Northwest Division Mid-Season Awards
Who was the MVP, best rookie and best defender in the Northwest Division for the first half of the season? We’ve got all the winners and runner-ups for all the major awards.
Finally, All-Star break is here and looking back at the first half of the season, it’s been as entertaining as ever in the NBA. This is the time, though, when the season can be examined in a larger context, with every team having played north of 50 games each. Playoff seeds are being fought over and many fans are speculating about the end of year awards that will be handed out. To put things in a more local perspective, here are the top candidates for each award in the Northwest Division, each taking home division-specific trophies as well. Without further ado, here are your Northwest division award winners and runner-ups.
Image from EuroHoops
Kevin Durant Most Valuable Player Award:
Nuggets C Nikola Jokić
Runner-Up: Thunder G Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
You simply have to appreciate the level of star power that resides in the Northwest. There are potentially four members of the All-NBA teams amongst the five teams (Jokić, Gilgeous-Alexander, Anthony Edwards and Rudy Gobert) and the level of play is as high as it has ever been. Jokić and SGA are currently favored to finish first and second respectively in NBA MVP voting, and for good reason. Shai has the Thunder playing extremely well far sooner than they were supposed to and leads the league in 30-point games with 39. The Joker has the Nuggets operating smoothly even though they lack the depth that helped them capture the title last season. The slight edge was given to Jokić because while Gilgeous-Alexander’s scoring has been better, Jokić’s on/off split is almost double, meaning that the Thunder do better when SGA sits than the Nuggets do when Jokić does. Regardless of how they finish, these two are easily in the conversation when ranking the best five or ten players in the NBA.
Image from Zone Coverage
Kevin Garnett Defensive Player of the Year Award:
Timberwolves C Rudy Gobert
Runner-Up: Thunder C Chet Holmgren
Once again, Rudy Gobert is the favorite to bring home the Defensive Player of the Year Award, which would be his fourth time winning the honor. Despite the fact that he had two teammates named All-Stars, there is a strong case to be made that he is the reason that the Wolves find themselves at the top of the Western conference. The Stifle Tower has been an anchor for Minnesota’s defense and has erased mistakes made by offensive juggernauts Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards. Holmgren’s extraordinary length and defensive instincts has done the same thing for Oklahoma City. The major question for both of these defensive monsters remains the same though; can they perform on the same level in a postseason environment? Gobert’s playoff experience isn’t pretty, and Holmgren has never been there. That might be the most important factor for each team as they enter the back half of the season.
Image from Sportskeeda
The Damian Lillard Rookie of the Year Award:
Thunder C Chet Holmgren
Runner-up: Trail Blazers G Scoot Henderson
When he was drafted out of Gonzaga, everyone expected Holmgren to be a defensive asset right out of the gate thanks to his endless wingspan and rim-protecting instincts. Almost nobody expected him to score near 17 points per game while showcasing his shooting touch and ahead of schedule playmaking ability. He is the victim of poor luck, sharing his rookie season with Victor Wembanyama, but Holmgren is sure to make the league-wide rookie of the year race go down to the wire. Wemby might be putting up flashier stats, but Holmgren’s team has been much better, and he has been more efficient than his San Antonio Spurs counterpart. After struggling in the beginning with a large role with the Blazers, Henderson has begun to settle into the NBA and has flashes that have fans salivating about Portland’s future. His athleticism is reminiscent of Russell Westbrook and if he can continue to take strides with his playmaking, he could mirror what Russ was in his heyday.
Image from KSL Sports
The James Harden Sixth Man of the Year Award:
Jazz G Jordan Clarkson
Runner-up: Timberwolves F/C Naz Reid
Clarkson has been in the running for this award for years now, and took home the honor in 2021 for the Utah Jazz. His scoring punch off of the bench helps to keep Utah in most games when Lauri Markkanen sits and his playmaking has improved as he has put more of an emphasis on getting the younger players on his team in a good rhythm, serving as the de-facto point guard, especially now that Kelly Olynyk and Simone Fontechhio were shipped out at the trade deadline. This was the closest race so far, as Naz Reid has been playing up to the standards of the contract that he signed in the offseason. At 6 '9, Reid is undersized, but he plays much bigger than he is and his 41.8% from three-point range is one of the keys to the Wolves’ offense when Karl-Anthony Towns is on the bench. Reid may not end up as good as Towns, but he doesn’t need to be, he just needs to keep those lineups afloat so the stars can take the team home.
Image from KSL Sports
The CJ McCollum Most Improved Player Award:
Jazz G Collin Sexton
Runner-up: Thunder F Jalen Williams
When he was in Cleveland, Sexton seemingly had the green light to hunt his shot at the expense of his teammates. He put up good scoring numbers, but the Cavaliers weren’t winning games because of it. Since he has been in Utah, however, he has put more focus into being a more traditional point guard, trying more to get his teammates going while also pouring in almost 18 points per game. The Jazz might have more talented players in Markkanen and Clarkson, but Sexton has been as important to their unexpected success as anyone else. Speaking of unexpected success, Jalen Williams was good last year, but has elevated his game in his second year out of UC Santa Barbara. His defense has gotten better as well as his offense, which will be important come playoff time when Mark Daignault will assign him to the top wings in the Western Conference.
Image from NBA.com
The George Karl Coach of the Year Award:
Thunder Head Coach Mark Daigneault
Runner-up: Timberwolves Head Coach Chris Finch
Both Minnesota and Oklahoma City have overachieved and been dominant in large stretches so far this season. The nod goes to Daigneault for the sole fact that the Thunder are the second-youngest team in the entire NBA. He has created a culture that every player is buying into and has the whole team playing for each other, which is deceivingly hard to pull off for a young team in today’s NBA. Finch has also been outstanding, helping to make the Timberwolves much more balanced than they’ve been in years. Both coaches have their teams poised to make deep playoff runs barring injuries, and if the awards were decided after the Finals, the playoffs could have (and probably would have) been the deciding factor in this race.
