The nerds give out their NBA Midseason Awards, debating whether Shai Gilgeous-Alexander or Nikola Jokic should be the MVP frontrunner, if Victor Wembanyama or Evan Mobley should be DPOY, and who makes the strongest MIP case in a loaded race.
Timestamps
00:00:23 - MVP
00:15:23 - Oklahoma City
00:25:40 - DPOY
00:31:30 - ROY
00:41:44 - MIP
00:54:58 - 6MOY
01:01:09 - COY
#Volume
The volume. No, Oh my god, how could he do that?
What Charles Darwin?
The Nerds is where it's at.
Welcome everybody, Tagg each Nerd sets as always, I'm Carson Breber and alongside he is Logan Camden. And today we are going to be giving out our NBA Mid Season Awards, as we do every year, we gotta do the check in at the halfway point and see who we think is the front runner for each of these awards. And Logan, let's start with the big one MVP. Who is your mid season MVP.
In our mid mid season award? Look into this. I said that it was NICOLEA. Jokic, which I guess would be our quarterly NBA Awards.
Yeah, unofficial, but we had.
A discussion, we coach this discussion. I said it was still Nikola Jokic, and I have been moved enough now that I think it is wholeheartedly Shay Gilgess Alexander. And this is coming on the heels of another absurd performance. If you missed it, the Thunder did battle with the Cleveland Cavaliers and it wasn't much of a battle. Last night Massacre SGA gave up put up forty three and eight on near least seventy one percent true shooting. And you know, I think you got to give credit to this thunder defense. They really retavoc on Cleveland, but SGA got whatever he wanted any bucket at any given time it was going in. I mean, the guy couldn't miss last night and he does this on a night to night basis. I just think that is like another statement win, another statement notch on his belt for this year, and you laid out the big key component. I think that puts SGA's MVP case over the top. It's the fact that they have been doing this without Chet Holmgren. Yeah, you're twenty six and four without Jet. It's insane, It's ridiculous. SGA this season is at thirty one six and six on fifty three to thirty six ninety splits, sixty four percent true shooting. It's the tenth most efficient thirty point per game season in NBA history. Oh wow. SGA is number six in stocks per game right now, two steals per game and one point one blocks per game three point one total. So simultaneously he's one of the best scorers in basketball, one of the best offensive engines in basketball, and he's one of the best defensive players on the planet, and the Thunder aren't remotely a similar offense without him on the floor. They're nearly fourteen points better offensively with SGA on the floor. Without him, they have a one to twenty point five offensive rating with SGA in a one zero six point seven offensive rating without him. You look at the win totals. I love this stet because it's so fascinating, which you can get with individual players. They play like a seventy three win team with SGA in a forty seven win team without him. I say all this like Jokitcheng, excuse me, Jokichen Yannis have legitimate MVP cases. These are great, great seasons. They're all three of these guys are at thirty points per game on over sixty percent true shooting. Right now, these rosters are very very limited outside of them. But I also think that applies to SGA, especially when you look at the offensive end of the floor, and he's just got all the hallmarks of an elite MVP case, the two way ability, the floor raising, the ceiling raising, the consistency. But as you mentioned, we were doing this earlier at the point of the season I think the cherry on top and the thing that puts SGA over the top is the fact that the thunder are doing this without their second best player right now, and the rest of the way as great as Jokichen Jannis can be down the stretch, I think this is SGA is a word to lose.
Yeah, Giannis is having an amazing season. I don't really think that he's in the same tier as the top two. I was hoping that you were gonna make the Yolkic case. By the way, I mean the top two in terms of their MVP cases this year. Not I don't think I can do all players I know, but I was hoping that you would, because I do think that yokis just having literally the greatest offensive season we've ever seen and is doing one of the greatest floor raising jobs that we've ever seen. And I still think that SGA is the MVP. He is checking every box of an elite MVP case. You mentioned the twenty six and four record without Chet. In those thirty games, Shay is averaging thirty three point four points per game on sixty six percent true shooting. And so when you think about all of the components of an elite MVP case, incredible winning impact. SGA is checking that off exceptionally well. People talk about the OKC great defense as if that should discredit Shay's MVP case, right, Well, it's, oh, well, they have this number one defense that's a huge component and why they're such a great team, and it is a real big component. But I think that a lot of people undersell the extent to which he is carrying this offense to a special degree, and they're overlooking how Okase has prioritized putting defensive personnel around him that is limited offensively because they know that SGA can just carry them to playing like an elite offense when he's on the floor. You mentioned the on off overall offensively, The even crazier number to me is when you have him on the floor, but Jadab, they're only real other high end creator off the floor. The Thunder offense is seventeen points per one hundred possessions better than it is when Jadab is on with shayoff. It's the difference between a one oh seven offensive rating with Jadab on shayoff, which is a very bad offense. That's equivalent to the number twenty nine offensive basketball versus a one to twenty four offensive rating. With Shay on and jadab off, that's the best offense in basketball. So it's an incredible, incredible offensive floor raising job. And as a whole, the Thunder are seventeen and a half points per one hundred possessions better. With Shay on the floor. That is an insane, insane on offer. And with him on the floor, they're a plus eighteen net rating team. I mean, we're talking Steph with the twenty sixteen Warriors. Man, We're talking this is one of the greatest basketball teams ever when Shay is on the floor. When he's off the floor, they're a bad offense in an average basketball team overall, So the team impact it's an a plus plus. His efficiency at this volume is historic. We have seen ninety one seasons logan in which a player scored thirty points per game In the NBA. Shay, despite being called a free throw merchant by some, which is the funniest thing in the world, ranks eighth ineffective field goal percentage. He is one of the best pure put the ball in the basket dudes we have ever seen at this volume, and he has the eighth fewest turnovers. He is one of the best ever at taking care of the ball. So again, he's carrying this load of every possession. I have to find a way to generate a quality shot for us. Sometimes the spacing gets a little bit mucked up with the questionable spot up shooters playing alongside Hartenstein. But he's doing that within credit scoring efficiency without giving the ball up, and the shot making is just from another planet, dude. He is shooting fifty four percent from mid range on high volume, and he is shooting seventy four percent in the restricted area. He is actually a perfect inside the arc scoring guard. He is the toughest guard to stay in front of with his change in pace. He is probably the best finishing guard in basketball, with his body control and balance around the rim and his incredible length right that allows him to finish while he's being heavily contested his touch off the glass. And then he also has as deep a bag as many counters and is as good a shot maker from the intermediate area as anybody on the planet. Slams on the brakes and will just absolutely kill you from there. And then he's also added this volume pull up three point shooting and without jet he's shooting thirty eight percent from deep, so the scoring volume efficiency outstanding historic. Then you have the legitimate pronounced two way impact. Right you mentioned how highly he ranks in stocks. He's one of the best better off ball, rim protecting defensive wings in basketball. I did see somebody try to make a Shaye Depoit case the other day, which just about made me lose my mind, because there are obviously several better defenders on his own team. But he is a clear positive contributor to this dominant defense, while he is this Tier one offensive engine, top two offensive player in basketball this year. And the final component that I think some people who are trying to make the Jokic case are overlooking is that team's success has always mattered in the MVP race. Logan, It's always mattered a lot. You go back to Moses Malone in nineteen eighty three, and since then, thirty seven of forty two MVPs came from a top two seed in their conference. Now, Jokic remarkably out of the five players who were not a top two seed who won the MVP, he's got two of those five seasons. But the reason that this is different than what it was in say, twenty twenty two, when I thought that Jokic was deservedly the MVP, I actually strongly argued that, yes, this is one of the greatest seasons we've ever seen. He has to be MVP. That year, the Nuggets didn't have this super shiny record, right, they were the sixth seed, But when Yokich was on the floor, the Nuggets had a better net rating than that of the other major MVP contenders. Teams did better than Yiannis's bucks, better than MBD sixers. And then you have the insane on off differential, and you have the fact that he was doing that with a roster that legitimately had no business being anywhere close to the postseason. Right, No, Jamal Murray nine games of Michael Porter Junior that season, that's before KCP. This year, obviously, Aaron Gordon has been hurt for about half the games, and Jamal Murray has underachieved, and the bench has had its issues. Right, Yokis is obviously still doing an incredible, incredible carry job, but it's not to the same extent just in terms of, oh my god, how are you winning with these guys than it was in twenty twenty two. The big thing, though, is that year he wasn't competing again, guy who was as dominant an individual force as SGA is, who was also on a historically dominant team. Okay, he was the better player than Jannison Embiid, and his team with him on the floor was also better. So it was clear to me, this is the MVP. Now you're talking about a guy who is having a historic guard season and is also having a historic team season. Seventy six percent of the sixty five win teams in NBA history, Logan had the MVP that season. And I am a strong opponent of the generic just best player on the best team case. I think that that is absurd.
Right.
Somebody said last week, why isn't Donovan Mitchell in the MVP case because he hasn't been one of the ten best players in basketball this year? Right? And what could his argument possibly be over SGA? Obviously there's nothing there, But this is not that. If you're having individually a historic guard season in terms of your volume and efficiency offensively, and you have the two way impact and your team is seventeen plus points per one hundred better with you on the floor, and you're on pace to win seventy games without your second best player. That is just an A plus plus MVP case, And Jokic has an a MVP case. He does because his individual performance has been that overwhelmingly great. But to me, what SGA is doing just embodies what the award has always meant to reward more than what Yokic is doing. We have always said, if you can take an average team and propel them to historic heights, that is more valuable than taking a roster that is below average and making them a really good basketball team. And Yokic, again, in the years when he won MVP previously, wasn't going up against the special combination of individual performance and historic team success that she is propelling right now while shorthanded, and he's played every game that matters to me too. Call that a tiebreaker if you want, but in terms of literal value, literal impact, it matters when you are out there every single game for your team. Jokic has really been the iron Man of the NBA in recent years of this generation. It's like him and Tatum who just never missed games. But he's missed six games this year, and so that's another edge that I do think goes to SGA. It's still close, I tweeted yesterday, SGA is the MVP, and it's not very close. It is close, but it's clear to me, is how I would put it. SGA is the MVP right now?
Well said man. And a couple of things. I want to add. One, Larry Bird, you get paid to go to work, You go to work, man, SGA showed up every day. Man, he's clocking in five, he's handling business. Second of all, Jokic, this has nothing to do with voter fatigue. I want to emphasize that point too, because I think also a lot of people would point and go, oh, well, the only reason SGA is getting all this buzz is because people are tired of voting for NICOLEA. Joki. No, it's not dead at all. SGA's case is just flat out better in my opinion. And the last thing I want to add, you're talking about people considering Donovan Mitchell for MVP. It's very reminiscent of when the Jazz were atop the West and people were going, Shodani went MVP. There.
Sure, Ludy Gobert's in twenty twenty two, right.
Exact before you can't even.
Decide who the MVP candidate is. If you can't decide who the MVP candidates and the team, they have no case being.
I got nothing else well said.
I do want to emphasize the point though, just about how crucial being on an elite basketball team is historically in the MVP race, and you can take issue with it and listen. I think it's good that we have opened things up a bit in recent years and we have said it's not mandatory. Right if somebody clearly has the best case, in spite of the fact that they are not on one of the three or four best teams in basketball, they can still win it. I think that's a good thing. But I also think it is an important guiding precedent because how this award has been treated historically informs what it is right. And you look at two thousand and six, Kobe Bryant scores more than thirty five points per game. He improves his team's offense by nineteen points per one hundred possessions. It's one of the greatest offensive carry jobs we've ever seen. He finished fourth and MVP voting because of team success. Now, I think that Yoka just clearly having a better season than Kobe did as amazing as Kobe season was. Again, I think Yoka just having the best offensive season ever, but also the guy who he's going up against is significantly better in terms of his case even than the guy that Kobe was going up against in Steve Nash and the other guys who finished above him, Lebron and Dirk. That's an awesome MVP race. But my point is that precedent is something that I value. I do not follow it to a t. I do not think that there are hard in fast criteria that you have to follow for MVP every single year, and I think that's something that some people struggle with. Right. We saw this with the NFL MVP race this year, where it's, oh so last year stats didn't matter when Lamar was MVP. This year, stats do matter. It's like that's such a simplistic way to view something that is incredibly complex. The margins in all of these categories always matter, always, but SGA is checking every box like in terms of a conventional MVPKA it's as good of one as I can basically think of. As I said last week, to me, the only guard season factoring in things like team success that surpasses what SGA is doing right now is twenty sixteen Steph Curry.
And since sorry, that's since two thousand.
Since two thousand, yes, yes, and that was a unanimous MVP season and I'm not saying she should be unanimous MVP, but he should be MVP to me? Can we also just talk about the thunder for a second, real quick, logan. I know this is the Awards episode, but I'm feeling very good about them being my pre ready title pick.
I'm ready, you're coming over, I'm ready to call an audible.
Yeah.
I was having this conversation with one of my friends last night and he asked me because he hasn't watched a ton of basketball this year, and he goes, well, why are the thunders so good? He says, who do they even have? Which one I think speaks to the NBA's marketing of some of these guys and how it.
Is so funny. Dude, he's listening, but some dudes talking a couple of weeks ago about the Thunder and they're talking about Shy. Nobody knows how to say his last name, and I'm just like, damn.
It sucks, because he goes, well, who do they even have and I was like, wow, that really encapsulates it. Done it, And I told him, you know, they're loaded with defensive players, and what really instills confidence in me, obviously, won is the defense. I don't know if I've seen a team with this many great impactful defenders like the Thunders lineup itself could just be the All Defense first Team. It's ridiculous, from Hardenstein to Caruso to what Sga and Jada bring you. Obviously the shine is on them offensively. Also, Chet only plays ten games this season. That's the real I don't know if people truly understand how transformative Chet Holmgren is and is going to be when he returns to the basketball court. This year, through ten games, he was holding players nineteen percent, by far, the best mark in the league below their average inside six feet.
They had a ninety eight defensive rating with him on the floor Logan in the year twenty twenty five.
And without them, you know what, they're around one oh three to one oh six. I don't know what they're.
Yeah, right now, I think their overall defensive rating is between one oh three and one oh four. I think that there's still the number one defense ever in terms of relative defensive rating, and they haven't had their best defensive player for or not the number one defense ever, the number one defense since the sixty Celtics, but the number one in the modern era exactly.
And I mean, how much better can they get when they're full strength, like with Chet and Hardenstein together anchoring the five spot. And again, it's the we always talk about basketball that's predicated on matchups. And that's another reason why I'm so confident in Oklahoma City is whoever they run into, they have the matchups that they can go to. Okay, we're gonna start Chet in this series because we need to be faster and move up the floor quicker, and so we're gonna start a wing instead. Okay, Well, hypothetically, let's say Cleveland came out of the East, right and they're trotting out this jumbo lineup with Mobley and Allen. Okay, well, we can negate that and we can trot out Hartenstein and Chet both. Chet wasn't even out there, and it didn't matter. I know, the Cavs got them earlier this month as well too, at the start of twenty twenty five. But they've got lineup versatility. They have all the combinations in the world they can turn too. They've been doing this without their second best offensive player and their best defensive player. I'm there with Oklahoma City, man, I'm I think they're the best team in basketball right now. And I think the defense is gonna get even better with Chet And I think I trust the offense around SGA a little bit more than I did last year. I'm not, you know, I think Chet is gonna have to pull his weight this year. I think all the guys are gonna need to make shots around him. Obviously. I think Jadubb is gonna have to pull his weight this year. The offense needs to be better than it was last year wholeheartedly. But the defense has also taken a complete step up. I think it's the best defense I've ever watched in my entire life.
Yeah, I think it's the best defense since the four Pistons at full strength. Like it's the deepest group of really good perimeter defenders that I've had. And then they have a top five defender on the planet, a Tier one rim protector in Chet Holmgren, who they get to inject into this group that is still by far the number one defense by four points. They are better than the number two defense in terms of defensive rating, and they haven't had Chet for the last thirty games three quarters of the season up to this point. It's just freakish man. And then the versatility that they do have with the two big looks, which in preseason very small samples, but those were scary looks defensively, Like, they're just so incredibly versatile in terms of matchup to matchup, what personnel they want to prioritize, which side of the ball they want to prioritize with their groupings, and I love the depth. Sga is going to look the best guy on any of the other comparable rosters, which to me, the top tier title contenders are OKC, Boston and Cleveland, and he will be easily the best player on the floor, easily better than Jason Tatum, easily better than Donovan Mitchell. That does matter. The Thunder have by far the best defense in any of these matchups, and they're twenty six and four without their second best player. Dude, Like, it's tough to conceive of how much better Chet will actually make them on both sides of the ball, how much more dominant even he makes their defense and how much more confident he makes me in their offense. You just look at their historical standing right now. Man, they're second in net rating in a season, and number one is the ninety six Bulls dominant title run. Number three is the ninety seven Bulls dominant title run. Number four is the twenty seventeen Warriors dominant title run, as dominant title run as we've ever seen. Number five is the twenty twenty four Celtics dominant title run. The president is strong man, and again they're doing this without their second best player. I do still think it's close between them and the Celtics. I know some people are like panicking about the Celtics right now or putting the Calves above them. I love the Calves. To me, the Celtics are still clearly the favorite out of the East, and it's not surprising to me that they're having a stretch like this. Before the year, I only predicted they'd win like fifty seven games. I had the Thunder winning I think sixty two, and I thought Boston would have some malays, right that happens in the regular season when you're the defending champ. But I think that their basketball team is actually better than last year when they do lock in with the growth of a Peyton Pritchard. I think Derek White is even a little bit better if KP is healthy. Like they are a absolute problem, but I've never seen a team that has better solutions defensively than the Oklahoma City thunder Do. The craziest thing, dude, we've seen over these last two weeks, They've played the top three teams in the East five times in total. They played the Cavs twice, they played the Knicks twice, they played the Celtics once. They're four and one in those games. And across those five games, there were four halves that they won by twenty two or more points. Man, the formula of just we have the best defense that we've seen in probably twenty years at full strength. They don't even have their full strength defense right now. Like we can grind even the best offenses to a halt for a quarter or for a half. And Sga is one of the best scoring guards we've ever seen and a top two offensive engine in the game today, and he just will not stop coming. He will not stop scoring. It's just such a dominant formula, it really is.
And that's the best way to generate offense is to win off of your defense. You win defensively, and then you get out on a break and.
It dominate the turnover margin. Two, they don't turn the ball over, and they turn the other team over at a historic rate.
I think they had over twenty points off turnovers in the first half against Cleveland last night. Man, it was ridiculous.
I really think the only thing that can stop them is their own spot up shooting if they go cold in the playoffs. And Boston is also amazing, right, But that's been the question all along. Can they compete with just the sheer math problem of that three point volume where you know that Boston is gonna be crazy and for Okay, see either more of an average shooting team, but everything that I hope to see in the team that I to win the title. I mean, we have seen and more this version of Shay, the version of Check that they had earlier in the year when he was healthy, This defense that I thought would be the best in the league, but I didn't think it would be again the best defense statistically in the modern era. And they have sixteen first round draft picks over what the next six years or something bro. Oh my gosh, dude, that like we might be watching the formation greatest of the greatest dynasty since the sixties Celtics or since the nineties Bowls. Like, I don't know if we can't say that, but what I will say is it feels so similar to The Warriors, man, the Warriors a decade ago, where you have your super nova all time guard and I'm not saying Sha is as good as Steph, but he's one of the best guards that we've seen in the history of this league. He is. And then you have two elite foundational supporting pieces. But okay, see also has the depth, and they have the resources and the assets to just continue to add talent. It's incredible.
Yeah. I don't want to spend the whole pod talking about the thunder, but the last thing I was gonna say is with those assets, it allows you to pivot and continue pivoting, and it just opens up all the directions you can. Know, right, I attached this player with this pick, and I get this guy, Sam Presty is build a Sam Preste statue. Man.
I think that he is pretty easily the best GM that we have seen since he took over with the thunder like Danny Ainge has done an incredible job of building a couple.
Of rosters, Jerry Krausman, but like, well, I'm saying the centerst he took over.
Yeah, obviously Jerry West did some phenomenal stuff back back in the day. But when we're talking about these last year, Bob Myers took everybody except for Steph But it is still doesn't compare bro because Sam Presty has done this twice. Now, he has done this twice where he has drafted better than everybody else right, acquired three young star to superstar MVP caliber talents, and then he's also fleecing people in trades and he's nailing his second round picks, he's nailing his undrafted free agent signings. I think he's the best GM that we've seen in a long time. Man, He's an absolute monster. Again, doing it once is incredible. Doing it twice is like unfathomable enough thunder glaze, because that was quite the glaze. But my god, I just get higher and higher on a team that I already expected to win multiple titles coming into the year. Every day. Let's talk about Defensive Player of the Year Logan who is your DePoy right now?
It's Victor win Banyama, and I think he's gonna be the defensive goat. I think this is the first of many defensive Player of the years for Victor. I mean I'm thinking, and is not hyperbole, maybe Check could get one, maybe Evan Mobley.
They will, you know, like, but I mean I.
Could legitimately see Wemby winning like five to ten of these mfs. He just can do stuff.
Mag difference between five and ten.
I don't know, man. I mean, if Wemby is engaged every year, I mean, and speaking of.
I think he'll win five blocks. I think he will win the most.
Ever, Yeah, I think so too. We were talking about SGA's career night last night. Two nights ago, Wenby racked up eight blocks against Memphis. It's it's just a routine for these guys. Right now. Wemby's number one in blocks per game. He's number one in stocksburg game as well, at five point one five four blocks a night, one point one steels per game, and he's holding players twelve percent below their average field goal percentage inside six feet. That's the number three mark in the NBA, just behind Christophsporzingis and Jaron Jackson Junior. I mentioned all that stuff. He's the greatest defensive playmaker I think I've ever seen. It's just those freakish traits. It's the wings fan in the length and brobably he's blocking guys on the way down. I've never seen anything like that, where he is he misstimed his block and he's still blocking on the way down. Outside of the stuff that he's already because he's been a good defensive playmaker, I think we've seen Wemby improved as a perimeter defender as well. He's not perfect there yet, but I think his instincts are better. It just timing and baiting guys into shooting jump shots. It reminds me of when I would play one on one versus Carson. You give me this massive cushion and I'm like, oh, dude, I can get this jump shot off all day, and then Carson and his six to seven wingspan sends me to the other side of the court. I think he's improved on that end. Like I said, he's not perfect, but I think we've seen his positioning improve, his reaction, his instincts, and I think he's going to continue to improve in those areas, and there's a room for improvement. But in terms of defensive playmaking and rim deterrence, I don't think there's anybody better in basketball right now. So, yeah, Wemby's my defensive player of the Year, and I think this is going to be the first of many I.
Have Wenby as well. He's averaging the most stocks game since Ben Wallace in two thousand and two. He's got five point one. He has the first four block per game season that we've seen in almost thirty years, since Dekenbe did it in Denver. Their defense is eleven points one d possessions better with him on the floor. The impact is incredible. And you mentioned the margin of thirteen percent, how much worse players are shooting compared to their average at the rim when they are challenged by Wemby. It's an incredible case. I mean, the rop defensive production, which I tend to think can be overvalued in these defensive player of the Year conversations. For him, it is absolutely insane though, I mean it's historic, it's something that we haven't seen in more than twenty years. There is one guy who I considered up against him, though, logan who I really considered, and it is Evan Mobley. Oh no, it's Evan Mobley. Bro it's Evan Mobley, because I think those are the two best defenders on the planet right now. And Mobley has advantages over Wemby, the biggest one by far being he is significantly better switching and defending wings and guards right. Wemby is for a seven foot four guy agile in space, but he still has his moments where he gets cooked on the perimeter. He's a twentieth percentile isolation defender this year. Mobili has the ability to check really really good scoring wings and give them problems, and switch on to really good scoring guards for a possession at a time and give them problems. Of course, the reason that he can do that is he is not seven to four with an eight foot wingspan, so it's easier to be more agile. But what does make him so special is that he pairs that elite switchability with elite rim protection. Right players shoot about eleven percent worse than average versus mobile at the rim. That's another one of the elite numbers in basketball. His defense improves by nine points per one hundred possessions with him on the floor. That's an elite number and maybe the most impressive thing, which I've mentioned a couple times over the last couple weeks. Now, when Mobili anchors the defense without Jared Allen on the floor, they have a one to h five defensive rating. That would be the number two defense in the NBA. And he's doing that with okay defensive personnel around him. But he is so incredibly versatile. He can kill you at the floor. He can kill you at the five defensively, he dominates guarding in space, he dominates guarding on the interior. He makes a real case. I'm still gonna go with Wemby. The production is overwhelming. The rim protection as great as Mobley is, it is on another level with Wemby because of the physical tools. Mobley is also the more disciplined defender. I think Wemby's gotten more disciplined, he's gotten smarter, but Mobley still has the advantage there. But also, like you consider the dudes who are around these guys respectively defensively, and then you consider that when Mobley's on the floor, Cleveland is an eighty fourth percentile defense, and when Wemby's on the floor, the Spurs have an eighty first percentile defense. Like, it's no knock on Mobley at all, because again, you see what he does without Jared Allen on the floor, and sometimes he is covering up for not good guard defensive personnel. But Wenby doing that with his defensive supporting cast is nuts. Like the fact that, bottom line, these two teams have been that close defensively and you look at their supporting cast and Cleveland does definitely have an edge overall. I think it's Wemby. Wemby is a freak, and I do think that he is going to be one of the best defensive players ever and maybe the best defensive player ever. On the flip side of these couple of very high powered races that we've been talking about, Logan, we have Rookie of the Year, which I think is one of the worst races ever right now. I'm just gonna be honest about that. Who's your Rookie of the Year right now?
I think it's Zach Edy, but hmmm, I don't love his case, and I'm gonna be honest, I think khalel Ware and Donovan Klingen are both better than Zach Edy right now. I think I prefer both of those guys and spo play Kalel where man like, I know you're giving him more burn, just say fit and start him alongside Bam.
He is playing him a lot more though he is, for sure.
But I love Kalel. I think him or Klingon could be the best center out of this class. I think Edie's floor is exceptionally high, and I think he's having a good year. Klingon, I already think is an elite rim protector and transforms that Portland defense single handedly. Yeah, I would give Aiden the boot immediately. I think you have your center of the future in Portland. Carson and I prayed for a long time on draft night that nothing catastrophic happens to him. I will not go on Wood here once again, because normally when Portland chooses that guy, something dark and drastic happens. But Clinging is for real, Clinging is legit. They need to play him more and just say.
You know, I think you're talking about duop wreath this whole time.
The turn the reins over to him do a wreathe.
It's so funny to me how many centers the Blazers have.
And where just you see where's impact. He makes stuff look so easy for Miami. Sometimes they have not had a rim finisher like this, Like BAM's good at that respect, right, but there's just a difference with a seven footer that can jump out of the gym and just easily finish stuff. He's shooting well from behind the arc. He has been an awesome rim protector in minutes. So I prefer those guys to Edie right now. But I think Edie is having the most pronounced impact on a winning roster right now, and that really matters to me. Clinging and where right now are hovering around twenty minutes a night, same as Edie, But.
No, they're playing like thifteen to fifteen yeaheah.
They're getting more burned now and Klingon's been hurt recently. But Edie's been getting the most burn out of these guys. Like I said, I think if those guys had more playing time, I might give them the award. But he's getting the most burned. He's contributing to a winning roster, and I think he has been good this year. He's ten ten point seven boards, one assist on fifty eight thirty nine sixty three split sixty two percent true shooting with one point one blocks per game. And again that's in twenty one minutes a night. If you look at his for thirty six numbers, they're actually ridiculous. Yeah, the one area I have been disappointed with Edie is in terms of like just straight up rim protection. But I do think Edie does bring some sort of like just because of his height. I think sometimes guys can just be scared to drive the lane, similar to Wemby, But he's only holding players one point two percent below their average field goal percentage inside six feet, when when you look at where or Klingon, that number is way different. They're just way better, more impactful rim protectors right now. So honestly, Kleanon's a monster. H dude. You look at Kleingon's the difference in the team rebounding. He's already one of the best rebounders in basketball when he's on the floor. He completely transforms Portland's team rebounding when he's on the floor and their team defense.
I mean, dude, he is just an absolute production monster. Like at Yukon per thirty six, he was like fifteen rebounds and five blocks a game. If I'm not mistaken, and in the NBA per thirty six, he's fourteen rebounds and three and a half blocks a game. Like he is such an exceptionally massive human being. Dude, he just eats up boards and he is an insane detturrent around the rim.
I love clingon and so if those guys were getting more burn, I think I'd give it to them. But I think Edie's, I don't know, one of the only legitimate candidates. I haven't been this disappointed in a Rookie of the Year race since Malcolm Broggeden.
I think this is worse. I think this year's worse. I mean, Brogden was a really good player. He was a contributor to a serious team, and like he was a good playmaker. I don't know. I think that we're talking about like two thousand, two thousand Draft Class two thousand and one Rookie of the Year race Mike Miller level candidates, and honestly, maybe even worse because at least Mike Miller was an elite shooter off the bat. Edie is very much on my short list. There have been some areas, though, in which I've been disappointed with him. He's turned the ball over more than I would like. He's giving you per thirty six minutes almost three turnovers to just one and a half assists. He's averaging five fouls per thirty six. Right, you've seen some issues in terms of discipline and also just being out of position. It's been a real struggle for him guarding in space, and he hasn't been as good of a rimp protector as I would have hoped. He's a good shot blocker, there is some deterrence there that, as you mentioned, isn't measured by just opponent field goal percentage at the rim. But still defensively, I thought you would get a little more out of him. Offensively, he hasn't been as effective a post scorer as I thought. He's still been efficient, he's still been productive. He eats up offensive.
Rebounds to him on the low block a ton though.
Not a ton, not a ton. But he hasn't been very efficient as a post player, specifically when he has gotten those opportunities. But he still produces, right, because he's just this massive, massive man in the paint. I think I'm gonna go with his teammate. I think I'm gonna go with Jalen Wells. Jalen Wells is given Memphis twelve points per game on fifty six percent through shooting. Just a good, winning basketball player. Does a lot of the stuff that you're looking for from a role player. He's a good cutter, he's a good shooter. He's got good touch when he puts the ball on the floor and gets to his floater, He's over fifty five percent on floaters. He competes defensively. He's not a great defender. I wouldn't say because he slights. He's got a slightly negative wingspan, and he's just kind of an okay athlete. But he's six ' seven right, and he does compete, and he can guard multiple positions decently well. He's just a solid basketball player, dude. He's stepped up. He's played every game. That's an advantage he has over Edie who has missed time. He's missed fourteen games. Availability I think does matter in these awards in terms of the total impact you have on the floor, and he's been a capable starter for a top three seed. I don't know if there's a better MVP. Damn no, there's definitely a better MVP case. I don't know if there's a better Rookie of the Year case. This year, Edie's more productive. There's also been some more downsides with him when he's on the floor. The other guy who I considered is Alex Sar. It's just the offense in totality this year with him has been so bad forty nine percent true shooting, and he hasn't been the most effective rim protector, like certainly hasn't compared to a kling in there. He's holding opposing players two percent below their average field goal percentage at the rim. I do think Soar has a chance here though, and it really just comes down to his perimeter shooting because since December first, he's thirteen seven and two and a half on fifty three percent true shooting. You've seen some of the passing flashes with him more, and he was just hot as a shooter in December. He keeps up that production, then, I think with his defensive value, you've got a good case. But I just think Wells has been the most consistently solid NBA player and he's impacted winning for a good team. And when it's this sort of class and this sort of race, I'm gonna favor that because nobody actually has like really good numbers, but the efficiency isn't there because they're on such a bad team, right Like, just give me the high floor impact basketball player right now.
Sar and Wells are good shouts. I went back and forth on who I was gonna go with between these three because, like I said, I think Wearing Klingen are the best rookies, but they just don't have enough playing time to get this award. And so ultimately, uh sars offensive limitations or what kept him from being my pick. And so then I went between Wells and Edie, and I just think Die's a little bit better right now. But it's it's close. It's not the most it's not the most interesting race, I'll be.
Honest, it's definitely not. I know some people would mention Stefan Castle too, He's another awards Like the efficiency is just so so rough. I mean, you see the ability, but I'll take the solid role player out of this group. NFL playoffs, we're talking about NFL playoffs. You bet we are get in on the action at Draft Kings Sportsbook, an official sports betting partner of the NFL. Scoring touchdowns is key to winning in the NFL playoffs and The key to you scoring big is betting on them at DraftKings, the number one place to bet touchdowns.
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Here is a really interesting award race, though logan most improved. I think there are a lot of candidates, a lot of ways you could go here. Who's your MIP right now?
I think I might be on an island here. I might be the only person on the planet. I took Christian Brown interesting, and I want to go through my honorable mentions because I think there's a lot of higher profile names that people will point to right now that they considered. Kid Cunningham is probably at the top of everyone's list, at least when you look on the betting sites. You know, you look at DraftKings, He's like number one, and Kate has an interesting case. I just think it kind of goes against the fundamental spirit of the award. We've talked about this before, but he's a former number one overall pick. We're waiting for Kaid to jump out. And while I think Kid has improved in some areas, I also think the team around him has just gotten so much better and has maximized his skill set. So, you know, I don't know if it's as much as Kate has really gotten that much better. And like I said, I feel like we've expected this with Kate. You know, he's a former number one overall pick. We're expecting this. Tyler Hero is on my short list, and when I look at Tyler Heroes game, he's very, very impactful this season. He has taken a real leap, yeah, getting downhill and finishing in the arc a lot better, playmaking better. I think he's a better shooter from behind the arc. I don't know about most people. I kind of expected Tyler Hero to get better. I don't know if I ever expect him to be this good. So I do think Hero is a real case. I expected Hero to get better, and I've always kind of known that he was capable of this. I don't know if this I don't know if that's the right line of logic to apply to that, but Hero is a good shout. He would probably be one of my first runners up Evan Mobley. I think, with the offensive leap that he has taken, has a real real case at this because he has taken a major offensive leap and then Dyson Daniels going from fringe rotation guy for New Orleans to immediate impact player in Atlanta that is swinging basketball games. But I went with Christian Brown because I think it's the most unexpected in my opinion, and he's such a good connecting wing right this year fourteen to five and two on fifty seven percent from the field, thirty seven percent from deep on nearly sixty five percent true shoe with one point one steals per game. Christian Brown understands space among some of the best basketball players on the planet. He has some of the best positioning in the NBA. He is an elite situational cutter in off ball mover. He is a ninety third percent tile cutter, and you just watch him in games. He is always moving and I love it. Man. When you see guys, they're just guys that get it, and Christian Brown gets it. When a guy drives baseline and say he's on the right wing, and he cuts to fill that lane because his defender's falling asleep and he gets an easy basket. A guy gets trapped in the baseline by two defenders and he cuts to the open space right behind him, so the guy can get a pass off and he can generate a shot. He's brilliant. Christian Brown is so smart and he's been so efficient this year. Seventy percent in the restricted area, forty five percent in the paint non restricted area, forty seven percent out of the mid range. And now we're even seeing Brown, who I never saw this, sciating someone with the bench unit. Don't get me wrong, He's not running, you know, that's Russ's job, that's Jamal's job. But we've seen it in space. Is he's a good rebounder, he's a great defender, and he just brings everything like he has stepped into a much bigger role this season, and to me, he is exceeding all of my expectations. He's increased his minutes per game by thirteen this year, and he's shooting ten point five percent higher from the field, you know. And that's where I come across, because I go, you know, he hasn't improved the most in like skill areas. I think he has improved in some skill areas. He hasn't improved the most, but he is filled in this role better than even I could have ever expected. And I think that warrants winning this award. Like I said, there are guys who have increased, you know, more in points per game and efficiency and stuff like this, but Brown, to me, has stepped into this role and has played it to perfection, and I think that warrants winning this award.
Christian Brown very good basketball player. Like him a lot. Not at the top of my list here.
Now.
I do think he fills his role pretty darn well. But I also think a lot of the stuff that he does is like a very specific to playing with Nikole Jokic kind of value, right, and he knows how to playoff of Jokic really well because he is He's just such an leae cutter.
I think Christian Brown is just a great team basketball player. I want that guy. He's a connecting wing that just would fit I think it. The guy just gets it, man. I think he's a winner.
I don't know if I agree that he fits everywhere, just because I think when we're talking about improvement, what's the single most impactful improvement that Christian Brown could have made in his game? By far? Logan three point shooting, and he didn't.
Make scoring from inside the arc really.
Well, incredibly effectively sixty four on two pointers. That's crazy for a guard, for a six to six guy. But again, I think a lot of that is because he's a beneficiary of playing with Nikole Jolkic, who is the best player at spotting cutters that we have seen in the history of this game, and he's awesome in transition run super hard is a really good transition finisher as well. He's a really good finisher around the rim period. I just think there are other dudes who have taken more skill development. I think that Christian Brown is more stepping into a role filling KCP shoes, not in the same way right there are not the same basketball player, but finding a way to be a productive, effective starter. But I also think he definitely is elevated offensively by his situation, and he's a good defender. I wouldn't say great defender. I do think that they've lost a little something compared to CACP there, and they've lost something in terms of floor spacing as well. He's made that up in other areas. But again, there are just dudes who I think have taken bigger leaps in terms of their actual skill, whereas with CB a lot of it is man then cacp Oh.
Or maybe just everyone, maybe just everyone looks their best alongside Nikola Jokic.
Well, I think that that is very much true. But to me, if we're talking about the version of KCP that you got in Denver, I think I'd just rather have the forty percent three point shooting on good volume, and I'd rather have the better defender. It's close, it is close. I like Christian Brown, and I think that he has overachieved expectations, but again, the lack of floor spacing improvement is still a bummer. It's a bummer. So you mentioned a lot of the candidates who I have written down, and there are a handful of names who I think are very close. In this conversation, I'm gonna go with Evan Mobley, though I think he has taken the most impactful, significant improvement of any of these guys. It's not gonna be the most jaw dropping on the stat sheet, they're sizeable improvement compared to last year. He's plus three points per game. He's plus three percent thru shooting, so the volume and efficiency are both up a good bit. And he's more than doubled his three point volume, and he's shooting forty two percent from three. But as we've talked about many times throughout this year, his improvement is much more substantial than what you are seeing just with those numbers. He's more comfortable and more aggressive in every way offensively, and he's utilized in more ways. He's more assertive as a ballhandler, He's so much more involved as a facilitator. He's so much more involved in transition. He is so much more comfortable and effective as a floor spacer now. He is so much more aggressive as a finisher around the rim and off the catch and out of the post, attacking mismatches. In every way offensively, he is a better basketball player in per thirty six minutes. He's averaging over twenty two points, ten and a half rebounds, and three and a half a sis per game on Elite efficiency better than sixty five percent through shooting. While he's a top two defensive Player of the Year candidate, and he has been arguably the best regular season player up to this point with his two way impact for a thirty four and six team. As we've talked about before, when it comes to the playoffs, I think Mitchell is clearly their best player, but Mobiley has been immensely important to the Cavs taking their leap to being the best team in the Eastern Conference this regular season, and that's where I think his improvement has met the most. And there is so much skill improvement, which in some ways I value more than just Oh, I have more opportunity. So now my box score production has gone up, like Norman Powell has the best raw numerical case, right, normOn Powell is scoring ten points per game more, though that's the thing, Like, do I think he's actually improved as much as Hero, who's a great shout with how much better he's got attacking the basket, finishing, eating up free throws, his efficiency, He's up seven percent true shooting, and he's up three and a half points per game. Hero has gotten way better. Like No, I don't think Norman Powell has gotten better by as much. We've seen him average nineteen the game on sixty two percent true shooting before. What he's doing is wildly impressive. I want to be clear, Norman Powell is bawling out of control. But in terms of actual improvement, there are a couple guys I would take above him. I take Jalen Johnson over him, which is crazy because I thought Jalen Johnson, if he played enough games, should have won last year. And I legitimately think he's gotten a lot better again and I think he should probably be an All Star. We're gonna talk about that this coming week. But he's gone from sixteen to nine to three and a half on fifty eight point four percent true shooting to twenty ten five point three on fifty eight point four percent true shooting. The efficiency is the exact same, but another guy who's being utilized in more ways, running way more pick and roll. He's already run twice as much pick and roll this season as he did in total last year. He's averaging twenty one more touches per game. His offensive responsibilities have increased greatly again, his playmaking is being utilized more so. He's a good shout out. Dyson Daniels, his teammate I do think is a good shout out. And Caid. I think it's weird that he's become like the odds on favorite. That doesn't make sense to me, because Caid has gotten better. Increasing the three point volume as a pull up shooter for him is big. The volume in efficiency, right, that is important. He's locked in more defensively, tapped into the tools that he's had there. I think he's gotten a little bit better as a playmaker, but I agree with what you said. I think outside of those couple areas where he individually has improved, a lot of the perception of his improvement is largely due to the situation going from disastrous to decent. Like his scoring efficiency is only up a little little bit, he's turning the ball over a good bit more. I think part of the reason, a big part of the reason that he looks so much better and is being perceived as so much better, is because he's gone from having the worst spacing in basketball to actually having decent spacing and decent professional basketball players around him. So Caid had certainly gotten better, but I don't see the same sort of raw in a vacuum improvement that I do from some of these other guys.
So who would your I think my runner up would be Hero, Who would yours be?
Yeah, I would go Hero. I think Hero has gotten way better. It's honestly been super impressive, and it's legitimately changed how I view him as a player because he's been so efficient as an offensive player. Wemby. I think some people will bring up, if I remember correctly, he was the preseason favorite. You mentioned this with Kid. It's just not the spirit of the award in my opinion, to give it to the literal prodigy, best prospect in twenty years in year two, right, we didn't consider Lebron for Most Improved, even when he took the leap from awesome rookie to top ten maybe top five kind of player. Wemby's doing the same thing. It's just generally second year players, in my opinion, normally shouldn't be considered for most improved. And then when you're literally the number one overall pick, and not just that you are like the number one overall pick of the last twenty years, it's not what it's about. So shout out to him. He's certainly taking a big leap, but not my most improof player. I do want to shout out a couple other honorable mentions. I did have Christian Brown down as another honorable mention. Darius Garland. It's more of like a bounce back season. I mean, he's better than his best previous season, but obviously last year was also just a rough season for him, but he's been so so much better. And then I have to shout out of Men Thompson, who I strongly considered making my preseason pick, who I really wish I had made my preseason pick, because I'm not going to discuss who I picked to win Most Improoved Player before the year. But it's probably my worst preseason award pick ever. It definitely is the same bro, same well your guys at least on a heater right now. My guy got worse. Literally, it is the worst preseason pick I've ever made, and I don't think it's remotely close. And I should have gone with my guy, amen, Not that he'd win it, but he's at least in the conversation. Speaking of a Men Thompson logan, you know another race that he's in the conversation for sixth man of the Year? Who do you have here?
He's not just in the conversation, he is my sixth man any Oh, to be transparent, I would have given this to Russell Westbrook, but he started nineteen to forty games for Denver, and I just think that's a little too much right now. If it balances out, if Jamal's healthy the rest of the way, I think Russ is a very good opportunity to win this award if he sticks on the bench. But I'm gonna give it to Amend because I think he's the best bench player in the league and he brings such all around impact. This season. He's averaging thirteen eight and two on fifty six twenty five sixty nine splits, still sixty one percent true shooting, with one point three steels per game and one point two blocks per game. And I talk about that all around impact. He is an elite defender already. He is one of nine players averaging over both one steel per game in one block per game, and he's holding players seven point five percent below their average field goal percentage on all shots just inside six feet. That's on all shots. That's the number four best mark in the league minimum six defensive field goal attempts per game and twenty games played. Outside of being an elite defender, he's an elite positional rebounder, Carson. He is one of twenty three players in basketball averaging over two point five offensive rebounds per game. Why is it unique that Amends on this list, He's the smallest player on that list. He's actually the only non big on the list. Everybody else is a front court player. You're getting elite defense, you're getting elite rebounding, and then he brings you some elements offensively. Now, obviously he's limited as a scorer, but I think he maximizes his skill set and where he's at, he is a problem in transition. He is a really good cutter, and he's an extinctional crasher.
You know.
Part of that is with the rebounding, where he just knows where to be. His positioning is so so sound, and I think he's a good passer. Now there's limitations, right, There's a certain limit that you can be as a playmaker because of how limited he is as a scorer right now, right, like guys are just gonna let him shoot to the ball. They're gonna sag off of him. But again, like I said, he doesn't force shots. He doesn't shoot bad threes, he doesn't shoot fading mid ranges, right, He shoots within the flow of the offense. And I think in a way he doesn't force the issue, and I like that he doesn't try to do too much offensively, and so he just brings this tremendous all around impact off the bench. And when I look at other guys, I just don't think they do. I think Russ has a really strong case. I think Santi Aldama has a good case for Memphis. I think Peyton Pritchard has a hell of a case for Boston with what he's been doing. DeAndre Hunter in Atlanta has had a resurgence finally, and I think he's got a good case. But when I look at all these guys, and again, maybe this isn't the best way, the most logical way to view it. I think Amen's the best player out of that bunch, and I think he brings the most all arounded out of those players, and that's why he's my pick.
So, as one of the biggest to Men Thompson enthusiasts in the world, who is literally working on a video about a Men Thompson as we speak, maybe it's surprising I don't have a Men here. The thing is, Man, I'm kind of a stickler when it comes to sixth Man of the year. A Men doesn't feel like a six man right now to me, because he's been starting.
He feels like the last I mean, he's one of their best five players, and.
He's just a starter. He's a starter, and I think that he is going to continue to start, and also a lot of his leap in production has come as he has been a starter. Right as a starter, he's averaging seventeen eleven and three on sixty three percent through shooting. So yeah, I do think that he's a better player than the guy who I have is my six man of the year. But the guy who I have is a very pure sixth man of the year. You mentioned the same thing with Russ right where he's started about half of their games. A men hasn't quite started that much, but because they've both been consistently starting as of late, just doesn't quite feel right to me. So I'm going with Peyton Pritchard. Pritchard, I think is having a really really good offensive season fifteen four and three on sixty four percent for shooting. Maybe the raw production there isn't like the craziest right, Okay, We've seen Jordan Clarkson put up more points, We've seen lou Will put up more points. In terms of like these bench scores, We've never seen anybody do it with the sort of efficiency that Prichard is doing it with while also having good volume. He is one of the best shooters in basketball, forty six percent on catch and shoot threes, thirty six percent on pull up threes. He does not take many two point jumpers at all, but he's shooting fifty seven percent on them. Like, the jump shooting is just out of this world. He's been a ninety six percentile efficiency pick and roll creator. He's been a seventy eight percentile efficiency isolation creator while being this absolute off ball nuclear weapon as a spot up player, catch and shooter. He's just an offensive monster, and like has had his share of Knights where he kind of carries the Celtics offense at least for stretches this year, and I think has been a really, really, really good offensive player, so I will take him. Consider DeAndre Hunter, but he's missed a lot more games than Pritchard, which does matter. He's only played twenty seven games, but nineteen plus points per game on sixty three percent for shooting. He's had a really really nice bounce back season. He's improved. And I considered Santi as well. He's a good shout. So those are kind of pretty clearly the top five to me. Pritchard, Hunter, Aldama, and then a men in russ it's like, or do you really consider them? If so, that absolutely, I mean they might be the two best candidates, but again, a lot of their best stuff has come as a starter, especially Russ because he's so much better playing alongside Jokic. They like specifically, especially with him, I don't feel like I can consider him because as a sixth man he hasn't been the best, But in terms of overall impact, he's got a case because he has been really good as a starter and he's been awesome alongside Yea, I'll go with Pritchard though Coach of the year logan who you got here?
I think I got to give it to Kenny Atkinson because of how he's transformed Cleveland. I want to give a shout out to Mark Dagnall. I think he has an excellent case to win this. I mean, if the thunder surpassed seventy wins, it's like, Okay, well he's a shoe in, you know, or hell, if they cracked that sixty win threshold, he's a shoe in to be in consideration. But I think and Dagnault's a great coach Schematically, rotations wise, I think he's brilliant. But the way Atkinson has transformed to this Cleveland offense is what I value the most. They were the number sixteen ranked offense last season. They're number one this year. They've taken a slight step back in defensive rating, but it's not you know, huge and net rating. They've gone from number twelve last year to number two. But specifically some of the guys that we mentioned for most improved. He has online Mobley offensively and that dynamic has made Cleveland so much better. He has revitalized Darius Garland. Now, how much does that really due to Kenny? How much does that due to Darius just getting healthy and getting back to normal. I don't know, but Darius Garland's back to normal. I think he deserves a lot of credit for Mobley's growth. But he's also maximized these bench units. I think the lineups and the rotations are really crisp and smart. How they stagger these guys minutes to make sure that there's somebody out there. You know, they can float the offense when they need to, or they can keep the defense alive when they need to. And then he's really good at just making sure the right guys play. The biggest case though, is how he has transformed to this offense. I always thought that Cleveland's offense was going to be what held them back from being a real deal title contender, and I think they're there. They're not over Boston to me, but they are a real deal Tier one title contender right now where. And the reason I say that it's like Dallas. I think Dallas is in that Tier one for me out west.
Where, well you think Dallas is in Tier one? Yeah? In the reason Boston in Cleveland.
Now hear me out. The reason I say that is because last year, when you see Dallas get to the NBA Finals, it's like you just need one thing to break your way. And that's why I don't want to put them in a completely different tier. If Oklahoma City doesn't have to check for the playoffs, okay, well there's a window there. I would probably still take Oklahoma City to win that series.
But it's like, sounds like a Tier two contender to me. Though Tier one doesn't mean if something breaks our way, tier one, okay, then we can do it straight up where.
Cleveland and Dallas are in Tier two. Cleveland and Dallas are clearly below a tier of Boston and Oklahoma City. I don't think that if Boston isn't fully healthy, I don't think Cleveland could beat them. This is a different conversation we're getting off track of.
But anyway, I think there's a chance. I think it's an outside chance.
But Cleveland's offense has gotten a lot lot better. I think Kenny deserves an immense amount of credit for that. And that's the reason I don't have a I don't have a strong case to say that Cleveland isn't a contender anymore the way I did in yours previous and I think Kenny deserves the most credit for that. So that's why he's my the Year.
He's my coach of the Year too, dude. I mean, he's gotten the best out of Darius Garland's huge bounce back season. He's gotten the best out of Evan Mobley, and has seen the potential in him in the various ways you can utilize and unlock him Offensively, He's turned this into the number one offense in basketball. A lot of that is tapping into mobi more and a huge part of it is Garland being one of the best offensive engines in the NBA. We've talked about how elite their offense is with him on the floor in Mitchell off like, he's just been so efficient as a score, dazzling as a finisher, insane pull up shooter, awesome playmaker. But those guys have come back in a big way, and Kenny has to get some credit for that. They've been much better shooting the basketball. I mean, they've been in terms of three point percentage the best team in the league, but they've also ramped up their volume. I think that Kenny has been right to start Dean Wade when he's healthy. I think that he is the best two way wing who they have, and he's playing the right guys. He's using his depth, which Cleveland has a lot of. Like a lot of the credit here goes to the players, as is always the case when any the NBA team improves. But simply put, it's just insane that the Cavs are thirty four and six after being forty eight and thirty four last year and barely changing personnel like they've been healthier. But Kenny's done a really, really awesome job and I think is a pretty clear Coach of the Year right now. The only other dude who I really want to mention Daganal is incredible, He's awesome, But I think Jamal Moseley is my runner up at this point, just because the Orlando Magic have been put through hell in terms of injuries, and they're nineteen and fifteen without Paolo, They're six and eight in games with both Paolo and Fronds out, Like, that's pretty crazy, dude, because then obviously they lost mo to Like they were out there competing without their three best offensive players and by far their two best players period. That defensive foundation is just so elite. They compete their asses off every night. He trusts their depth. It's just a team with a great culture and a great philosophy. And I've been so impressed by their ability to compete when they have been dealt a worse hand than anybody this year.
And there's been no excuses.
Right.
You look at a team like Philadelphia that's been down some of their best players, right, and it's, oh, well, you know, they have an mp they have an MPG. They haven't had MAXI with Orlando, it hasn't mattered. That's a good shout. I'd also give a shout to Taylor Jenkins. I know he was your preseason pick. Yeah, I think He's just a phenomenal coach. Taylor is normally up in these conversations every single year.
Literally, Bro, I think that the Grizzlies as an organization have been underrated. I think Taylor Jenkins has consistently been underrated. Now I think they're starting to get their appropriate shine. But their ability to year after year identify undervalued talents, draft them, develop them, consistently put together some of the best benches in basketball. It's crazy. I mean, Bro, They've missed jaw for seventeen games this year and three seed, Like they just trust their bench, and they had injuries to their bench and still here they are. They're having a great season. I think that that is another really good mention. Clutch Player of the Year Logan, did you remember this award exists?
No? I mean I didn't write anything down, but this is not a real award.
I tend to agree it's my least favorite award far. Maybe no, it's Jokic. I think it's pretty clearly Jokic. I mean, Jokic's second in clutch points per game, He's second in total clutch points, but his efficiency is insane in those spots. Fifty four percent from the field I just think he's the toughest dude to stop when he wants to get a bucket, and he's the best offensive player we've ever seen. So he's led some pretty insane clutch offense for the Nuggets as a whole, like this has been their thing. Dude, when it comes to these games where they're in a deficit and they need to dig their way out of it second half, they're incredible on both sides of the ball, and in the clutch they have a one to twenty six offensive rating. Jokic should be White for that. Kobe White snubbed. I fear it's a fake award, but I think that Jokic is the deserving recipient at this point. He doesn't get MVP at the mid season Nerd Session Awards, we'll give him Clutch Player of the Year. Appreciate you guys for tuning in. Hope you enjoyed. I've got good news and I've got bad news. The good news is if you're an NFL fan, then you're gonna see us two more times this weekend if you choose to. The bad news is if you don't like us, well sorry, I mean it's probably gonna be pretty annoying, but we're gonna be back Saturday after the games and Sunday after the games, so stay tuned in for all that. If you want all of our content, you can find it on our YouTube channel. We have all of our full shows on the NBA and NFL, and we have our video breakdowns driving into film, specially about the NBA right now. I made a video about Russ earlier in the week, and I am working on a video about a man right now, So stay locked in for all that content. If you want to follow us across social to see our short form trivia content clicks from the show graphics, TikTok might only be t minus two days until destruction, but for now we are at nerd Sesh on TikTok. Of course, we're on Instagram at nerd Sash and Twitter at nerd Underscore Sesh. You can also join our discord if you want to be part of the gang. That link is at the link tree across our social media bios, and you can check out our merch That link is also at our link tree and at Breakingtea dot com. So until tomorrow, appreciate you, guys. I've been Carson Breber
I've been Logan Camden and this was nerd Sash