MVP: Nikola Jokic (Nuggets)
In a season where injuries and fatigue brought on by the significantly truncated offseason caused many of the league starts to underachieve, Jokic made for a massive outlier by having the clear best season of his rapidly ascending career. Jokic was an efficient, lethal swiss army knife (26.4 PPG, 56.6 FG%, 38.8 3P%, 86.8 FT%, 8.3 APG) that gracefully handled the challenge of shouldering a bigger offensive load than usual with top running mate Jamal Murray on the sideline for the bulk of the season and ultimately helped lead the Nuggets to an impressive 47-25 record without missing a single game.
Honorable Mentions: Stephen Curry (Warriors), Joel Embiid (76ers), Damian Lillard (Trail Blazers)
Defensive Player of the Year: Rudy Gobert (Jazz)
Gobert is pretty much the Aaron Donald of the NBA at this point with the amount of times he's been in the running or won this award. The Stifle Tower was once again the driving force behind the Jazz's elite defense, swatting a career-best 2.7 shots per game, tying a career-best with 10.1 defensive rebounds per game and just generally making life unpleasant for anyone who tried to drive to the rim against the Western Conference's top team in 2020-21.
Honorable Mentions: Myles Turner (Pacers), Jimmy Butler (Heat), Draymond Green (Warriors)
Most Improved Player: Zach LaVine (Bulls)
While LaVine's status as an established borderline star took him out of the running for the official NBA honor, I think that's a seriously bogus reason for disqualification. As good as LaVine has been in the past, he brought his overall game up to a whole other stratosphere this season that's worthy of mass recognition. The 25-year old made his 1st All-Star team behind a jaw-dropping campaign that saw him shatter his previous career highs by margins that range from moderately impressive to downright astounding (27.4 PPG, 50.7 FG%, 41.9 3P%, 84.9 FT%, 4.9 APG -up from 25.5, 46.7%, 38.7%, 84.2%, 4.2 respectively) despite shooting, getting to the free throw line and facilitating close to or more than ever before.
Honorable Mentions: Julius Randle (Knicks), Michael Porter Jr. (Nuggets), Terry Rozier (Hornets)
Sixth Man of the Year: Jordan Clarkson (Jazz)
Deciding to re-up with the Jazz last offseason after being traded there from the Cavs in December 2019 has already paid dividends for Clarkson. The reliable offensive spark plug off the bench gave Utah a big scoring boost -averaging 18.4 points per game in only 26.7 minutes- and played a sneaky big role in making this offense one of the most productive units in the league (4th in points, 3rd in offensive rating).
Honorable Mentions: Chris Boucher (Raptors), Joe Ingles (Jazz), Derrick Rose (Pistons/Knicks)
Rookie of the Year: LaMelo Ball (Hornets)
Anthony Edwards has become the frontrunner for this award in recent weeks due to Ball missing time with an injury, but I'm not in the business of giving an inefficient shooter (41.7 FG%, 32.9 3P% on just under 17 shot attempts per game) that has no other significant supporting stats whose most meaningful contribution to the league this year was some sweet dunk highlights an honor like this solely on the basis of additional playing time. Ball was an assured, sometimes dazzling passer (7.7 APG), aggressive on-ball defender (1.6 SPG) and better than advertised scorer (15.7 PPG with 43.6 FG% and 35.2 3P% ) whose absence on this surprisingly decent Hornets team was felt to the point where they fell out of the meaningful portion of the playoff picture during his 21 game late season absence.
Honorable Mentions: Anthony Edwards (Timberwolves), Tyrese Haliburton (Kings), Immanuel Quickley (Knicks)
Coach of the Year: Monty Williams (Suns)
The impact that Williams was making on this long suffering Suns squad started to be felt during their unbelievable, but ultimately anticlimactic undefeated run in the Bubble last summer. That change in attitude and playing style was really felt this season as they established themselves as one of the toughest, most complete teams in the NBA right out of the gate, and ended up snapping their 11-year playoff drought in spectacular fashion by finishing in 2nd place (51-21) in the always brutally tough Western Conference.
Honorable Mentions: Tom Thibodeau (Knicks), Nate McMillan (Hawks), Doc Rivers (76ers)
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