NBA Season Award Predictions

   The the All-Star break now in the past, now is the time that NBA teams make their final pushes for the playoffs, and making a championship run. With pedal to the medal time upon us, this is when we see the MVPs and the future leaders of the game reveal themselves. This is the time when the real frontrunners for end-of-season awards emerge. For that reason, I am here to give you my predictions for those awards, so let's get started:

Steph Curry dribbles
past a defender

NBA Most Valuable Player: Stephen Curry (Golden State Warriors) There are many great players in the league this year who may deserve consideration for this award, but for me, this is no contest. Steph Curry has been far and away the best player in the league this year. Curry is averaging 23.8 point, 7.9 assists, and 4.6 rebounds per game. He is sixth in the league in scoring, sixth in assists, fourth in free throw percentage, and only Atlanta's Kyle Korver is the only player to make more three pointers than Curry. He also leads the NBA in steals per game (2.19)...not to mention that he plays on the best team in the NBA this season. All of these numbers add up to a no doubt MVP in my book. Oh yeah, and winning the NBA All-Star 3-point contest isn't too bad either.

NBA Rookie of the Year: Andrew Wiggins (Minnesota Timberwolves) Coming into the season,my money was on Jabari Parker for Rookie of the Year, but after an injury sidelined him for the season, the race for the award became wide open. However, the competition for the award isn't staggering. This seems to be an award no one wants to win. Granted, the draft class was sub-par, but it seems that this year's rookies are underachieving. Therefore, I give my ROY nod to Wiggins. His numbers aren't great, but he has put up a solid 15.6 points per game for a struggling T'wolves team. Coming out of college, many scouts worried about Wiggins' ability to produce offensively, but it seems as though he's doing so nicely in Minnesota. In a weak rookie class, someone's gotta win the award, right?

Atlanta Hawks head
coach Mike Budenholzer

Coach of the Year: Mike Budenholzer (Atlanta Hawks) This is a more tightly contested category than the others. Many might advocate for Steve Kerr or Jason Kidd, and both of those would be great choices, but I have to go with Budenholzer. The Warriors have a great team and everyone expected them to be good. Kidd is doing the same with the Milwaukee Bucks that he did with the Brooklyn Nets last year, and turned the team around. Kidd would get my vote if it weren't for the
Atlanta Hawks. The Atlanta Hawks surprised some people by taking the Indiana Pacers to 7 games as an eight seed in last year's playoffs. With less than 25 games left this year, the Hawks are running away with the Eastern Conference, and it's safe to say that nobody saw that coming. Fans have waited for the other shoe to drop on the Hawks impressive run, but this truly is a strong, dangerous team, despite not having a superstar on the team. The league-wide surprise team turned threat has Budenholzer in the driver's seat for Coach of the Year.

Anthony Davis blocks a shot
by the Thunder's Kendrick Perkins

Defensive Player of the Year: Anthony Davis (New Orleans Pelicans) Anthony Davis is quickly becoming one of the best players in the NBA, and his defensive ability is a huge reason why. He leads the NBA in blocks by a large margin, and is also pulling down 10.3 rebounds per game. He is currently missing a couple of weeks due to a minor injury, but he will soon be back to his antics. It also helps that early in the year, he was even the topic of some MVP discussions.

Sixth Man of the Year: Tony Snell (Chicago Bulls) Tony Snell may not pour in a lot of points of the bench, but he is a solid contributor to the Bulls bench. When the starters are resting, it is Snell's toughness that provides a spark for the Bulls. Chicago has followed a trend this season in which they start slow and then begin to heat up when the bench comes in. Tony Snell's aggressiveness and leadership off the bench is a big reason why.

   The final stretch of the NBA season is here and we'll see who steps up and who backs down. Time will tell if these predictions hold true. See y'all next time!