With the 2018-19 Cleveland Cavaliers’ season now in the books, it is time to give out some awards.
For most season award categories, there were not too many great options to choose from, with Collin Sexton and Jordan Clarkson being the exceptions for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Most Improved Player: Collin Sexton
Traditionally, the most improved player goes to a player who improved on his previous season. Sexton was a rookie in 2018-19, but is still deserving of recognition for the improvement he made from the beginning of the year to the end.
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The other candidate who was in the running was Cedi Osman, who did make strides from his true rookie season last year.
That being said, Sexton’s improved shot selection and three-point efficiency were enough to edge out Osman.
On the season, Sexton averaged 16.7 points per game on 48.0 effective field goal shooting, including a three-point hit rate of 40.2%, per Basketball Reference, and he made a case for making the NBA All-Rookie First Team in the process, as we’ve often detailed.
Rookie of the Year: Collin Sexton
It’s not a shocker here that Sexton, the eighth overall pick in last summer’s NBA draft took home this award as well. There wasn’t much, if any, legitimate competition, either.
Sexton was just the second Cleveland Cavaliers rookie to average at least 16.0 points per game and play in all 82 games, too, joining Ron Harper in that realm, per Cavs Official Notes.
Sixth Man of the Year: Jordan Clarkson
Jordan Clarkson was a runaway for this award. The only other player who received consideration was Larry Nance Jr., who had a solid year.
Clarkson was rock solid all year, as he played in 81 games and came off the bench for all of them, per NBA.com.
He provided the team with steady scoring and often got key minutes in the fourth quarter. He’s not the most efficient player, but he’s good at what he does.
He averaged a career-best 16.8 points per game on 50.9 percent effective field goal shooting, per Basketball Reference.
Defensive Player of the Year: Larry Nance Jr.
The Cavs’ defense was historically bad this season, especially in terms of defensive rating, as we’ve often hit on, and there weren’t too many candidates to choose from here.
Nance had a really nice year rebounding the ball, though, with a career-high 8.2 per game, per NBA.com.
Nance isn’t a particularly great defender, but he can block shots when rotating over against drivers, and can efficiently deflect and rebound the ball. Nance recorded 2.0 steals per 36 minutes this year (per Basketball Reference), showcasing his very high basketball IQ.
David Nwaba was also in the running but just couldn’t stay healthy enough, as he only appeared in 51 games due to reported injuries.
Coach of the Year (essentially by default): Larry Drew
This was not a tough choice on this one.
Neither of our two candidates, Larry Drew or Tyronn Lue, really lit it up in the wins department this year. Lue’s record as the Cleveland Cavaliers’ 2018-19 head coach was 0-6 before getting dismissed.
Drew’s 19-57 mark didn’t exactly light the world on fire, either, but the growth and improvement the team showed under him was encouraging.
One can’t really give assistant coach/defensive coordinator Mike Longabardi a huge backing for the top coach last year, either.
Most Valuable Player: Kevin Love
Kevin Love‘s value showed when he wasn’t on the floor. The Cavs looked lost offensively and there was little spacing in the halfcourt.
When Love returned for 18 games in the latter part of the season, though, the Cavs went 7-11, per NBA.com. That may not be a great record, but considering they only won 19 games all year, Love was a key factor in them winning some post-All-Star break.
The UCLA product averaged 17.0 points per game on 47.9 percent effective field goal shooting and 10.9 rebounds per game. Opposing defenses had to put a little more focus on him which opened things up for other players like Sexton, who had a strong close to the year.
Love spend most of the year on the pine and it was apparent that they were missing him. Upon his return, the Cavs looked like a plain bad team opposed to the transcendentally awful way they looked without him.