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Cornelissen’s NBA Awards Ballot: How do the Cavs factor in?

By Josh Cornelissen

Joel Embiid, Philadelphia 76ers and Darius Garland, Cleveland Cavaliers. Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images
Joel Embiid, Philadelphia 76ers and Darius Garland, Cleveland Cavaliers. Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images /
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Evan Mobley, Cleveland Cavaliers and Scottie Barnes, Toronto Raptors. Photo by Mark Blinch/Getty Images /

Awards in the NBA are not simply pretty statues adorning a mantle or trophy case. Awards serve as monuments to excellence, not in a vacuum, but telling the story of a season. Looking back on past years, be that 2021 or 1961, we look to who won that season’s awards to understand who defined that season, be that the Boston Celtics or the Cleveland Cavaliers, LeBron James or Michael Jordan.

For example, take 1979-80. The Los Angeles Lakers kicked off Showtime with a bang, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was named MVP. His Lakers finished with 60 wins (and later a title), but were just one game shy of the league’s best record; that went to the Boston Celtics, led by some guy named Larry Bird, who won Rookie of the Year. The Lakers played the Philadelphia 76ers in the NBA Finals, led by MVP runner-up Julius Erving and anchored on defense by First Team All-Defense forward Bobby Jones.

The Lakers, Celtics and 76ers would go on to define much of the 1980s, just as they did in 1979-80. The awards are a snapshot of a moment in time, and they tell the story of a single season, but also of the greater narrative of basketball history.

Awards in the NBA matter in telling the story of a season. Who deserves to win this year’s awards, and how do the Cavs factor in now and moving forward?

For the past few seasons, the Cavs have been left off of the awards lists, rebuilding in relative anonymity while LeBron James and the Lakers won another title, while Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks won two MVPs and a title, respectively.  Nikola Jokic rose to superstardom, Kevin Durant recovered from an Achilles injury to regain his excellence and numerous young stars entered the stage, from Luka Doncic to Ja Morant. Meanwhile, the Cavs completely missed out, not even placing one of their highly-drafted rookies on the All-Rookie first team as they all started slowly.

Now the Cavs are back, playing for a spot in the playoffs for the first time in four seasons, and with a young core that is incredibly exciting. Players from this Cleveland roster will be showing up on many ballots for a multitude of awards. The question doesn’t become “will anyone from Cleveland get a vote” but instead, will anyone from Cleveland outright win an award?

Here is my ballot, as a site expert here on the Cavs but also someone who covers the league as a whole. The goal was to approach this ballot impartially and objectively: Evan Mobley is not winning Defensive Player of the Year, and Darius Garland won’t be on an MVP top-3. Yet this is also my personal opinion, not a prediction on who wins.

For each award, I will list my winner(s) and provide a brief explanation (emphasis on brief; please comment or reach out directly to discuss my rationale further), and then highlight whether any Cavs players were in the mix. Let’s start with the big one and go from there.