OKC Thunder playoff roundtable part 2: Awards, ARob and predictions
Clearly, Paul George will land on some MVP and DPoY ballots. Should he be getting greater consideration than he is? For which award and why?
Alex Mcewen: PG regressed in the second half. It was likely due to his injury, but regression is still regression. Health is a skill, unfortunately for himself, and the Thunder he got banged up. If he and the Thunder would have maintained their early season pace, he would have remained in the thick of both award races.
Rylan Stiles: I think Paul George is getting the appropriate amount of respect and consideration, especially considering his cooldown period towards the end of the season. I think he has the best shot at winning Defensive Player of the year, and I think he should earn the nod there.
Sinjin Snopczynski: I firmly believe that Paul George should win defensive player of the year. He has been fantastic all season and has lead the league in steals. At his peak, he is an absolute game wrecker on that end of the floor and simply deserves the award this season in my humble opinion. George will receive MVP votes and probably finish 3rd to James Harden and the Greek Freak, and that’s probably where I would vote him at this point if I am being honest.
Steven Maichak: The key word in “most valuable player” is valuable. MVPG is the most valuable to his team in terms of bringing them from pretenders to contenders. He is contending for DPoY while also having made the most game-winning shots for his team this season, i.e. he contributes on both ends of the court with tremendous consistency. He is the most valuable to his team by far.
Tailor Finney: Oh, certainly! Paul George is an incredible player and I think that gets brushed aside because of our inconsistency as a team. He has a great mentality for the game and is so clutch. I think he really has tough competition in the MVP category, but he should be the front-runner for DPoY.
Tamberlyn Richardson: See above (Steven Maichak’s answer is precisely my position on this). However, Giannis Antetokounmpo leads his team in points, rebounds, and assists plus he’s second in blocks and steals. That’s an impressive resume coupled with leading his squad to the best record in the NBA. Although I do think George deserves more credit for DPoY than he’s likely to get it should be a no-brainer for him to land on first team All-NBA and first team All-Defense.