2022-23 NBA Award Predictions: MVP, DPOY and More
The 2022-23 NBA regular seaosn has come to a close and the playoffs are just around the corner. After a long, rollercoaster of a season, it’s almost time for the NBA player awards to be released. Here are our picks for each award this season.
MVP: Joel Embiid - Philadelphia 76ers
The most notable and most important award of the regular season is the “Most Valuable Player” or “MVP” award. There has been a variety of players in and out of the conversation throughout the regular season, but Embiid has seemed to secure the award since the beginning of March. Embiid averaged 33.1 PPG, 10.2 RPG, and 4.2 APG this season on 55/33/86 shooting splits with 1.7 BLK and a steal per game on the defensive end.
Embiid finished as the league’s leading scorer for the second consecutive year, and became the first center to do so since Bob McAdoo. This was the first 33/10 season since the NBA merger and he did it on the third seed in the East. An incredible stat is that a player outscored their team four times this season. Embiid did this twice, and won in both games. These include incredible 52 and 59-point performances that he completely dominated in. The last month or two of the season was highlighted by Embiid and his success with the Sixers.
Giannis Antetokounmpo and Nikola Jokic are both very deserving of the award as well, but Embiid just edged them out at the right time.
Runner up: Giannis Antetokounmpo
DPOY: Jaren Jackson Jr. - Memphis Grizzlies
First-time All-Star Jaren Jackson Jr. has been the frontrunner for this award for the majority of the year, aside from a short period when Brook Lopez of the Milwaukee Bucks took the top spot on the ladder. Jackson finished as the leader in blocks per game for the second straight season, elevating his game this year to averaging 3 blocks a contest. He also snags a steal a game.
All that said, what’s more impressive is the team success defensively. The Grizzlies have the second-best defensive rating in the NBA this season. No other player on the Grizzlies finished in the top-20 for individual defensive ratings this season. If Jackson had finished with enough minutes to qualify, he would’ve had by far the best defensive rating the NBA this year with a ridiculous 105.3 DRTG. Anchoring down the second best defense seemingly by himself, Jackson more than deserves this award.
Runner up: Brook Lopez
Rookie of the Year: Paolo Banchero - Orlando Magic
The ROTY race was over almost as soon as it started. Young Magic star Paolo Banchero had a phenonmenal rookie season in Orlando, being the first rookie to average 20 PPG in a season since Luka Doncic. After a 27-9-5 NBA debut, Bancheor never hit the breaks. He finished first amongst rookies in PPG, 20-point games, 30-point games, 25-5-5 games, and 30-5-5 games. There was a lot of rookie talent in the NBA this season, but the No.1 overall pick was far and away the best rookie this year. The Magic are shaping up to have a very bright future led by Banchero.
Runner up: Walker Kessler
Sixth Man of the Year: Malcolm Brogdon - Boston Celtics
Malcolm Brogdon has been the favorite to win the award for most of the season, but New York Knicks guard Immanuel Quickley made a late-season push for it. The award is currently a toss up, with Quickley being the slight favorite. That said, Brogdon still leads or is tied with Quickley in every major statistical category while playing three less minutes a game. Recent success has shifted eyes towards Quickley and the Knicks, but Brogdon has been spectacular for the two seeded Boston Celtics this season, playing his role to perfection.
Brogdon was remarkably efficient as usual with 48/44/87 shooting splits and an 18.2 PER as opposed to Quickley’s 16.3 PER. Recency bias shouldn’t be a distraction from the overall success of Brogdon this season, and he is still the most deserving of the award.
Runner up: Immanuel Quickley
Most Improve Player: Lauri Markkannen - Utah Jazz
Perhaps the most unexpected result of any award this season - Lauri Markkannen taking ho
me the “Most Improved Player” award. For a short period, his career appeared to be stagnent in Chicago and there wasn’t much improvement from his rookie season. However, this season in Utah, Markkanen made a huge jump, averaging 25.6 PPG, 8.6 RPG, and just over an assist a game.
Unfortunately, there wasn’t much team success after the first month of the season, but Markkanen proved that his early success wasn’t a “fluke”. He was selected to the All-Star game for the first time this season and shot the ball very well with 50/39/88 splits. Hopefully, this will be the new version of Markkanen that wasn’t displayed with the Bulls, and he will continue to rise in play level.
Runner up: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
Coach of the Year: Mike Brown - Sacramento Kings
This award, much like the ROTY award, was another race that wasn’t close at all. Not only did the Kings make the playoffs for the first time in nearly two decades, but they did it comfortably as the three seed. This was a team that went 30-52 last season, and 9-16 after trading for Damontis Sabonis. Suddenly, just one year and a few moves later, the Kings finished with a 48-34 record.
They will be the most inexperienced team in the playoffs of any of the top seeds, but they have proved again and again that they can play very high-level basketball. They have some key pieces like DeAaron Fox and Sabonis but none of their success would be possible without their head coach, Mike Brown.
Runner up: Joe Mazulla
Clutch Player of the Year: DeAaron Fox - Sacramento Kings
Sacramento is the only team that will see two awardees this season as Fox has been the front runner for this award for the entire season. Fox has a clutch rating of 7.47 which is easily the best in the league, as Embiid trails behind him in second place with a 5.91 rating. He has been the primary reason for the Kings’ success this season, and has been unbelievable down the stretch of his games.
Runner up: Joel Embiid
