The 2024-25 season is behind us and the NBA Playoffs are on the horizon, which means it is time for voters across the country to finalize their awards ballots. I am not an official voter, but like many of us normies, I do have thoughts on which players should — and shouldn’t — have their name immortalized in NBA history.
This has been a wonky season for the awards race. Rookie of the Year has seldom been less inspiring. The runaway favorite for Defensive Player of the Year, meanwhile, went down with a season-ending injury midway through the campaign, which left a gaping void for the at-home speculators to, well, speculate. Sixth Man of the Year is a free-for-all, too.
We know the general shape of the MVP debate by now: Nikola Jokić vs. [Insert Historically Dominant Scorer Here], and Most Improved Player appears to have a clear hierarchy of choices. Cade Cunningham probably beats out Dyson Daniels, if we need to make predictions.
That said, ahead of our very own roundtable ballots for The Whiteboard, let’s go award by award and highlight one should-be contender who isn’t getting enough love.
Coach of the Year should-be contender: Mark Daigneault, Oklahoma City Thunder
For whatever reason, Coach of the Year seems reserved for either A) new coaches improving a once-bad team or B) accomplishments of an unexpected variety. We don’t really reward great coaches sustaining greatness very often. Gregg Popovich, for example, has won thrice as arguably the greatest wielder of the whiteboard in NBA history. He has very clearly been the best coach in the NBA more than three times. High achievers, such as Erik Spoelstra in Miami or Ty Lue in LA, remain without a trophy to their name.
Oklahoma City Thunder upstart Mark Daigneault won this award last season. We almost never get the same winner twice in a row in this category, but how can one not consider OKC’s mastermind? Daigneault has led OKC to historic levels of success this season, becoming the seventh team ever to win 68 games. The Thunder own the largest per-game point differential in NBA history. OKC’s defense has achieved a rare level of success, and done so in a league increasingly geared toward explosive scoring numbers.
The Thunder withstood Chet Holmgren’s prolonged injury absence and seamlessly integrated several new players from free agency, trades, and the NBA Draft. Daigneault winning for the second time in as many years would be more than justifiable.
Sixth Man of the Year should-be contender: De’Andre Hunter, Cleveland Cavaliers
De’Andre Hunter does not resemble your standard Sixth Man of the Year, an award typically reserved for small, volume-scoring guards like the presumptive favorite, Payton Pritchard, or their big man equivalent, like 2024 winner Naz Reid. He also split the season between two teams — a fringe playoff hopeful in the Atlanta Hawks and the East-leading Cleveland Cavaliers.
That said, Hunter deserves strong consideration here. The Cavs’ bench has a variety of positive contributors (Ty Jerome will also snag votes), but Hunter has done so much at a high level. He’s averaging 17.0 points and shooting 40.5 percent on 3s, logging 27.2 minutes per game while shouldering a significant defensive burden. Hunter can scale up or down as needed, equally comfortable bullying mismatches in the mid-range as he is hovering behind the 3-point line for spot-up jumpers.
An efficient, oftentimes prolific 6-foot-7 wing shooter with a solid defensive profile is what the Cavs have been lacking for so long. Hunter has the chance to alter Cleveland’s postseason fate. Before that, he should receive more votes than he’s going to get for this esteemed honor.
Most Improved Player should-be contender: Ivica Zubac, Los Angeles Clippers
Ivica Zubac feels like a sleeper to win Defensive Player of the Year after a remarkable second half for the Los Angeles Clippers, but he should get just as much love in the Most Improved category.
I am typically resistant to the idea that this award should be gatekept against ascendent stars who are “expected” to improve, like Cade Cunningham. That said, Zubac perfectly fits the oft-proclaimed spirit of this award. He’s 28 years old, smack in the middle of his prime, and this season has been a complete revelation. Zubac has leveled up across the board, anchoring what has been the best defense in the NBA for the last month and change.
He doesn’t have crazy defensive playmaking numbers (1.1 blocks, 0.7 steals), but Zubac does all the little things as a hulking 7-foot, 240-pound rim deterrent. He slides his feet, times contests impeccably, and end possessions with a red-hot motor on the glass. He also never fouls. The Clippers’ defense allowed 6.9 fewer points per 100 possessions with Zubac on the floor this season.
Zubac has also been an impactful presence on offense, setting monster screens for James Harden, finishing with force at the rim and upping his contributions as a passer (2.7 assists per game almost doubles his previous career high).
Rookie of the Year should-be contender: Zach Edey, Memphis Grizzlies
Zach Edey was the betting favorite to win Rookie of the Year coming into the season. As the best player in college basketball for two years running, he was an easy candidate. The Memphis Grizzlies were expected to start Edey at center and, in a weak draft class, banking on the 23-year-old with elite metrics was a smart gamble.
In the end, Edey’s role fluctuated more than expected and he was not as “ready,” so to speak, as folks may have anticipated. He’s still uber-efficient in the paint, converting 73 percent of his shots at the rim, but Edey’s coordination and touch needs a bit of work. He’s a major rim deterrent with that 7-foot-10 wingspan, but certain matchups give him problems due to his lack of mobility.
However, despite a coaching change and the general instability of his role compared to frontrunners Stephon Castle and Zaccharie Risacher, Edey should probably get more recognition as a real candidate for this award. He showed growth in unexpected areas (40 percent on above-the-break 3s!) and in terms of per-minute impact, he generally laps the field. Memphis kept the leash tight, but few rookies actually performed on Edey’s level during their time on the floor. He was also contributing at a high level for a West playoff team.
Defensive Player of the Year should-be contender: Amen Thompson, Houston Rockets
The Houston Rockets finished the season with a top-five defense and the No. 2 seed in a cutthroat Western Conference. Amen Thompson was far and away their most impactful defender, contributing across the board as Ime Udoka’s favorite Swiss Army Knife. Victor Wembanyama would’ve won this award going away if he was healthy, but perhaps his 2023 draft peer should pick up some of the slack as voters attempt to crown a worthy next-best.
Thompson is probably the best athlete in the NBA at 6-foot-7. That is a subjective designation, of course, but not a soul moves on the basketball court like Thompson (aside from maybe his twin brother in Detroit). The Rockets’ sophomore was a constant threat in passing lanes and a legitimate source of weak-side rim protection flanking the more floor-bound Alperen Sengun (1.4 steals, 1.3 blocks). Thompson can also lock up opposing stars at the point of attack. Just ask Stephen Curry.
Few players in the NBA did more on the defensive end than Thompson. He inherited vast responsibility and answered the call, bringing consistent intensity to match his high-flying acrobatics. Watching Thompson navigate screens, cover ground on the back line, and generate positive chaos for the Rockets is a treat for basketball fans everywhere. This won’t be the first time he gets mentioned as a candidate next to Wemby.
MVP should-be contender: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks
Giannis Antetokounmpo has two MVP trophies, a guaranteed Hall of Fame ticket, and generational wealth, so it’s hard to feel too bad for the guy. But man, he’d probably have four or five of these awards in a row if he played 10 years ago. Much like James Harden’s Houston Rockets ran up against an untimely dynasty in Golden State, Giannis probably picked the worst stretch in NBA history to post historic numbers on a competitive Milwaukee Bucks team, year in and year out, without fail.
Nikola Jokić is a superhuman MVP machine. Joel Embiid was maybe the greatest individual scorer in league history. He has now passed the baton for absurd scoring outputs to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jokić’s primary competitor in another comically stacked MVP race. Giannis will finish a distant third when the votes are counted, but he deserves more love. We won’t see a player like this, showcasing constant offensive growth alongside elite defensive impact and intensity, for a long time after Antetokounmpo’s retirement. That is, unless Wembanyama assumes that mantle. What a time to be alive.
Antetokounmpo might be enjoying his best individual season to date, even as the Bucks roster crumbles around him. He averaged 30.5 points, 11.9 rebounds, 6.5 assists and 1.2 blocks on .601/.222/.617 splits. All of a sudden, Giannis is a mid-range assassin, finding new ways to stretch and stress the defense before gutting them down the middle with his rollicking drives. He’s a 6-foot-11 DPOY candidate, Milwaukee’s best creator, and a generational interior scorer. Those are MVP numbers. He just can’t catch a break in terms of competition.
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NBA news roundup:
- The Sacramento Kings and Monte McNair mutually agreed to part ways shortly after their Play-In loss to the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday night. McNair did not want to fire Mike Brown this season, nor was he sold on Doug Christie as the interim head coach, per The Athletic’s Sam Amick. Former Knicks GM Scott Perry will replace McNair as Sacramento’s lead exec.
- Kyrie Irving plans to return from his torn MCL next January, per ESPN’s Shams Charania, which means he should play “a good chunk” of next season. We may finally get to see Nico Harrison’s vision come to fruition. Godspeed, Dallas fans.
- Mavericks GM Nico Harrison did not want to conduct his now-infamous closed doors presser a few days ago, per ESPN’s Shams Charania. That was enforced by team owner Patrick Dumont. Harrison did not back down from his initial optimism around the deal when faced with a hot mic, incessantly parading his favorite phrase to bewildered reporters: “defense wins championships.”
Who wins: 2025 OKC Thunder or 2018 Houston Rockets?
I’ll leave you with a hypothetical to ponder…
The 2018 Houston Rockets took a 3-2 series lead over the Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant-led Golden State Warriors in the West Finals, easily the closest a team came to unseating the greatest dynasty in modern NBA history at its peak. Those Mike D’Antoni Rockets put up offensive numbers we’d never seen before. James Harden was the engine — perhaps the greatest NBA champion that never was.
Those Rockets teams deserved a ring. We have never seen such a totemic, dominant group fail to reach the mountaintop, almost entirely due to circumstance. Any other stretch of years without Steph, KD, Draymond, and Klay on the Dubs roster, and we are probably celebrating Harden’s Rockets as the all-time unit it was.
Meanwhile, the 2025 Oklahoma City Thunder enter the NBA Playoffs as the betting favorites to run the table. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is the historically proficient scoring guard at the helm. Rather than bombing 3s at a historic clip, however, OKC wins on the defensive end. There has not been a stingier defense in this era of NBA basketball. The Thunder, on paper, are as dominant a regular season tank as we’ve ever seen.
Their postseason arc remains to be seen, but the Thunder feel like the right kind of long, athletic, versatile team to unseat the sweet-shooting Boston Celtics. If ever there was a team built to unhinge the Celtics’ math-driven success, it’s OKC.
So, who’d win in a seven-game series? It’s a fun thought exercise. The Rockets, not unlike today’s Celtics, won by creating advantages with their slashers and jacking up an ungodly volume of 3s. OKC would be able to throw several top-tier defenders at Harden, including this season’s most effective point-of-attack blanket, Lu Dort.
The Rockets and Thunder achieved history through different means. It makes for a fascinating clash of styles. We’d all love to watch Prime Harden and Prime SGA duke it out for seven games. And I don’t want to hear a peep about the fouls.
My best guess… god, who the hell knows? Harden and the Rockets certainly have the edge in experience, and there’s a soft spot in my heart for the beleaguered ex-Houston superstar. He was once the face of that city and he’s probably the most underrated megastar of his generation. So… the 2018 Rockets get my pick, but it’s not one I feel good about. OKC knows how to muck things up.
Shouts to my The Sixer Sense Podcast co-host Lucas Johnson for hitting me with this on air, without prep.
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