he's on the floor that team was totally different. Plus, I've never seen someone cover as much space as he can, it's just unreal
MVP: Luka
Rookie: Wemby
Coach: Daigneault
Sixth Man: Westbrook
DPOY: Rudy
MIP: Maxey
With you to a degree on Westbrook. He hasn't received nearly enough praise for the 45-23 record (off the top of my head) that the Clippers have when he's in uniform. However ...
MVP: Jokic/SGA/Luka/Brunson/Tatum
ROY: WEMBY/CHET
COY: Daigneault/Mohsley/Mazzulla
6th Man: Reid/Monk/Powell
DPOY: Gobert/Wemby/Bam
MIP: Derrick White
As the very next poster notes with this Norm Powell mention ... there are two good sixth men in Clipperland. Which complicates matters ...
MVP: Luka / Jokic / Giannis / Tatum / SGA
Rookie of the Year: Wemby / Holmgren / Miller
Coach of the Year: Mazzulla / Thibodeaux / Finch
Sixth Man: Reid / Westbrook / Bogdanović
Defensive Player of the Year: Wemby / Gobert / Holmgren
Most Improved Player: Maxey / Avdija / White
Avdija is getting more MIP love than I anticipated ...
MVP - SGA - Not getting the respect he deserves but he was the best player in the league this past regular season. Curious to see if he can carry that over to playoff ball.
ROY - Wemby or Chet - First half of the season was Chet. Second half was Wemby. Flip a coin. Chet played every game.
Sixth man - Pick one. Lots of arguments to make. I doubt the Clips are where they are without Westbrook.
MIP - Jalen Williams.
COY - Mark Daigneault. Thibs in second here.
DPY - Rudy.
Three awards for the Thunder?
MVP: Brunson, Joker, Doncic, SGA, Giannis
Rookie: Wemby, Holmgren, Miller
Coach: Mazulla, Daigneault, Thibodeau
Sixth: Reid, Monk, Westbrook
Defense: Gobert, Wemby, Caruso
MIP: Maxey, Divincenzo
A greater admirer of Jalen Brunson you will not find. MVP of the All-Lefty Team is as far as I can go, though.
MVP: Jokic, Luka 2nd
ROY...Wemby
6th man....close....but Naz.
MIP: Jalen Suggs
DPY....Suggs quite possibly. But Gobert, has to be rudy. Suggs 2nd, Wemby and then Herb Jones.
coach..Mosely by a hair over Daigneault....with Thibs 3rd.
Suggs hasn't gotten much mention in the DPOY race. Glad you brought him up. The Magic finishing third in defensive rating is truly something. (Shoutout Jonathan Isaac as well) ...
MVP: Jokic, Giannis. Tatum, Luka, SGA
ROY: Wembanyama
6th Man: Naz Reid
MIP: Kuminga
COY: Daigneault
Tatum finishes higher due to BOS best overall record
Wemby should be unanimous
Naz is a player that nobody could stop this season
Kuminga was my preseason pick and I'm sticking with it
Daigneault edges Mazzulla due to 17 game improvement and #1 seed
It's probably unfair to Tatum -- to a degree -- but my expectation is that he will not finish higher than fourth in actual MVP voting. As mentioned in the Power Rankings, when your fifth-best player (Derrick White) is capable of winning Eastern Conference POTW ... it makes it harder -- fair or not -- to win MVP (or COY).
MVP: Doncic / Jokic / SGA / Giannis / Brunson
Rookie of the Year: Wembanyama / Holmgren / Lively
Coach of the Year: Mazzulla / Daigneault / Finch
Sixth Man: Reid / Bogdanović / Westbrook
Defensive Player of the Year: Wembanyama / Gobert / Jones
Most Improved Player: Exum / Williams / Avdija
I've had a front-row seat for Exum's rise and I know Mavs fans would love to see him get some MIP love. The competition, I'm afraid, is too fierce. Think Exum will have to settle for the unofficial Best Bargain Contract In The League award. After the big shot he recently made in the Houston game, I asked my pal Keith Smith to look it up and I think Exum is the 289th highest-paid player in the whole league.
MVP: Jokic, SGA, Giannis, Doncic, Brunson
ROY: Victor Wembanyama
Sixth Man: Bobby Portis
DPOY: Rudy Gobert, Herb Jones
MIP: Tyrese Maxey
Coach of the Year: Mike Budenholzer
Bobby Portis ... and Mike Bud. I see what you did here, Charlie Saturday ...
Going to fill out a full ballot on this one...
MVP: Jokic - SGA - Brunson - Luka - Giannis
ROY: Victor - Chet - Miller
COY: Thibs - Mazzulla - Mosley
6th Man: Monk - Westbrook - Reid
DPY: Victor - Gobert - Jones
MIP: Sengun - Maxey - White
MVP - Brunson. Where did this guy come from? Led his team to 50 wins, and did it without argumentally the best player on the team (Randle).
ROY - Wembanyama. Has to be. A highlight waiting to happen, every night.
Coach of the Year - Ime Udoka. One can argue he took a team much further than they were expected. Others did too, but Ime may have had the longest odds against any success.
Sixth Man - Westbrook. Really took off in this role, even though he was a starter and the focal point of his teams for years.
Defensive Player of the Year - Herb Jones. Much more difficult to be so successful in "space". Rudy is always a solid choice, but maybe not this year.
Most Improved. I was going to say Donte from the Knicks should be on the list. Since he's not, my vote goes to a guy who seemed to stand out every game - Jalen Williams.
Brunson is fourth on my MVP ballot. I hear you, though.
MVP: SGA 🏆
ROTY: Wemby 🏆
COTY: Daigneault 🏆
6MOTY: Malik 🏆
DPOY: Wemby 🏆
MIP: Coby 🏆
Trophy emojis were a nice touch ...
MVP: Luka Dončić
Rookie: Victor Wembanyama
Coach: Mark Daigneault
Sixth Man: Malik Monk
Defensive: Rudy Gobert
MIP: Tyrese Maxey
There don't appear to be too many competitive races here. The one that is tight is COTY, since no one ever seems to know how to judge it. I'm going with Mazzulla, whose team never lost more than 2 in a row and had the 3rd best net rating, ever.
MVP - Jokic
ROY - Wembanyama
MIP - Maxey
DPOY - Gobert, but there are so many other good candidates
Sixth Man - Monk
As I mentioned above ... I feel like they're all debatable apart from ROY.
Mvp- joker best player biggest impact
ROY- Chet rookie with most impact on team( rather then league!)
Coach- Orlando magic- they are 5th!!!
Six- naz
MIP- (I’d say exum I mean out of nowhere and deni should both be on the ballot just to get some recognition!) it’s all Maxey.
Dpoy- Gobert all the way.
Somehow I gotta let Exum know how popular he is ...
MVP SGA
Rookie Wemby
Coach Thibs
Sixth man - divincenzo
Defense - Rudy
MIP - Kuminga
MVP: Jalen Brunson
Rookie of the Year: Victor Wembanyama
Coach of the Year: Mark Daigneault
Sixth Man: Russell Westbrook
Defensive Player of the Year: Anthony Davis
Most Improved Player: Tyrese Maxey
MVP: Nikola Jokic
Rookie: Victor Wembanyama
Coach: Michael Malone (dude created the team culture)
Sixth Man: Al Horford
Defensive: Kentavious Caldwell Pope
MIP: Anthony Edwards
MVP: Luka
Rookie: Wemby
DPOY: Gobert
Coach: Daigneault
MIP: Coby White
Sixth Man: Naz Reid
MVP: Luka Dončić
Rookie: Victor Wembanyama
Coach: Mark Daigneault
Sixth Man: Malik Monk - obvious winner before the injury, shouldn't be punished for that
Defensive: Herb Jones - I much prefer to see a guard be recognized
MIP: Tyrese Maxey (Is Dante Exum not in the conversation?)
Your Monk point is important. I totally agree that he shouldn't be punished for his injury ... but I think what it did do is bring some attention to candidates like Bogdanovic and Portis who probably didn't get enough attention previously.