JC: Hi everyone, welcome to the ninth episode of EE-SPN. My name is Jason Chu.
SB: I’m Samika Bhatkar.
JC: And we’re here to talk about the 2024-2025 NBA Kia Awards.
SB: Okay, let’s start with MVP. This is the tightest race I’ve seen in the last couple years for MVP.
JC: Yeah, so I think obviously the top two picks are Jokic and Shai, the impact that they’ve had on their teams is both very large. I think there’s clearly an argument for both of them. Like you said, it’s a very close race. Currently, Shai is favored to win, I think, but personally me, I would have to take Jokic, because I think he has just a huge impact on his team, on both, rebounding and shooting, and offensively and he’s kind of like the main driving force. Yeah, I don’t know, what do you think about Jokic and Shai?
SB: I mean, I think Jokic is having one of the best careers he’s had. He’s almost averaging a triple-double, which is almost unseen or unheard of, for an MVP candidate. And it’s not just he’s hitting, you know, 10 rebounds, 10 assists, 10 points. He’s averaging almost 30 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists. And while Shai has been having a strong offensive career, I know there’s a lot of discourse over how valid the way he obtains his points is because everyone calls him free throw merchant, but it’s tricky, because also, Shai is the league’s leading scorer he’s averaging almost 33 points a game, and he’s leading the NBA in scoring when shooting from a 52% from the field and 37.5% from the three point range. But I was thinking about this, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it went to Shai this year, just looking at each team’s success.
JC: Okay, let’s move on to Rookie of the Year. This one is not as close of a race. We kind of have Stephon Castle just as the standout. He definitely leads the rookies in points and averaging everything, so he has about 20 points per game, about two steals and six assists, and he has a lot of high scoring games as well.
SB: I think so. He’s been pretty valuable for the Spurs team right now, because we know Wemby is out because of the deep vein thrombosis, and it’s very likely he’s going to be out for a huge chunk of the next upcoming season. We know Chris Paul is also out because of another injury. So right now, the Spurs are kind of relying on Castle. It’s just sad because a lot of fans were anticipating Jared McCain to win Rookie of the Year.
JC: Yeah, well, I’m gonna have to agree with you on all the stuff you said. And talking about Jared McCain, I think before he was injured, he was clearly favored to win Rookie of the Year, and then he obviously, had a knee injury. So yeah, it is really sad, especially going off such a great season that he had.
JC: But yeah, let’s move on to Defensive Player of the Year then. So right now, actually, Draymond Green is favored to win DPOY, which is slightly surprising, I think because of his stat line. I think he’s 30th in blocks or steals, I forgot, but he’s also not like first or anything on either of those stats – blocks or steals. So you don’t really expect him to be the DPOY. But I think if you look off impact for the Warriors, he’s really strong on defense, and the Warriors have always been a very good defensive team, and I think he’s kind of the center of that. So I would say this is not by any means a clear-cut race, though.
SB: Yeah, definitely. I think he has strong versatility. He’s got on switching on to guards, protecting the rim and disrupting plays. He’s very strong at that, and I think March was a standout month for him. He recorded 34 combined steals and blocks, which is tied for the most in the league. But as you were saying, it’s not a clear-cut race, because Evan Mobley, some have been arguing for him to be the best young defender, as he’s been anchoring the Cavaliers league-leading defense. As of now the Cavs have the best defensive rating in the NBA, and Mobley is the centerpiece to that. He’s been averaging 2.4 blocks per game, which is third in the league, and he’s able to alter many shots at the rim. So I think his ability to just protect the paint without fouling, that’s pretty tricky for someone in this kind of era of NBA where fouling has become so common.
JC: Okay, let’s move on to most improved player then. The two front runners for this one are Cade Cunningham and Dyson Daniels. And actually, Dyson Daniels is also on the race for DPOY, which kind of speaks to his talent. But yeah, so do you think about these options?
SB: I think it’s gonna have to go to Cade Cunningham. He’s elevated his game to an all-star level, and he’s been able to lead the Pistons to their first 0.5 season since 2019 and his statistical growth has been quite impressive. He’s improved from 22.7 points to almost 25.7 points when comparing these past two seasons, and the Pistons have improved their record by 10 wins compared to the previous two seasons combined, and they’ve secured their sixth seed in the Eastern Conference. I don’t think anyone anticipated this year that they would be a potential playoff team.
JC: I think I also want to talk about Dyson Daniels, because he definitely has a huge case here as well, and this is a pretty close race. He is not averaging as much on the offensive end as Cade, but defensively, I think he’s really a strong presence. As we said, he’s also in the race for DPOY, and he has had a lot of offensive growth from, I think 5.8 points last season, to 14.2 which is, like, obviously a huge change. It’s by no means very close.
SB: It’s tricky. Now we’re gonna move on to Sixth Man of the Year. Once again, this is a very close battle between the Celtics, Payton Pritchard and the Pistons, Malik Beasley.
JC: So I think, like, we’ve been talking about the Pistons a lot with sort of some of the players that they’ve had, and that speaks to kind of the season that they’re having. I think Beasley is currently averaging more. He’s averaging 15.2 and shooting 42.5% which is pretty crazy. And so he’s, offensively, just really a strong presence, even though he’s not in the starting lineup. And I think he’s kind of been a large reason as to why the Pistons are able to have, like, the season that they’re having right now. And so personally, I think Beasley might have the edge.
SB: He has more versatility. He’s been able to average almost a steal per game. So it shows he’s not just an offensive player. He can be a key scorer at times too. But I would have to give this one to Payton Pritchard. I think he’s been a critical piece for the Celtics, and he’s provided consistent scoring, play making and leadership off the bench. He has, you know, showcased his ability to stabilize the second unit, and he’s played in 61 games this season without starting any so it showcases his commitment to his role in durability. He’s had a lot of clutch performances this season—he had a standout game against Sacramento, where he was able to score 28 points on 71.4% shooting. It shows his ability to step up in crucial moments, especially when we’ve seen Tatum or Brown not being able to play in a game, he’s able to step up. And I think that’s why it should go to him.
JC: Yeah, that’s all we have for today, everyone. Thanks for tuning in to EE-SPN, and we’ll be back soon. See you guys next time!
