With the NBA season officially underway, here are my award predictions for the 2024-2025 NBA season.
Most Valuable Player: Jayson Tatum
The MVP award has been a controversial topic over the last few years. Fans around the league complain about the lack of consistency for the criteria of the award. In some years it goes to the best player on the best team, in others, it goes to the best statistical player. This year however, I believe Jayson Tatum can be both. After winning the championship last year but not finals MVP, Tatum needs to prove why he is still one of the best players in the NBA. He has all the tools to be a top three player in the league, he just needs to put them all together for an entire season. I think he will have his best statistical season this year while also having the best record in the NBA making him my MVP pick.
Defensive Player of the Year: Victor Wembanyama
Victor Wembanyama has more than lived up to the hype thus far. In his rookie year, he made the NBA All-Defensive First Team (one of the top five defenders in the league) and was second in DPOY votes. He is seven feet four inches and is rumored to have gained 25+ pounds this offseason. The DPOY race will most likely be a repeat of last year, Wembanyama versus Rudy Gobert, but I think Wembanyama will edge him out this year.
Rookie of the Year: Zach Edey
The 2024 NBA draft is thought by many to be a weak draft class in terms of superstar potential. Apart from a few names like Rob Dillingham and Reed Sheppard, many of the top picks were mostly unknown to casual NBA fans. Somehow, Zach Edey, the two-time national player of the year in college, is going under the radar. A lot of fans who watched him in college believe he only dominated because of his seven-foot, four-inch frame. However, there is a lot more to his game than just height. Edey is one of the best conditioned players in basketball, he rarely got subbed out at Purdue making it hard for opposing teams to deal with him. His touch around the rim is phenomenal and he is a lethal lob threat. He should get plenty of opportunities with the Grizzlies this year and will prove a lot of people wrong.
Sixth Man of the Year: Malik Monk
Malik Monk is one of the more underappreciated players in the NBA. What he brings off the bench for the Kings does not get talked about nearly enough. He does whatever is asked of him whether it be scoring one-on-one, playmaking or defending, he can do it all. Last year Naz Reid ran away with the award, but I would not be surprised at all if Monk won it handily this year.
Most Improved Player: Deni Avdija.
The MIP award has lost its meaning in recent years. Young stars like Tyrese Maxey and Ja Morant did take a big leap, but they do not fit the criteria of the award in my opinion. The most improved player should be someone like Julius Randle in 2021. He went from a solid starter to All-NBA player in one year. The award is for unknown players to become household names. This year, I think it will be Deni Avdija. He has gone under the radar in his short career thus far but he has the skill set to be a great player in the league. Last year he improved his three-point shooting percentage while also taking more shots. Getting traded to the Trailblazers should give him a fresh start to show the league what he is capable of.
Coach of the Year: Joe Mazzulla
Coach of the Year is hard to predict in my opinion. The voters just pick whoever has the best record or the most improved record. I do not see very many teams improving all that much from last year besides the Grizzlies so it will most likely go to the team with the best record. Joe Mazzulla, coach of the Boston Celtics will win this award. The Celtics will be shooting for 60+ wins this year and that would be far and away the best record. Mazzulla is also underrated in my opinion, he does not make mistakes very often and knows what his players are good at. He should run away with the award barring a miracle season from a bad team.
