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NBA Award Watch: Sixth man and Clutch City

ByJohn Buhler|
Feb 23, 2017; New Orleans, LA, USA; Houston Rockets guard James Harden (center) talks with guard Lou Williams (12) and center Clint Capela (15) and guard Eric Gordon (10) in the second half against the New Orleans Pelicans at the Smoothie King Center. The Rockets won 129-99. Mandatory Credit: Chuck Cook-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 23, 2017; New Orleans, LA, USA; Houston Rockets guard James Harden (center) talks with guard Lou Williams (12) and center Clint Capela (15) and guard Eric Gordon (10) in the second half against the New Orleans Pelicans at the Smoothie King Center. The Rockets won 129-99. Mandatory Credit: Chuck Cook-USA TODAY Sports
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The NBA is back up to speed after a lengthy All-Star Break. Here are the front-runners for the six major awards in this week’s NBA Award Watch.

February has drawn to a close. The trade deadline and the All-Star break have passed. We are now entering the home stretch of the season. Teams will be clinching playoff spots over the next few weeks. A few clubs will be preparing themselves for the 2017 NBA Draft.

The narrative for this year’s playoffs got a tad more interesting with the Kevin Durant injury wrinkle. How does that end up impacting the Golden State Warriors? It knocks Durant out of the MVP race entirely. We know that for sure.

As for the status of the six major awards that will be handed out at season’s end, let’s take a look at who the front-runners are in the first days of March in this weeks’ NBA Award Watch.

Feb 28, 2017; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0) passes the ball behind Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert (27) during the second quarter at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 28, 2017; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0) passes the ball behind Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert (27) during the second quarter at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports

Most Valuable Player: Russell Westbrook

With Durant falling out of the race with his MCL sprain, Most Valuable Player will end up being a three-to-four man race. Houston Rockets shooting guard James Harden and Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Russell Westbrook are in it out of the Western Conference. Boston Celtics point guard Isaiah Thomas and Cleveland Cavaliers small forward LeBron James are in the mix out of the Eastern Conference.

While James was the Most Valuable Player at the All-Star Break, it has swung back to Westbrook in the last week for a few reasons. Westbrook continues to average a triple double with 31.2 points, 10.6 rebounds, and 10.2 assists per game. The additions of Taj Gibson and Doug McDermott should help him achieve this impressive feat and be better prepared for the Western Conference Playoffs.

In advanced metrics, Westbrook has a PER of 29.5, an Offensive Box Plus-Minus of 9.8, a Box Plus-Minus of 14.3 and a Value Over Replacement Player of 8.5. He leads the NBA in all four of those categories, as well as in assist percentage (56.6) and usage (41.9).

Achieving the triple-double is historically significant enough to merit winning his first NBA MVP. While his team is on pace to win only 48 regular season games, it’s obvious that Westbrook has less to work with of any of his fellow MVP contenders. A triple-double gets him the MVP, but doing so on a 50-win team would make it a lock.

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