2021-22 RealGM All-Season Awards - Discussion Thread

[Doctor MJ]

Hi All!

The time draws near for us to come together again and give our say on who, when all is said and done in June, is most deserving of the great accolades of 2021-22.

This is something we began in 2010 with the Retro Player of the Year project which took us back to the dawn of the Shot Clock Era, and it's something we've continued since - with the addition of other awards beginning in 2015.

Here's a link to the original thread:

Retro Player of the Year Project

That thread has links to votings from individual years as well as the spreadsheets, which I'll be posting again below:

RealGM All-Season Award Winners

RealGM All-Season Awards Shares through 20-21

What are the awards and how will we vote for them?

Player of the Year
Only 5 man ballot.
Vote weighting the same as NBA MVP: 10-7-5-3-1.
To be based on actual basketball achievement this NBA season - not a statement of who you'd draft first, or any other reasoning.

But that is still intended to give you a lot of room for your own vantage point, which you will be expected to speak from when you vote.

This is the original award, and the only award you must vote for.

All other awards will have a 3 man ballot using the 5-3-1 voting scheme the NBA uses for its other awards.

The other awards:

Offensive Player of the Year
Defensive Player of the Year
Rookie of the Year
Most Improved Player
6th Man of the Year
Coach of the Year
Executive of the Year

All awards should be seen from an achievement-oriented perspective like the POY, however the concept of achievement admittedly gets murkier the more you go down the list. Be sincere and open about what you put forward, and I'm sure it will be great.

One more note: All ballots must be complete in order to count. If you simply put down first place votes, it won't count. If you forget to type a name for the last spot on some award, your vote for that award won't count.

How do we become voters?

1. Participate in this thread sincerely and frequently. Note: Voters from previous years are allowed more wiggle room on this.
2. PM me.

When and where will we vote?

Typically voting opens within a week of the last NBA Finals game, and goes for a week.

I'll create a Voting thread for that purpose when the time comes.

Voting Body
1. Doctor MJ
2. flacolombardi
3. Texas Chuck
4. eminence
5. sp6r=underrated
6. Dutchball97
7. jalengreen
8. LukaTheGOAT
9. MyUniBroDavis
10. Outside
11. Lou Fan
12. iggymcfrack
13. GSP
14. Colbinii
15. RCM88x
16. The-Power
17. Jaivl
18. dontcalltimeout
19. HeartBreakKid
20. Fundamentals21

[falcolombardi]

i am looking into timelord as a possible dpoy, not because i think he is the best defensive player but draymond and gobert have missed a lot more games and i see him as the best defender in the best defense (although one stacked with great defenders)

mobley as the most impressive rookie (i dont put too much weight in missed gamesw for roy, more aboyt level of play and potential shown) is why i would have voted embiid over brogdom at the time, i dont see roy being over total Production but about most potential shown

Desmond bane and mikal brisges as the most impressive jumps into all star level play (brisges more so) and tatum for jumping into superstar level for mip

coach between monty and jenkins

EOY for suns for how well they improved a contender into a favorite with savvy moves (although not extending ayton is pretty worrisome that sarver will pull a 2012 okc like oklahoma did with harden)

but morey getting harden out od the simmons fiasco is another good choice for eoy

[jalengreen]

i am looking into timelord as a possible dpoy, not because i think he is the best defensive player but draymond and gobert have missed a lot more games and i see him as the best defender in the best defense (although one stacked with great defenders)

mobley as the most impressive rookie (i dont put too much weight in missed gamesw for roy, more aboyt level of play and potential shown) is why i would have voted embiid over brogdom at the time, i dont see roy being over total Production but about most potential shown

Desmond bane and mikal brisges as the most impressive jumps into all star level play (brisges more so) and tatum for jumping into superstar level for mip

coach between monty and jenkins

EOY for suns for how well they improved a contender into a favorite with savvy moves (although not extending ayton is pretty worrisome that sarver will pull a 2012 okc like oklahoma did with harden)

but morey getting harden out od the simmons fiasco is another good choice for eoy

hasnt gobert played more than robert williams?

[falcolombardi]

i am looking into timelord as a possible dpoy, not because i think he is the best defensive player but draymond and gobert have missed a lot more games and i see him as the best defender in the best defense (although one stacked with great defenders)

mobley as the most impressive rookie (i dont put too much weight in missed gamesw for roy, more aboyt level of play and potential shown) is why i would have voted embiid over brogdom at the time, i dont see roy being over total Production but about most potential shown

Desmond bane and mikal brisges as the most impressive jumps into all star level play (brisges more so) and tatum for jumping into superstar level for mip

coach between monty and jenkins

EOY for suns for how well they improved a contender into a favorite with savvy moves (although not extending ayton is pretty worrisome that sarver will pull a 2012 okc like oklahoma did with harden)

but morey getting harden out od the simmons fiasco is another good choice for eoy

hasnt gobert played more than robert williams?

wait, really ?

edit: he missed 20 games, damn, i was mistake thinking he had been healthier

may start looking into players like jaren Jackson jr

[eminence]

Put me down for that voting list Doc! Apologies that I rarely vote on all the categories.

Mikal Bridges is my leader for DPOY going into the playoffs, but it could go a lot of ways.

ROY is one of the highest quality races I can remember - Cade, Mobley, Barnes are a spectacular top 3, though I'm not sure on order yet.

Jokic/Giannis/Embiid/Tatum/Steph and maybe Gobert/KD could realistically wind up as my POY (pretty heavy playoff emphasis at this point). Theoretically Towns as well, but that strikes me as basically impossible (maybe KD and the Nets should be in this category).

If the Suns win it I don't imagine any of their guys charging to the top of the rankings, or even onto the ballot.

[sp6r=underrated]

Hypo: Say Kyrie Irving turned in a post-season similar in value to Kawhi's 2019 campaign. Nets lose in Finals but he is clearly the best player in each series

Would you consider putting him on your POTY ballot after what he pulled in the regular season

[falcolombardi]

Hypo: Say Kyrie Irving turned in a post-season similar in value to Kawhi's 2019 campaign. Nets lose in Finals but he is clearly the best player in each series

Would you consider putting him on your POTY ballot after what he pulled in the regular season

maybe at the low end of it, he would need to be clearly the best player in the playoffs to consider as POTY, which is unlikely

his regular season almost got nets out of the playoffs and put them in the dangerous play-in and it was totally his fault which makes it worse than a case of injury

[jalengreen]

Hypo: Say Kyrie Irving turned in a post-season similar in value to Kawhi's 2019 campaign. Nets lose in Finals but he is clearly the best player in each series

Would you consider putting him on your POTY ballot after what he pulled in the regular season

i know it's just a hypothetical but it's such a hard one to even imagine with KD on the team lol

[sp6r=underrated]

Hypo: Say Kyrie Irving turned in a post-season similar in value to Kawhi's 2019 campaign. Nets lose in Finals but he is clearly the best player in each series

Would you consider putting him on your POTY ballot after what he pulled in the regular season

maybe at the low end of it, he would need to be clearly the best player in the playoffs to consider as POTY, which is unlikely

his regular season almost got nets out of the playoffs and put them in the dangerous play-in and it was totally his fault which makes it worse than a case of injury

Cards on the table I couldn't even put him POTY if he turned in a 91 Jordan post-season

[RCM88x]

Put me down for wanna be voter.

DPOY for me is obviously Gobert despite maybe not being quite the level he usually is. Don't think anyone else really has a good argument other than fatigue. Maybe playoffs will change that however I sort of doubt that is possible.

POTY battle is really interesting as there are probably 7 guys who can win it for me currently, depending on playoffs: Jokic, Giannis, Embiid, Luka, KD, Curry, and Tatum.

[sp6r=underrated]

I feel only 3 guys can POTY based solely on their play in the PS: Jokic, Giannis, Embiid.

For anyone else to win POTY they'll need to play substantially better than they did in the RS and have the big 3 all perform abnormally bad. Just way to big of a gap to be made up solely on their own PS performance.

[Colbinii]

Hypo: Say Kyrie Irving turned in a post-season similar in value to Kawhi's 2019 campaign. Nets lose in Finals but he is clearly the best player in each series

Would you consider putting him on your POTY ballot after what he pulled in the regular season

Yes--I would consider it and depending on how the other top-10 candidates fair would be the determining factor in his ability to achieve a vote.

[Colbinii]

I feel only 3 guys can POTY based solely on their play in the PS: Jokic, Giannis, Embiid.

For anyone else to win POTY they'll need to play substantially better than they did in the RS and have the big 3 all perform abnormally bad. Just way to big of a gap to be made up solely on their own PS performance.

Batum, Tatum and [not for me but for some] Booker could all have opportunities.

[sp6r=underrated]

I feel only 3 guys can POTY based solely on their play in the PS: Jokic, Giannis, Embiid.

For anyone else to win POTY they'll need to play substantially better than they did in the RS and have the big 3 all perform abnormally bad. Just way to big of a gap to be made up solely on their own PS performance.

Batum, Tatum and [not for me but for some] Booker could all have opportunities.

We all weigh the RS differently. But I feel a vote* for any of those guys you named or really anyone not named Jokic, Giannis or Embiid is just a sign the voter gives the RS zero weight.

* only way I could even consider is if they turned in the greatest post-season in history by a large margin that's how big of a gap I see between the top 3 and everyone else.

[trex_8063]

I think I'll participate, if possible, Doc. Thanks for running it....

EDIT: Jokic, Giannis, and Embiid the clear top 3 for POY; no one else particularly close, imo.

[eminence]

I feel only 3 guys can POTY based solely on their play in the PS: Jokic, Giannis, Embiid.

For anyone else to win POTY they'll need to play substantially better than they did in the RS and have the big 3 all perform abnormally bad. Just way to big of a gap to be made up solely on their own PS performance.

Batum, Tatum and [not for me but for some] Booker could all have opportunities.

One of these doesn’t feel quite right…

[jalengreen]

i mean how much argument did kawhi really have for RS POTY in 2019? he pretty clearly won based on an amazing postseason, not his second team all-nba regular season performance missing 22 games (where the raps went 17-5)

giannis and harden had some amazing regular seasons in 2019 and didn't even have awful postseason performances.

giannis won MVP and finished 2nd in DPOY voting and then made the ECF after two good series (was great vs boston IMO). choked in the ECF.

harden dropped 36 ppg in the RS, finished 2nd in MVP voting, didnt have the best first round series but was great in the second round loss to the warriors.

nonetheless, kawhi's finals run w the raptors propelled him to winning POTY according to this board. so the playoffs clearly have some large weight, no?

[ardee]

Would like to vote as well.

Top 5 PotY so far, I'd go:

1. Jokic (I think it was a three way race about 80% of the way into the season with Jokic having a slight edge, but he's pulled away a bit recently (35-16-7 on 69% TS in his last 7 games). Absolutely wondrous season, probably a top 3 offensive peak of all time already (I can't think of anyone besides LeBron and Curry I'd consider over him). The fact that his team results are so similar to Giannis and Embiid given the relative quality of teammates gives him a semi-decent gap at the top, which he can extend if he erupts in round 1 and gets these guys to the second round somehow)

2. Embiid (I think it's very close between Giannis and him, basically a coin flip. I think Giannis is the better player in isolation but Embiid's performance this year has impressed me more, which is what we're voting on here. Giannis' team results should be better with the supporting cast edge he has over Embiid. It doesn't matter if Lopez is injured, for a team with Jrue, Middleton and Giannis to be 3 SRS is simply not good enough)

3. Giannis (he is probably still either the best or second best player in the league ability wise and could easily rocket to no. 1 in the Playoffs).

4. Tatum (best player on easily the best team in the East. I think most casual NBA fans are underestimating the Celtics, they're a 6.8 SRS team overall and a 13.4 SRS team in the last 35 games. This is a behemoth, and if Williams comes back healthy I'd be very shocked if they didn't make the Finals. They've been absolutely throttling elite teams.

5. Luka (if he didn't have the sloppy start he would be in contention for top 3. Will be the prohibitive MVP favorite next year if he comes into the season fit).

This is a clear top 5 for me and all these guys are positioned to have monster Playoffs. My HM guys, CP3, Butler, Durant and Harden could all very well go inferno mode as well but the top 5 guys have been so good in the RS that the guys below them would have to drastically outplay the top 5 in the PS to get into this list.

[Fundamentals21]

I'll vote too.

Embiid, Giannis and Jokic are locks. I don't see these 3 dropping off.

The last 2 spots I've been confused by a little bit. I'll pick a different DPOY than Gobert too most likely. We have a few more candidates this year. Jaren Jackson Jr, Timelord.

[Doctor MJ]

Hypo: Say Kyrie Irving turned in a post-season similar in value to Kawhi's 2019 campaign. Nets lose in Finals but he is clearly the best player in each series

Would you consider putting him on your POTY ballot after what he pulled in the regular season

So, speaking generally:

I think it's clear at this point that there's nothing you can do in the regular season - in the positive direction - that can leave you completely secure in our all-season awards, and it's very possible that rise to the top despite a problematic regular season...so it's going to be interesting to see how people would end up thinking were Kyrie to have a dream playoffs. My guess is that Kyrie could finish #1 if he's clearly the best player in the playoffs and leads his team to the championship - and thus that most won't hold against him the damage he did to his franchise during the regular season as a result of his own choices.

When you say lose in the finals though, I mean, that could very easily just be different because it's the finals. If Kawhi doesn't win the chip, voting may have gone quite a bit differently.

Speaking for myself:

I will consider but won't ignore the damage done.

I also only voted Kawhi 3rd on my POY ballot though, so I'm probably not the median voter.