theScore's picks for the 2022-23 NBA Awards

Let the debates begin.

A global panel of sportswriters and broadcasters has submitted its selections for the NBA Awards. While some of the annual distinctions seem like obvious picks, others are open to discussion.

Happy to participate in the debates, theScore’s NBA editorial staff – Jonathan Soveta, Chicco Nacion, Matthew Winick, Donald Higney, Lior Kozai, and Michael Chandler – has complied its picks for your reading pleasure.

Most Valuable Player

Nominees: Giannis Antetokounmpo (Bucks), Joel Embiid (76ers), Nikola Jokic (Nuggets)

The winners of the last four MVP awards (Antetokounmpo, Jokic) are joined this year by 76ers talisman Embiid, who finished as the runner-up to Jokic in each of the last two seasons. Could this finally be Embiid’s year? One thing’s for sure: This piece of silverware matters to the big man.

And the winner is: Embiid. After finishing second to Jokic in back-to-back seasons, we expect Embiid to finally bring home the league’s most prestigious individual award. The Cameroonian big man led the league in scoring for the second straight year, averaging 33.1 points per game, the most any center has scored since Bob McAdoo in 1974-75.

Jokic arguably deserves his third straight MVP, and two-time winner Antetokounmpo is having a career-best year on the team with the NBA’s best record. And yet, it’s hard to avoid Embiid’s true offensive dominance. Whether it be on the block, at the free-throw line, or on the perimeter, he’s the Association’s most unstoppable force.

Defensive Player of the Year

Nominees: Jaren Jackson Jr. (Grizzlies), Brook Lopez (Bucks), Evan Mobley (Cavaliers)

There’s new blood here this season. All three candidates have combined to rack up just two career All-Defensive appearances, but each big man anchored a top-four defensive unit in 2022-23.

And the winner is: Jackson. Most statistics point to Jackson as the clear winner of his first career Defensive Player of the Year award. His three blocks led the league by a fair margin, and the gap between his 105.3 defensive rating and second place is the same as the distance between second and eighth.

Jackson’s wingspan and nimble feet allow him to be the perfect versatile defender in Memphis’ up-tempo scheme. It’s no surprise the Grizzlies are just 9-9 when the 23-year-old is sidelined, versus 42-22 when he plays. Given his age and the upward trajectory of his game, he may begin to challenge Rudy Gobert’s leading active mark of three Defensive Player of the Year titles before all is said and done.

Most Improved Player

Nominees: Jalen Brunson (Knicks), Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Thunder), Lauri Markkanen (Jazz)

This group of candidates offers two different trajectories. Gilgeous-Alexander blossomed from an up-and-coming star to a full-fledged superstar, while Brunson and Markkanen became All-Star-caliber players through breakout campaigns.

And the winner is: Markkanen. The Finnish forward looked like an entirely different player during his first season in Utah compared to the one we saw in 2021-22 with the Cleveland Cavaliers. His 25.6 points per game with the Jazz were nearly an 11-point jump from last season, while his 8.6 boards were a 50% improvement and just short of his career high.

Further, for the first time as a pro, he averaged three 3-pointers, shooting 39.1% on the season. And, though it came as an injury replacement, he earned his first All-Star selection. Gilgeous-Alexander’s development has turned him into a defender’s nightmare, but Markkanen’s growth was unparalleled.

Rookie of the Year

Nominees: Paolo Banchero (Magic), Walker Kessler (Jazz), Jalen Williams (Thunder)

Thanks to a scorching start to the campaign, Banchero seemed like a runaway favorite to win Rookie of the Year. But strong closes from both Kessler and Williams will force voters to look at Banchero’s inefficient end to his season.

And the winner is: Banchero. At the end of the day, it’s hard to ignore Banchero’s statistical substance throughout the season. Averaging 20 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 3.7 assists as a rookie is no joke. Only five other first-year players have ever matched those numbers, and Luka Doncic is the only one to do it at a younger age.

Naturally, Banchero’s 52.9% true shooting percentage is far from pretty, and the Orlando Magic’s 34-48 record was the worst among the three Rookie of the Year finalists. However, it’s worth noting that Kessler and Williams were secondary scoring options, while Banchero led the Magic in shot attempts per game, taking on a bulk of the offensive burden from the get-go.

Sixth Man of the Year

Nominees: Malcolm Brogdon (Celtics), Bobby Portis (Bucks), Immanuel Quickley (Knicks)

Always a tough award to gauge, Brogdon played all of his 67 games off the bench, while Quickley and Portis each started 20-plus contests. For what it’s worth, nobody has won the Sixth Man of the Year starting that many games since 2014.

And the winner is: Brogdon. If excellence from a reserve role is the primary criteria for this award, it should go to Brogdon. After starting every game in the previous four years, the Virginia product was tasked with a new mission in his first season in Beantown. It’s only right that the award named this year after Celtics icon John Havlicek would go to Boston’s current glue guy.

The former Rookie of the Year ranks fifth in the league in bench scoring and is also top five in five other major statistical categories among reserves, including field-goal percentage and efficiency. Brogdon has shot better than 60% from the field in 17 contests, and he tops Quickley in average points, rebounds, assists, and overall shooting percentages in games where the two came off the bench. This one seems more cut and dry than the oddsmakers would have you believe.

Coach of the Year

Nominees: Mike Brown (Kings), Mark Daigneault (Thunder), Joe Mazzulla (Celtics)

While not trying to diminish Daigneault’s and Mazzulla’s great seasons, Brown’s eye-popping turnaround in his first campaign with the lowly Sacramento Kings is as clear-cut an award-winning performance as you could find.

And the winner is: Brown. Never mind the historic franchise turnaround the 53-year-old has orchestrated in Sacramento, Brown has taken a roster similar to the one that was on a 30-win post-deadline pace last season and turned out 48 victories this year. A large part of that has been his offensive overhaul; the Kings, who ranked 24th in the league last season, scored at will in 2022-23 with an NBA-best 116.2 offensive rating.

If NBA voters feel the same way, Brown will earn himself the second Coach of the Year award of his career, complementing the silverware he won 14 years ago at the helm of the Cleveland Cavaliers. Only Hubie Brown has waited longer before winning the award for a second time (26 years).

Clutch Player of the Year

Nominees: Jimmy Butler (Heat), DeMar DeRozan (Bulls), De’Aaron Fox (Kings)

Given the fact that the clutch player award is in its first year of existence, it’s anyone’s guess at how voters will decide to determine the victor. Fox and DeRozan rank one and two in clutch points this season, while Butler sits at No. 12.

And the winner is: Fox. The Sacramento Kings ball-handler seemed comfortably built for clutch moments this season, as demonstrated by this cold-blooded winner against DeRozan and the rest of the Chicago Bulls in March.

“Clutchness” can be difficult to quantify, but under the NBA’s defining scenario – a game that’s within five points in the last five minutes – Sacramento’s swift southpaw is a worthy award recipient. Not only did he lead the NBA in total clutch points this season, but he also averaged the most with five (among players with a minimum of 10 clutch-time games) across clutch circumstances in 39 contests while boasting a 42.8% usage rate. No player with at least 10 clutch minutes all season was more heavily involved than Fox, highlighting the Kings’ unshakeable trust in the 25-year-old when it mattered most.