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TIM BONEMPS
The NBA unveiled the three finalists for each of its seven major individual prizes for the regular season of 2024-25 on Sunday evening, with the center of Denver Nuggets Nikola Jokic and the Oklahoma City Shai Gilgeous-Alexer goalkeeper, featuring the finalists of the most precious player in the league.
Jokic, a triple MVP who seeks to become the third player – with LeBron James and Bill Russell – to win four MVPs in five years, is practically assured of finishing in the top two to vote for the best individual honor in the League for a fifth consecutive season. This is the first time that anyone has completed this feat since Larry Bird made from 1981 to 1986.
The only question is whether Jokic-which raised on average 29.6 points, 12.7 rebounds and 10.2 assists this season to join Russell Westbrook and Oscar Robertson, because the only players to make the average of a triple-double for a season will finish the first or Gilgeous-Alexander will win its first MVP prize.
The Thunder superstar, which led the league by scoring with 32.7 points per game, fueled Oklahoma City at 68 franchise victories – most of the NBA since the Golden State Warriors set the record with 73 victories in 2016 – and finished at the top of the last two versions of the ESPN MVP Straw element.
Milwaukee Bucks striker, Giannis Antetokounmpo, joined Jokic and Gilgeous-Alexander as MVP finalist. Antetokounmpo finished among the first four in MVP vote for seven consecutive seasons, in particular by winning the prize in 2019 and 2020.
The most interesting price of this year may be for the defensive player of the year. San Antonio Spurs striker Victor Wembanyama was a virtual lock to win him but is unacceptable after being excluded for the season due to a diagnosis of deep venous thrombosis in February.
The Cleveland striker Evan Mobley, the striker of the Golden State Warriors Draymond Green and the Atlanta Hawks wing Dyson Daniels are finalist for the prize.
Mobley had an escape season, becoming an All-Star for the first time and probably winning its first all-NBA selection while making an average of 18.5 points, 9.3 rebounds and 1.6 blocks. Green helped the resurgence of the warriors in the section after the team acquired Jimmy Butler on the deadline for trade. Green ended with at least one block and a flight per game for the seventh time in his career.
Meanwhile, Daniels led the League with 229 interceptions.
Detroit Pistons Cade Cunningham, who has made his first star team this season, was one of the three most improved players’ prices. The other two finalists are the center of the Clippers Ivica Zubac and Daniels, who played a much more important role this season with the Hawks after having been acquired from the New Orleans Pélicans in the trade of Dejoute Murray last summer.
Zubac has established careers in almost all categories this season, including points (16.8) and rebounds (12.6). Cunningham has an average of 26.1 points, 9.1 assists and 6.1 rebounds.
Atlanta striker Hawks Zaccharie Risacher, choice n ° 1 of the NBA draft last June, the San Antonio Stephon Castle goalkeeper and the Memphis Grizzle Guardian Jaylen Wells are finalists for the prize for the recruit of the year.
Risacher has an average of 12.6 points and Castle collected an average of 14.7 points and 4.1 assists. Wells, a second round choice, started for most of the season before undergoing a broken wrist at the end of the season earlier this month in a match against the Charlotte Hornets.
The Boston Celtics Payton Pritchard goalkeeper joined the Cleveland goalkeeper Ty Jerome Cavaliers and the Strait Pistons Malik Beasley as a finalist for the sixth prize of the year.
Pritchard was one of the most coherent players of the Celtic defending champion this season, with an average of 14.3 points and a 40.7% shot on 3. Beasley had an average of 16.4 points and was the only player in the top 20 in 3 points per game to shoot more than 40%, reaching 41.6% this season. Jerome, who did not play in just two games last season due to injuries, had a stellar season on the bench, with an average of 12.5 points while firing 51.6% in total and 43.9% on a 3 -point range.
The coach of the finalists of the year had an interesting wrinkle. Cleveland Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson, and the man he replaced in Cleveland – Detroit pistons coach JB Bickerstaff – were two of the three finalists. The other was the coach of the Houston Ime Udoka Rockets.
The three teams have largely surpassed their pre-season expectations. Cleveland won its first 15 games and led the Eastern Wire Conference, winning 64 games – the second Plus in the history of the franchise. Detroit more than tripled his total victories compared to last season – a first in the history of the NBA. And Houston went from the missing the game last year to the second seeded of the Western Conference loaded with a young list.
New York Knicks goalkeeper Jalen Brunson joined the goalkeeper of Jokic and Minnesota Timberwolves Anthony Edwards as a finalist for the clutch player of the year.
The NBA will announce the individual winners-and the selections of the All-NBA, All-Defense and All-Rookie-teams in the next two weeks.
