Five candidates for every NBA award

I'll admit it — I'm not always the biggest fan of some of Harden's, uh, theatrics whenever he is touched by a defender, but he is deserving of the MVP Award. He is the driving force behind the league's best team, and while his assist and rebound numbers are down compared to last year, Chris Paul's presence on the Rockets provides a simple explanation. Harden's scoring is up, he's a nightmare one-on-one and he's the best player on the best team. Enough said.

James averaged 27.5 points, 9.1 assists and 8.6 rebounds, the latter two figures career highs. The only other members of the 27/9/8 club are Oscar Robertson, James Harden and Russell Westbrook. All of those guys posted those stats in their 20s. James is 33. It's no wonder why he said he'd vote for himself for the award. Harden is having a great year, no question, but what James is doing, at his age, is nothing short of incredible.

In the first month after DeMarcus Cousins was lost for the season, Davis had four games of at least 40 points and one where he dropped 53. He hasn't really slowed down since. Simply put, he hasn't missed a beat without his front-court running buddy and dragged the Pelicans to a playoff berth. Davis is still only 25, and it seems like he can get better still. His skill set is unique, and he remains a force to be reckoned with at both ends of the floor, again leading the league in blocks per game. In any other season, he'd be a very possible, if not likely, winner — just not this one.

Here's your first curveball. DeRozan won't appear on many top five lists when it comes to MVP balloting, and the Raptors' second unit has deservedly gotten a lot of attention as a major reason why they're the East's No. 1 seed, but DeRozan has remained the team's best player through it all. Are there sexier picks out there? Sure. But how many times can you read about Giannis, Russ, Steph, KD or the rest of the league's elite? DeRozan might not be in their class, but he's added new wrinkles to his game, specifically an improved three-point touch. As one of the league's most underrated stars, he deserves some recognition in the MVP conversation, even though he won't win it. 

Lillard remains one of the league's elite point guards, and yet, he almost feels like another guy suffering from a slight case of DeRozan Disease. His numbers are even more impressive in most respects than DeRozan's, and he is the best player on one of the best teams in the West. Yet he still toils in the shadow of Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant, to say nothing of James Harden and Anthony Davis. That's just in his own conference. Still, he warrants inclusion in the MVP discussion.

As much as I'd like to make an argument for someone else, Gobert is clearly the most deserving candidate for this award. His actual number of games played is the only negative, but in a way, his absence has made the best possible case for him. The Jazz give up eight more points per 100 possessions with Gobert off the floor than they do with him on it. That stat alone says just about all anyone needs to know, but his 2.3 blocks per game, and just the general level of rim protection he provides, both tangible and intangible, buttress his case nicely.

Embiid isn't exactly a slouch defensively. Were it not for Gobert's presence, he would be the clear front-runner for this award. He averaged half a block less per game than Gobert and almost a full block less than league-leader Anthony Davis, but Embiid is a force at the defensive end in every conceivable way. He uses his frame well, has good defensive instincts and his footwork is excellent. The award is probably Gobert's to lose, so Embiid will have to settle for being one of the two best players on the most buzz-worthy team in the league.

Embiid's teammate deserves some love in this discussion as well. Covington is a tremendous perimeter defender, a master of deflections (he leads the league with 4.4 per 36 minutes) and can guard all three positions on the perimeter. According to the NBA's advanced metrics, the Sixers are better defensively with Covington alone than they are with Embiid alone. He might not get a fraction of the press that Embiid does, but Covington richly deserves mention where Defensive Player of the Year is concerned.

The Timberwolves are not a good defensive team, but with Butler out, they are a flat-out bad one. Butler is an excellent man-to-man defender who manages to stick to his assignment while also being diligent about help defense. It's very accurate to say that the T-Wolves are a completely different team at both ends of the floor when Butler is healthy and active. 

It says something about just how good Roberson is defensively that he more than warrants mention as a viable candidate despite appearing in only 39 games due to a ruptured patella that ended his season in January. Roberson excelled in every facet defensively and had a rare knack among guards for his shot-blocking abilities. Oklahoma City's defense has not been the same in his absence. 

It's a whole lot of fun to watch a No. 1 overall pick blossom immediately into what everyone hoped he would be. Simmons, of course, is just scratching the surface of what he can be, but what we've seen already should frighten the rest of the NBA. His triple-double against LeBron and the Cavs was a highlight of one of the best regular-season games of the year, and if he develops a more reliable outside shot, there's reason to think he'll have a chance to win multiple MVP Awards in the future. 

If Simmons is the all-around wonder who can do everything but shoot the three, Mitchell is the dynamic scoring point guard who has been very good from beyond the arc — breaking Damian Lillard's previous record for made threes by a rookie — and has turned the Jazz into a top four team in the West. Mitchell has been an explosive scorer almost from the get-go and emerged as the focal point of the Jazz offense, while avoiding any noticeable "rookie wall." He's not the type of versatile freak that Simmons is — the type of guy who makes scouts, writers and fans alike drool — but Mitchell has simply produced in a big way. 

Were it not for the performances of Simmons and Mitchell, Tatum would be a very strong contender to walk away with the Rookie of the Year crown. He's proved to be a strong three-point shooter thus far, albeit without a ton of attempts, and appears capable of blossoming into an excellent scorer and rebounder from the small forward position. At barely 20 years old, it feels like Tatum's ceiling is very high, and his first season has only provided a glimpse of his capabilities.

Jackson had a very solid season in Phoenix, averaging 13.1 points and 4.6 rebounds per game. It feels like he deserves special mention for his performance because Phoenix was openly tanking, and while that tends to be more a situation where management creates a roster that isn't conducive to winning, players aren't stupid. It can't be easy to know that your team simply isn't supposed to win on most nights and doesn't really want to, either. Jackson, in any event, looks like a very solid building block for whenever the Suns get around to competing again — or at least attempting to.

Kuzma has very obviously outshined his more hyped rookie teammate, a guy named Lonzo Ball. Kuzma gave L.A. very solid production at the power forward spot and showed a nice touch from long distance. If Ball can come back with a better shot in his second season and Kuzma continues to refine his game at both ends, the Lakers could find themselves with a nice core to move forward with.

Williams basically played starter's minutes, but hey, he qualified for the award and is probably going to win it. He gave the Clippers great scoring, very good three-point shooting and facilitated to the tune of 5.3 assists per game. He also managed to keep the Clips in the playoff race until just about the end of the season. Overall, what's not to like, other than the fact that, again, he's a de facto starter? 

Here we are again with that whole "he's really a starter" thing. The reigning Sixth Man winner, all Gordon does is come in for Houston and provide pure offensive power for a team that has plenty to begin with. His 18 points per game ranked third on the team, behind presumptive MVP James Harden, as well as Chris Paul. Any team with championship aspirations needs a true third scoring option, and Gordon is a lethal one for the Rockets.

If this award was limited to guys who are subs in both name and in practice, VanVleet would probably win the award. He was the driving force behind Toronto's second unit, which was been the league's best, and a big key to the team's success. His 8.6 points, 3.2 assists and 2.4 rebounds per game, while averaging 20 minutes per contest, are numbers that you'd expect from a true sixth man and ones that deserve respect.

Barton started almost half of Denver's games but still is eligible for consideration here, and he deserves plenty of it. He notched career highs in points and assists per game and also racked up a career-best field goal percentage, coming in at 45 percent from the floor. Additionally, while Barton has never been known for his defense, he has gotten better both on the defensive glass and in the steals department this season. 

Rozier is an easy guy to place on this list. His numbers jumped across the board this year, as he more than doubled his scoring average from last year, shot the ball better, upped his rebounds by almost 1.6 per game and raised his assists per game from two to three. He was more of a true sixth man than many of his contemporaries on this list, and he provided the Celtics' second unit with a valuable spark and plenty of playmaking ability. 

Oladipo simply never fit in Oklahoma City, and it was obvious for everyone to see. In Indiana, though, he looks like a completely different player. Is averaging career highs in points, rebounds, assists, steals, three-point percentage and field goal percentage, while leading your team to a six-game improvement and a playoff berth, a good résumé for Most Improved Player? Asking for a friend.

Drummond's improvement from the charity stripe alone should garner him consideration for this award. He went from Chris Dudley levels of futility, shooting under 40 percent from the line for his career, to nearly 61 percent this season. Always a double-double machine, Drummond led the league in rebounding this year, and his skills as a playmaker and post passer blossomed as well. He averaged three assists per game after never averaging more than 1.1 per game in any previous season.

Dinwiddie's story is pretty well-known by this point, but that makes it no less impressive. There were serious questions as to whether he was even an NBA player after his first few seasons, but his scoring average jumped from 7.3 last season to 12.6 this year, and even more impressively, his assists per game rose from 3.1 last year to 6.6 this season. Dinwiddie has gotten much better and, most importantly, proved he belongs in the NBA.

The Greek Freak has a legitimate case for inclusion on MVP, Defensive Player of the Year and Most Improved Player ballots. We'll place him here, even though he won the award last season, primarily because his scoring average increased by four points to 26.9 points per game, his rebounds went from 8.8 last season to 10 this year, and while his assist and block numbers dipped slightly, it's obvious to everyone that he's continuing to progress as a player, especially offensively.

Capela's job with the guard-dominated Rockets is simple: protect the rim and control the glass on defense and, at the risk of oversimplifying things, dunk the heck out of the basketball on offense (and grab some offensive boards, as well). That's a pretty narrow job description, and a lot of people try to reduce Capela to a dunker and nothing else. However, he's doing what's asked of him better this year than ever before with his scoring up almost 1.5 points per game and his rebounds up nearly three per game from last season. It might not be flashy, and he might not be adding new dimensions to his game, but there's plenty to be said for honing that which you already do well.

Consider how tough it would be to effectively change your style and philosophy with essentially the same roster you had the previous season. Casey did that with the Raptors and guided them to an eight-win improvement and the East's top seed in the process. Casey's work with Toronto's offense and his development of what has been a devastating second unit make him the deserving front-runner for this award.

The Jazz largely outperformed their preseason projections, and Donovan Mitchell turned in a phenomenal rookie season. Both of these things are feathers in the cap of Snyder, who took a roster comprising mostly non-blue chip types and molded them into a formidable outfit. He's gotten excellent work from Mitchell and Rudy Gobert and quickly integrated Jae Crowder into his system. The Jazz's torrid 20-2 stretch that began in late January cemented Snyder's place on this list.

Stevens and the Celtics, though they may be in major trouble in the wake of Kyrie Irving's season-ending knee surgery, have already weathered major injury issues, particularly Gordon Hayward's gruesome ankle injury five minutes into the season's opening game. The Celtics ripped off 16 consecutive wins after starting 0-2 and saw Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum quickly mature into extremely important pieces. Stevens also brought out some of the best in Al Horford. After all they've dealt with, anything positive they do in the playoffs will be gravy.

Let's get this much out of the way — D'Antoni won't win this award. He'll be penalized, more or less, for having too good of a roster. Rough problem to have, isn't it? Still, the work he's done to turn Houston into an even more well-oiled machine and a major headache for opponents deserves some plaudits. D'Antoni integrated Chris Paul into the fold nicely and found enough shots to go around for Paul, James Harden and Eric Gordon. There will be no repeat win for D'Antoni, but I suspect he doesn't mind.

A six-win improvement over last year? Coaching up Victor Oladipo, the odds-on favorite to win Most Improved Player? Major improvement from Domantas Sabonis? All of these factors are reasons why McMillan deserves to be mentioned for this award, despite the fact that he likely won't win. Indiana is in the playoffs with a cast of something less than household names, and that's always an impressive feat in the NBA.