NBA Midseason Awards

(Photo by Ian Maule/Getty Images)

MVP: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander

• Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is averaging 31.2 pts 5.4 rebounds and 6.1 assists per game while shooting 52.5% from the field. After having his best season last year and leading the Thunder to the 1st seed many wondered if he could do it again. Not only is he doing it, but he is also now one of the best leaders in the entire league now. The Thunder are no joke now and have the 2nd best record in the league only falling behind the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Defensive Player of the Year: Victor Wembenyama 

• Leading the league in blocks at 3.9 blocks per game there is no other player with the defensive aura of a Wembenyama. His presence alone at the rim alters shots from 1 foot out to 10 feet out just because of his wingspan. Not only that, he can guard the perimeter as well with his freakish lateral movement that nobody his size should be able to do. I believe that if he keeps up this defensive pace he will be the runaway winner.

Most Improved Player of the Year: Norman Powell

• Norman Powell of the Los Angeles Clippers has had one of the more dramatic improvements in recent years. After coming off of a good 14 points per game with great shooting percentages not a lot of people thought that he would be able to average what he is right now. Norman Powell is averaging 23.5 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 1.2 steals per game while shooting 44% from 3. A lot of Clippers fans expected this though after the subtraction of Paul George, Norman Powell was quite literally the right addition to replace him.

Sixth Man of the Year: Payton Pritchard

• Payton Pritchard has had a fantastic year up to this point of the season. He has shocked a lot of people with his production this year averaging 15. Points, 3.4 assists, and is shooting 43% from 3 which is his specialty. He provides that perfect spark for the Celtics coming off the bench which is something you could say that they had somewhat lacked last year. With this type of production from Pritchard it helps the Celtics case even further for the title chances.

Coach of the Year: Kenny Atkinson

• After his many stints of head coaching the Brooklyn Nets and then serving as an assistant Coach to the Los Angeles Clippers and Golden State Warriors many experts would never see this coming from Kenny Atkinson. After the firing of J.B. Bickerstaff, the Cavaliers wanted to find a coach that would help their team find their identity and Atkinson was the perfect choice for this job. Cleveland is sitting on an NBA best 30-4 record and they don’t look even close to slowing down.