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So I'm undecided whether to push for the Voting project we did last, but figure we can at least talk about as the regular season ends.

Thoughts about MVP, DPOY (and OPOY if you're game), ROY, MIP, 6WOY, COY and/or EOY?

I have some, but will hold off for the moment.

co-winners of 6WOY: natisha hiedeman and jessica shepard

Hate to do it, but I'm giving MVP to A'ja.
Reasons are all in the season thread, but A'ja had to do something ridiculous to steal it from Phee, and she did it.
(Still don't think A'ja will win it, but it's going to be really close).

Phee with another DPOY consolation prize.

MIP to Burton, though Kayla was right there until she got hurt.

6POY to Naz if she still qualifies. She's a great candidate for MIP too.

Paige ROY, but damn it was close.

Also extremely close, but Natalie has to be COY. Smesko is so close, and deserving. Easy winner in any other year. But it has to be Natalie.

EOY to Cheryl, of course.
Although I think Wideman with Washington is also deserving. Mystics ownership might suck, but they have a brilliant GM and a solid coach. Obviously, the great young core because of it. Heaven help the league if the Sparks sneak into the Playoffs and give the Mystics another year with multiple lottery picks.

I still say Phee wins MVP.

Paige of course is ROY

Smesko for COY

Leila Lacan for all-rookie team or we riot

On-Off +/- per100 (basically how many points per 100 possessions better a team is when a player is on the court) among players with at least 100 minutes played:

1: A'ja Wilson (28.1)
2: Jackie Young (20.2)
3: Leila Lacan (18.2)
4: Dearica Hamby (16.8)
5: Skylar Diggins (15.3)
6: Gabby Williams (14.0)

Wilson and Young are teammates, as are Diggins and Williams, the next highest Spark is Julie Allemand at 12th (11.6), the next highest Sun is Aneesah Morrow at 35th (5.5).

MIP: Veronica Burton
COY: Nakase

That's all folks!

So, here'sESPN on the Awards.

I'll give their choices, followed by my thoughts on and around that.

ESPN: MVP
3 for A'ja Wilson
1 for Napheesa Collier

Me


I have Phee followed by A'ja, but I can certainly see reasonable people going for A'ja.

Where I think I tend to diverge from them - other than being the guy who said his MVP was Phee last year - is in my feeling that it really doesn't make sense to vote on the basis of a player's missed games when their team was never in serious danger of losing the top seed, and I think they've not been playing with urgency for a while because for them, there literally is no urgency.

I'd expect to have Alyssa Thomas 3rd followed by Allisha Gray 4th, but I'm really not sure who to say on #5.

ESPN: ROY
4 for Paige Bueckers
2nd place Sonia Citron

Me

I agree here, but I'd note that there are several other impressive rookies coming out of the woodwork this year including Monique Akoa Makani, Te-Hina PaoPao, and yes, Lelia Lacan.


ESPN: DPOY
3 for Alanna Smith
1 for A'ja Wilson

Me


So, the Lynx have a DRtg that is 7.5 points better when Smith pays bench. I'd love to see some good regression data on this, but from my experience, it's awfully hard to believe that a player like that can be the top defensive player on your team, let alone the entire league.

If I were picking a Lynx candidate, I'd go with Courtney Williams. Courtney played more than any of her teammates, and had a better defesive On-Off than any of her teammates playing big minutes. Yeah she's just a small guard, but this is the WNBA the norms of the NBA (defensive bigs > defensive smalls) don't hold so clearly. In men's ball, centers didn't really become defensive anchors until we started getting guys around 6'9".

A'ja's a more reasonable candidate to me than Smith, but I do think Gabby Williams and Alyssa Thomas would be comparably good choices.

ESPN: MIP
4 for Veronica Burton
2nd place Naz Hillmon

Me


Yup, completely agree.

ESPN: 6POY
4 for Naz Hillmon
2nd place Natisha Hiedeman

Me


Once again agree, and I'll note that Naz might be the most intriguing player of the entire season to me. If you look at the team splits, she's not only been starting, but has been her teams biggest minute player through much of this run. I was actually tempted to mention her in my MVP & DPOY sections.

ESPN: COY
4 for Natalie Nakase
2nd place Karl Smesko

Me


Once again completely agree. Both these coaches easily had COY level seasons.

Me: EOY


They didn't give an EOY vote but I'll single out:

Nyanin Ohemaa of the Golden State Valkeries.
Nick U'Ren of the Phoenix Mercury.
Amber Cox of the Indiana Fever.

Aja Wilson is my MVP.

Nakase is COY.