COY: Frank Vogel
MVP: Paul George
OPOY: Kevin Durant
DPOY: Roy Hibbert
MIP: Lance Stephenson
6th: Louis Scola
CPOY: Danny Granger
Champions: Pacers
NBA throws Kevin Durant a bone so they can avoid a single team sweeping the awards for the first time in league history. Nah, but seriously, Pacers do have potential to be in the running for some of those awards. Obviously it won't play out that they end up in the running for all of those awards but I think it's possible they could be in the running for any number of them.
Depending on how the Pacers do, Vogel could be in the running for COY. The team should be in the title picture and this is a team with championship aspirations. I could see either one of Roy Hibbert or Paul George being in the running for DPOY. More than likely it would be Hibbert since he anchors the defense and George is trying to do it all on both sides of the ball. As for 6th man, I could see one of Lance Stephenson, Danny Granger or Louis Scola being in the running. After watching Stephenson last night, I also think he could find himself in the running for MIP this season. And Danny Granger if healthy could find himself in the running CPOY. As for OPOY, with players like Durant, Melo, Lebron, Kobe... I'd say there's basically a 0% chance that a Pacers player would be in the running for OPOY. The Pacers are really team oriented and are willing to defer to the hot hand. I'd say Paul George has a better chance of being in the running for MVP than a Pacers player winning offensive player of the year.
Like I said, obviously the Pacers won't have players in the running for all of those awards. I just think those would be the players that could find themselves in the running depending on their season. Although, Roy Hibbert and Lance Stephenson are off to a good start for DPOY and MIP. Actually, I think Paul George would be in the MVP running if he were to average the numbers he put up last night. Unfortunately, I seriously doubt he is capable of averaging 24 points while shooting 50% though.
Paul George
36min 24pts 6rebs 5asts 3blks 1stl 8/16(50.0%)fg 3/6(50.0%)3pt
Lance Stephenson
36min 19pts 7rebs 5asts 1blk 0stl 8/12(66.7%)fg 2/3(66.7%)3pt
Roy Hibbert
27min 8pts 16rebs 0asts 7blks 1stl 3/6(50.0%)fg
The Pacers should have a pretty good season if those 3 are doing that every night. I seriously doubt that's how it will be every game but if so, I'll take David West, George Hill, Danny Granger, Louis Scola and CJ Watson as role players. David West previously was the 2nd best player behind Paul George imo. I've watched him take over games a number of times. If he isn't even one of the go to guys, that bodes well because it means the Pacers are much improved.
I was going to say though, George and Stephenson's numbers are eerily similar last night. Both are even 23 years old. If Paul George takes the next step that a lot of people think he's capable of and Lance Stephenson takes the next step to be similar to Paul George of last year, that could be really scary. Like Paul George, Lance Stephenson does a little bit of everything. If Lance Stephenson keeps playing like this, I don't know if the Pacers will be able to afford him even with Danny Granger's 14 million coming off the books. Really need to lock up Stephenson to play along side George for years to come.
And I'm pretty sure that I'll be the only one watching the Pacers and Pelicans tonight. Maybe bleed, but we're probably it.