'15-16 RealGM Player of the Year Discussion Thread

[Bruh Man]

Honestly the only player that should be in the discussion is Westbrook, and it is understandable to put a bigger importance on playoff performance. Personally I had Curry #1 and didn't think anyone could pass him based on playoff play but Curry's lower level of play and the way Westbrook has been tearing it up has made me reconsider. Still the discussion is between those 2 players only imo.

Curious what excludes Lebron?

I just think Curry/Westbrook had better regular seasons, I would take Lebron over Curry for the playoffs though. Also both Westbrook/Curry have had a tougher playoffs so far, though theres nothing James could do about that since the east doesn't have any legitimate contenders outside the Cavs, you could make a very small case for the Raptors but they are not really on OKC/Spurs/GSW/Cavs level.

[Colbinii]

I just think Curry/Westbrook had better regular seasons, I would take Lebron over Curry for the playoffs though. Also both Westbrook/Curry have had a tougher playoffs so far, though theres nothing James could do about that since the east doesn't have any legitimate contenders outside the Cavs, you could make a very small case for the Raptors but they are not really on OKC/Spurs/GSW/Cavs level.

I agree that both Curry and Westbrook had better regular seasons. If your ranking players on probability of adding a championship to a team, LeBron and Westbrook are ahead of Curry and I see little room for debate to say otherwise. If your ranking players based on who played best and accounting for Regular-season and Post-season games at total as equals, then Curry/Westbrook is the man.

[SideshowBob]

Playoff DPOY lists?

Also, think I'm firm on Curry/Durant/Westbrook for OPOY top 3. Not sure if/ how I'd penalize Curry's missed time, but without accounting for that he's easily the best.

As good as Lebron's got the Cavs offense running, IMO his regressed jumper hurts his offensive value in a vacuum a bit too much when the others are playing so well.

[RSCD3_]

Playoff DPOY lists?

Also, think I'm firm on Curry/Durant/Westbrook for OPOY top 3. Not sure if/ how I'd penalize Curry's missed time, but without accounting for that he's easily the best.

As good as Lebron's got the Cavs offense running, IMO his regressed jumper hurts his offensive value in a vacuum a bit too much when the others are playing so well.

I don't know about Durant over James offensively, James has been very efficient despite his jumper and he has been a lot better with handling than Durant. Durant for the total of the playoffs isn't killing it with efficiency like usual also.

[Quotatious]

I don't know about Durant over James offensively, James has been very efficient despite his jumper and he has been a lot better with handling than Durant. Durant for the total of the playoffs isn't killing it with efficiency like usual also.

LeBron has been clearly superior offensively. I don't think it's even close, to be honest. LeBron is a far, FAR better playmaker, and even though he's averaging about 3-4 less points per game, he's scoring much more efficiently. As far his jump-shot, he's shooting the 3 better than KD, and has over 10% higher FG% (not all of that is because LeBron is finishing at rim so well)...Enough said.

I'd say LeBron has been better on both ends (really like what I've seen from James defensively so far, although KD has been stellar on that end, as well, and I think the defensive gap is smaller than the offensive gap). I would much rather discuss LeBron vs Westbrook, than vs Durant (I'm really not sure who I would take between James and Westbrook, it's a toss-up, and they've been the #1 and 2 best players in the postseason, IMO).

[bondom34]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/DarnellMayberry/status/735909157300109312[/tweet]

No Harden surprises me.

[NinjaSheppard]

Is DeAndre Jordan the worst player ever to make the First Team and First Defensive Team the same year?

[mikejames23]

DeAndre Jordan feels out of place on that First Team. Would've picked KD over Kawhi fors First Team. Don't have major issues w/the rest.

[Doctor MJ]

No Harden surprises me.

Doesn't surprise me. People are really enjoying ripping on Harden, blaming him for every issue in Houston. Bizarrely, in a year where Blake Griffin physically ruined his own season while demonstrating tendencies that may well one day end up killing someone, Harden is the superstar from the 2009 draft who has seen judgment swing most harshly against him this season.

I am somewhat surprised by no AD. HIs snub makes sense, but everyone knows he's clearly an All-NBA level player who was hampered primarily by his franchise's mistakes this year and that if he missed All-NBA that would end up in essence rewarding the franchise for their incompetence at the direct expense of the only asset they have. I didn't think people would give him the not to save NO from the embarrassment, but I guess I thought it might make people think about how silly it would be to argue that in essence are 6 forwards debatably better than Davis at basketball.

[Doctor MJ]

DeAndre Jordan feels out of place on that First Team. Would've picked KD over Kawhi fors First Team. Don't have major issues w/the rest.

Given the rules, his accolade makes sense, but it really just goes to show how inadequate the CFFGG model is for this nowadays.

[Texas Chuck]

Millsap should be on that 3rd team over LMA. I know he closed strong, but Millsap had the better year imo. And 3 1st place votes for him seems crazy. I know they wanted to get another Spur on there, but...

And I have no issues with Harden being left off. Yeah his individual numbers are nice, but his overall play took a big step back this year and he was at the root of most of the Rocket's issues.

And since they have to have a center, I have no issues with DeAndre. Cousins has more talent but isn't a better player. Drummond isn't quite there yet, Gasol was hurt and had a down year, Duncan finally aged out, Whiteside only really found his stride once Bosh went down, etc..

[NinjaSheppard]

Millsap should be on that 3rd team over LMA. I know he closed strong, but Millsap had the better year imo. And 3 1st place votes for him seems crazy. I know they wanted to get another Spur on there, but...

And I have no issues with Harden being left off. Yeah his individual numbers are nice, but his overall play took a big step back this year and he was at the root of most of the Rocket's issues.

And since they have to have a center, I have no issues with DeAndre. Cousins has more talent but isn't a better player. Drummond isn't quite there yet, Gasol was hurt and had a down year, Duncan finally aged out, Whiteside only really found his stride once Bosh went down, etc..

I am assuming Aldridge got 3 First Team center votes so it makes sense because people like to fudge that position as it is the weakest.

[Clyde Frazier]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/DarnellMayberry/status/735909157300109312[/tweet]

No Harden surprises me.

Well, for 1, he did just miss the cut. I’m not that surprised to see lillard (team wins relative to expectations) and lowry (career year and raps finish 2nd in east) make it over him, though. Rockets by comparison were in shambles for much of the season.

[Texas Chuck]

I am assuming Aldridge got 3 First Team center votes so it makes sense because people like to fudge that position as it is the weakest.

Yeah if that's possible then that makes sense. Thanks.

[Doctor MJ]

Millsap should be on that 3rd team over LMA. I know he closed strong, but Millsap had the better year imo. And 3 1st place votes for him seems crazy. I know they wanted to get another Spur on there, but...

And I have no issues with Harden being left off. Yeah his individual numbers are nice, but his overall play took a big step back this year and he was at the root of most of the Rocket's issues.

And since they have to have a center, I have no issues with DeAndre. Cousins has more talent but isn't a better player. Drummond isn't quite there yet, Gasol was hurt and had a down year, Duncan finally aged out, Whiteside only really found his stride once Bosh went down, etc..

What's fascinating to me about Aldridge & Millsap is that they are literally the two best players of the 2006 NBA draft, and I think Millsap has been considerably more impressive, yet Aldridge still is much higher profile due to his initial prominence, people overrating his value to Portland, and then the prominence of the Spurs this year. I don't think those voting Aldridge over Millsap this year did anything egregious as what they did made sense, nevertheless I don't see anything that really justifies seeing Aldridge as being a higher class of player than Millsap.

Of course on the other hand, picking either over Davis is something I wouldn't feel great about.

Re: Harden being at the root of the Rockets issues. Time will tell. He certainly deserves criticism, but the way Houston fell apart this year with Harden playing not-drastically differently than before I think says a lot. Yes part of that is that guys were more fine with Harden's play when the team was winning, but I really think you can't just ignore the matter that Dwight Howard is a petulant child and petulant children sometimes just decide to make life miserable sometimes when they don't get their way.

[NinjaSheppard]

The weird thing with Millsap is that these same voters voted him third in terms of DPOTY and All NBA second team defense. A lot of underrated basketball players have skills that don't get appreciated.

Yet here these same voters looked at Millsap and were like "this guy is an upper echelon elite defensive player" and then you look at his offense and it is still really really good and that somehow doesn't add up to an All NBA selection on the same ballots. Aldridge over Millsap makes sense though if you assume that Aldridge had 3 All NBA spots to get voters from (FFC) and no one could consider Millsap a center when he plays with Horford.

As a Pels fan I can't say that Davis deserved it. If I had a vote I wouldn't have even given him consideration.

[Texas Chuck]

Of course on the other hand, picking either over Davis is something I wouldn't feel great about.

Re: Harden being at the root of the Rockets issues. Time will tell. He certainly deserves criticism, but the way Houston fell apart this year with Harden playing not-drastically differently than before I think says a lot. Yes part of that is that guys were more fine with Harden's play when the team was winning, but I really think you can't just ignore the matter that Dwight Howard is a petulant child and petulant children sometimes just decide to make life miserable sometimes when they don't get their way.

Plenty of blame to go around in Houston. Not trying to excuse Howard. Or Morey who made the horrible decision to fire McHale barely into the season. If you were convinced he was the wrong guy despite the #2 seed and WCF then have the stones to replace him in the summer. Otherwise let him finish the year.

And no question Davis is a far superior talent to either guy. But he didn't have a better year than Millsap just did. Not at all. So Millsap deserves that spot over him without a doubt imo. He played better and didn't miss 20 games(again).

[Doctor MJ]

Plenty of blame to go around in Houston. Not trying to excuse Howard. Or Morey who made the horrible decision to fire McHale barely into the season. If you were convinced he was the wrong guy despite the #2 seed and WCF then have the stones to replace him in the summer. Otherwise let him finish the year.

Well you're definitely right there. If Morey is going to let himself be swayed by the players, the time to take care of that is in the off-season.

[Dr Positivity]

Any problem I have with All NBA mostly comes down to reserving a spot for Cs. I hate seeing Cousins rewarded for another cancerous season (and on he barely played more games than Davis), Deandre on first team is too strong, etc. With 2 G and 3 Fs spots it probably would have been more like:

1st: Curry, Westbrook, Kawhi, Lebron, Durant
2nd: Paul, Lillard, Draymond, George, LMA
3rd: Lowry, Klay, Millsap, Davis, Cousins

[NinjaSheppard]

Mike Fratello's All NBA ballot

First Team: Westbrook/Curry/LeBron/Aldridge/Pau Gasol

Second Team: Butler/DeRozan/Kawhi/Green/Jordan

Third Team: Kemba/Lillard/Durant/Millsap/Drummond