NBA Season Awards – Arbitrary Hair-Splitting and Irrelevant Opinions Included!

Mar 30, 2013; Oakland, CA, USA; Portland Trail Blazers point guard Damian Lillard (0) passes the ball against the Golden State Warriors during the second quarter at Oracle Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

Rookie of the Year

You run into the same problem you do with MVP with Rookie of the Year, it’s just with rookies. This award usually goes to the one guy out of the lottery that is lucky enough to get put on a playoff team, even if he really wasn’t the best player. Lack of play and injuries severely limited the eligibility pool this year so the award is going to go to the player on the best team again (although they are not a playoff team this year).

Winner:

Damian Lillard (38.5 minutes, 19.1 points, 6.5 assists, 3.2 rebounds, 43-37-85%, 16.7 PER):

It’s a shame that the award is almost going to him through default because that does take away from what a great year this kid is having. Portland was in desperate need of a ball handler after the collective disaster of Jamal Crawford and Fat Raymond Felton. Per SynergySports Lillard is in the top 25 in the league in points per possession in isolations, as the pick and roll ball handler, and as a spot up shooter. He has been particularly exciting with that step back three point shot he reverts to so often in crunch time. His defense needs a lot of work, but hey, what rookie’s doesn’t?

Yeah, but:

Anthony Davis (59 games, 28.5 minutes, 13.3 points, 8 rebounds, 51.9 FG%, 21.6 PER):

The Hornets have been wisely cautious with their tank-induced prize, as Davis has missed 15 games this season. When he has been on the court his much touted defense has been less than stellar and the already defensively inept Hornets become more so when he plays. But again what rookie comes out as a ready-made defensive stopper? His production, however, has been fantastic as per-36 minutes Davis is averaging nearly 17 points and 10 rebounds on 52 percent shooting, drawing 4.3 free throws a game and posting a stellar 21.6 PER. Issue is his minutes are limited and he’s missed too many games, not to mention the fact that, despite his production, New Orleans is still about 2 points worse when he plays.

Andre Drummond (52 games, 19.8 minutes, 7.5 points, 7.6 rebounds, 59.9 FG%, 22.6 PER):

Drummond suffers from the “Larry Sanders affliction” of not playing enough minutes through no fault of his own. Per-36 minutes he’s almost a 14-14 guy in terms of points and rebounds, throwing in 3 blocks a game for good measure and an insane PER for a rookie of 22.6. The Pistons are almost 9 points better per 100 possessions when Drummond plays but can only get off the bench for 20 minutes a night. His defensive potential is sky high and he has already shown signs with his ability to make up ground after hedges on the pick and roll. Much like Sanders, he would win the award if he played more but a recent injury that has raised his total games missed to 22 pretty much knocked him out of the running.

You’ll be a very good role player if you can stay healthy:

Bradley Beal, Dion Waiters, and Michael-Kidd Gilchrist