Tank season costs OKC Thunder players award consideration

With the NBA postseason progressing it’s also the time of year when awards are handed out. COVID-19 and a season featuring more injuries than usual did narrow the competition in some cases and certainly affected Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the OKC Thunder.

It may also have cost players wins. For example, the early buzz had LeBron James as the leading candidate to win the Most Valuable Player award. Joel Embiid also was in the mix early but injuries led to him missing 21 games and James missing 27 matches.

Still, it’s hard to argue Nikola Jokic as the MVP.  He averaged 26.4 points, 10.8 rebounds, and 8.3 assists. However, what Jokic did in terms of leadership once Jamal Murray tore his ACL truly cemented his win.

LaMelo Ball made dishing dimes an art form and beat out top draft pick Anthony Edwards for Rookie of the Year. The top-ranked Utah Jazz witnessed Rudy Gobert take home his third Defensive Player of the Year while teammate Jordon Clarkson won Sixth Man. The vastly improved Knicks also won two awards with Tom Thibodeau as Coach of the Year and Julius Randle winning Most Improved Player.

The All-NBA teams didn’t offer many shocks although I’d quibble over a few omissions. In truth, it feels long overdue for an overhaul of how All-NBA is determined with the league still forcing voters to pick by position.

In the new era of multi-positional ball, this process is a problem. Voters can select a player at different positions but tiebreakers only count votes in the specific position (center for example). That means a player who cumulatively received more votes at multiple positions (forward and center) would only have their center votes counted and subsequently can lose to a player with fewer overall votes but more at that one position.

It’s time for the league to make All-NBA voting postionless based on the 15 best players and rank by first, second, and third team.  It’s costing players money — and a lot of it. Many stars have award or All-Star bonuses in their contracts. Also, supermax contract eligibility includes award wins or All-NBA team placement. Missing out can add up to millions. Just ask Anthony Davis from a few seasons back or Jayson Tatum this year.

Tanking season may have cost OKC Thunder players award recognition

Player stats clearly are a key factor but another common denominator is team record which often serves as the tiebreaker in close calls. That’s especially true when it comes to All-Defense teams and even sometimes in separating All-Rookie picks. It certainly played a factor for some OKC Thunder players who arguably should’ve made the cut.

For Shai Gilgeous-Alexander he was definitely in the running for Most Improved. His injury absence removed him from consideration. With so much hype surrounding the Knicks, I’m not sure he could’ve beat Randle. At least, not unless the Thunder kept winning and that was never in the cards given ‘the tank’. He did receive a single third-place vote from Tim Bontemps.

In fact, SGA’s own teammate, Luguentz Dort had a better placement with Brian Mahoney ranking him second for MIP.

Dort also collected 16 votes for All-Defense and it feels like he didn’t get the full consideration he was warranted based on the OKC Thunder record. Like the All-NBA teams, voters must select two guards, two forwards, and a center specifying first or second team. Dort ranked seventh at the guard position.

I’ll concede first-team defensive guards Ben Simmons (200) and Jrue Holiday (157) earned their spot. However, I’d argue Dort (17) deserved to be ahead of the next four guards. Those players included Jimmy Butler (111) and Matisse Thybulle (63) who landed on the second team. Mikal Bridges (39) and Marcus Smart (22) ranked ahead of Dort but also missed making a team. Note: point totals are in brackets.

Thybulle is, without doubt, a defensive beast but he played the fewest minutes for any player ever making an All-Defensive team.

Click these links to view the first and second All-Defensive teams.

The All-Rookie first team mostly made sense although Jae’Sean Tate is 25 and played professionally overseas so there could be an argument he’s not really a rookie.

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Similarly, 30-year-old Facundo Campazzo just barely missed making the second team and finished ahead of several “true” 19, 20, and 21-year old rookies.  There is precedent for this with then 30-year old Jorge Garbahosa making the 2006-07 All-Rookie team.

The second team has some debatable absences but each member has a solid argument for making the team.

The two Thunder rookies got some love with Theo Maledon earning five second-team votes from Duane Rankin, Jason Jones, Davide Chinellato, Bill Simmons, and Chris Haynes. Aleksej Pokusevski received a second-team vote from Christos Tsaltas.

As the OKC Thunder progress into future seasons, the question is whether players like SGA and Dort will continue to be snubbed because the team continues to tank. We’ll hope that’s not the case especially with the contract bonuses outlined above.