What is up, fellow thermonuclear a efforts. I am Dampa Valley coming at you with a solo podcast, the first one in a while, I believe, but maybe not. I have some awards predictions for you. Wanted to explain my title pick above all which people who listen to this and watch me know that I've been laboring over it for quite some time before we cannon ball into that, though. I just wanted to remind beg and plead plore with you to continue subscribing to us wherever you consume us. If you're on YouTube, hit that subscribe button, like and comment on every video to help the algorithm love us back. That means a ton. Also subscribe and download every episode over and wherever you get any of your podcast Spotify, Apple, Stitcher, Google, whatever that helps us out of ton. Retweet our promos on Twitter, Recommend us to friends, family members, acquaintances, randos on social media who you know like basketball but also really love listening to shitty basketball takes. That would mean a lot too. Anything to help us continue growing the community around these parts. And a quick thank you to everyone for helping us get to two thousand subs on YouTube. I think we're at We're over that two point zero one whatever they say. Now, it happened over the weekend. We reached it before the regular season. Very small milestone. Still, I'm very appreciative of it, and let's continue to grow the community again. Genuinely appreciate every single person who's reached out, comment and subscribe, all of you. You rock, genuinely. Let's get to the point where I guess I pissed people off by being genuine in what I'm trying to pick. I will start with my title pick because I think I'm gonna go the longest on that. I'm going to try and blow through the actual awards and might even publish that separately. We'll see how it goes. I've been laboring over this a ton, and when you look at this landscape this year, I think you can see legitimately more than half a dozen teams that you can talk yourself into, Oh, if if this goes right, they can win the championship. You look at it in the East Boston, you also have Milwaukee is going to be right there. You also have Miami is going to be right there. You have Philadelphia is going to be right there. That's four people right from the Eastern Conference already, and we haven't even gotten to well, what if Brooklyn stays together? The Cavages traded for Donovan Mitchell. How good are the Raptors this year? They're going to be one of those swing teams. Then you go to the west. Phoenix is still hanging around. They're a little bit more shallow, but if they're healthy, they should still be there. Golden State just won the title. They're trying to straddle two timelines. Maybe that gets awkward when they're trying to develop the kids. They should still be really good. Memphis missing Jaren Jackson junior didn't add a ton invested in youth development. They still won fifty six games last year. The Clippers and the Nuggets both got a lot healthier, and so if they remain relatively healthy, what do they look like? Minnesota training for Rudy Gobert. I wouldn't necessarily mention these teams in the title conversation or this one specifically, but just what do the Pelicans look like? I just think they're gonna be a lot better than people are expecting, but also that might be the cliche. Now I think we've reached the point where that is the over use take, and so I boiled it down to this to like, just no bones about it. The teams that I have coming out of either conference, and my confidence level isn't necessarily high on this is Milwaukee in the East, and that's based off a trust level, and maybe it shouldn't be. With Pat Connaughton dealing with this injury early on, Chris Middleton's gonna miss time with that risk stuff. What does brook Lopez look like you after dealing with the back injury for most of last year. Their depth is there, but it's also questionable in the sense of, oh they really need Javon Carter and or West Matthews and or George Hill to do something, just mar John ro Champion to play a role right away? Just do they need something from from Sergebaca. They have Yannis though, and they have Drew and Middleton will be fine whence he comes back. I think they're probably the least combustible team in the East at this point when you look at the injuries to Boston in the front court. What does James Harden look like in Philly? Though I came very close to picking Philly over Walkie. Not going to lie there but Boston or Philly, those are the two teams that I probably wouldn't argue if you're picking over or try to make a case against and then just hovering on the fringes Toronto. I just don't trust Brooklyn. I understand people are gonna pick Brooklyn. I don't trust Brooklyn, Cleveland, those teams. Maybe you feel some kind of way about Atlanta. I love with Milwaukee though, and then out in the West, it came down to Golden State and Denver. For me, I went with Denver, so I have a Milwaukee and to have Denver come out of the West, it's it's bald. They feel like there's a level of stability there that might not be elsewhere. Yeah, Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. Coming back from these injuries, but Nicole Yokich and iron Man, you can trust his health more than you are with Kawhi Leonard and Los Angeles. The Clippers at this point, who have some they will probably be the most popular title pick, and I get it. I just need to see it last the whole season and do they have did John Wall give them enough sort of you know, change of pace and enough playmaking and what ends up being their best playoff unit. Did they go too far in the downsize direction? I don't think that they did. But that's just among the questions that I do that I think anyone will have. And then it's just like, I don't know, having Memphis in here, I feel like they're going to take a step back for the sake of the bigger picture, and that they did that by design. Dallas Luca's great, they just don't have enough around him. The Suns. Look, I've been I picked the Suns to win the last two titles, and one of those at least came relatively close. I didn't look like a fucking moron after it happened. It was the first season with CP three, I picked them to win the title. There's just something's weird, man. You don't extend Cam Johnson, That DeAndre eight and Monti william stuff has probably been overblown, but just even there's the top five on that roster and then a whole not a whole lot of bank ability after that. If we assume Jake Crowder isn't traded but also isn't with the team, and so what does that become. They do have a fairly substantial trade in them because they have all their draft equity. But when you have to go into a season banking on that, I think it's an issue. So I land with the Nuggets there, whose offense will be fantastic and I think have improved enough defensively, and that gets to Denver and Milwaukee in the finals. I'm picking the Denver Nuggets is my twenty twenty three NBA champions. I'm not doing it to be trendy. I'm not doing it to prove that I watch basketball can scream that, oh, Nicola Yokich is actually good on defense until I'm flushing the face and the biceps like he is by the six forty seven mark of the first quarter. When you just look at him at the free throw line, I get worried so flush there. It's not me trying to live on the edge. And I talked about to d nvrs Adamadas about this when he came on the Nuggets Look Ahead pod. He made me feel a little bit better about the team when I was concerned about some of their their defensive ways, some of their depth questions, and I still do have a lot of depth questions with them. I'm going to believe that Michael Malone will not run these all bench units into the ground and then overplay DeAndre Jordan. I want I'm going to believe that he staggers the Stars, even if it's just giving MPJ minutes with Bones Highland and then a bunch of the rest of the bench players. I think that matters. What I really feel here comes down to two things. For me is just the Nuggets what they actually were for a brief second when they had Jamal Murray, Aaron Gordon, Michael Porter, Junior, Nicol Yokitch, and then getting to the overarching question of can you build a defense that is good enough around Nakolea Yokich to win an NBA championship. And so you look at the first one, they were just they were slaughtering opponents with those four on the court together two years ago. It was a very small sample size. They just make so much sense together. And now you plug KCP into that, someone who's gonna give you different looks of point of attack defense, someone who's going to space the four. Maybe we'll just give you some you know, just life in transition. Also maybe some questionable decisions one is there too. Those five just really fit together and easily feel like they'll be their best unit. But if they don't, if they're not, if you need to give it a different look. Bruce Brown is just sitting there on the bench, so you can sort of toggle around. Here are we taking? It's probably Michael Porter Jr. The one who's removable. If you really wanted to lean into offense, you could take out Aaron Gordon and go with bones Highlands, play with the two small guards, have KCP Yokich and then Michael Porter Jr. There's a lot of different things that they can do with the top seven players or so on their roster. And when I get to the question of the defense the Nuggets, they've had one top ten defense since Nikoliokich has been in the league. That's per b ball ref. I didn't go and look at the outside of the garbage time. I think they've only ranked better than fifteenth twice. There was a season where they were tenth, in the season where they were twelve. I look at the personnel that they've had, the availability of some of that personnel that they've had, and I'm just not sold that Nicole Yokich is this huge issue in the playoffs. When you get to a postseason series. Yes, they're going to be. There are teams that are just better at targeting you, and if they can get him on skates or having to get him run around in the middle of the court of no man's land like, things could end up being tough for him. I just don't think there are a lot of teams that are built to do that this year. And if they are, like a lot of those teams might play just slower in the half court to the point where it gives the Nuggets time to choose their matchups or to get Yokis in the right position. He's always been good at being in the right place and then also just has really good hands, which can be good for forcing turnovers or even if you think that he's going to get beat. But the bigger difference here is for me, you have Bruce Brown, Contavious Calo Pope, and Aaron Gordon. And if you need to give yourself these different looks, Davon Reid is sitting around there too. If you really just need to skew to to these all like defense everything lineups, if that's what you need to test out, I think and look, a lot of people have been ahead of this the d NVR folks, Zach Low, Jamal Murray when he was healthy, played some tough defense before like that that ACL injury. And so the Denver Nuggets best lineup, if we're thinking about it, they're starting unit might really only have one seriously below average defender. That's a Michael Porter Jr. Who was a defensive playmaker at one point before his back injury, where it was you could help trust him to give you some help just rim protection or make plays around at the basket, not someone that you trusted a ton of one on one situations. I don't know what he looks like after his latest back injury, but the shot making is divine enough. And again you have the option of pulling him and putting Bruce Brown out there. So all of a sudden, there's KCP, Bruce Brown, and Aaron Gordon, and those are, however you feel about Murray and Yokich, like those are just three decidedly above average defenders who can kind of go up and down the positional spectrum, especially when you look at Gordon, and then even Bruce Brown has always been able to defend up according to his size, maybe KCP less so, but like having those two players there in Gordon and Brown and then even just a version of Murray where no, you don't need him to go after the other team's best guards are play on point guards. But that was something he could do and could navigate screens to get through them to like. So, I very much trust this defense more than I did, you know, last year, clearly when they weren't a title contender, but more than I did entering the preseason after watching just a little bit of the preseason. And everyone who listens to this knows, I'm not like a huge preseason guy. I think I was just so up in my feelings about the Nuggets that I was looking for a reason not to pick them. And I don't want to go against the grain for the sake of going against the grain. That's not what I'm doing here. I just look at them and the way that they're built, the top seven, specifically of this roster, and I think, even if you're not crazy about how the bench plays in the regular season, if they're even relatively healthy, it might not matter. And the other thing, this is not something he predicted, but that Adamataz had mentioned to me that also made me think about this a little bit more is if Michael Porter Junior is playing really well, I don't want to say it's unimportant. I don't think they need him to win the title because you need him to bring your offense to a different dimension, and you might not even need him to do that. If you have Jamal Murray and Nicole Yokich, your offense is just gonna be fucking fantastic. Better than fucking fantastic. It was fantastic with Yokich on the court without those two dudes last year, and that you diminishing your dependence on Michael Porter Junior makes me feel even more comfortable on this. But also, if he's playing really well and there needs to be some sort of change up in the middle of the year and there's a team willing to take on his deal, the Nuggets are not out of hands to play at the trade deadline. I wouldn't predict it, and I do think teams would be worried about his medicals even if he's playing really well. But if they wanted to divest him into defense of help, that's something they could do or take a step further bones Highland. I guess maybe the hype and you know, I wouldn't pick him to win six Men of the Years because I don't trust the way that one. I guess Malone runs the bench. But it's just when you have Murray MPJ and Yoki, how much agency over the offense for how long is bones going to get? How many minutes is he going to play? So the hype trade might be a little bit on the hyperbolic side at this point, but like that's someone who should intrigue teams that are selling. And if there's a move out there to be made to bring in a high end wing or a three point five or a true three, however you want to frame it, and they can put him on the table, and they have some contracts where you can make the salaries match. I'm not advocating for it. I want to see what this group is, but they're despite their limited draft equity moving forward, they're not out of hands to play there. And when you have one of the five best players in basketball and Nakole Yokich, I sometimes feel like we're overthinking this. Then we're worried about Cana's defense hold up in the playoffs. It's similar. It was not sim I'm not gonna make that point. People get pissed off. It's do they have enough talent in front of him, around him to optimize what he does best and to paper over what he does worse. And I think when it comes to papering over what he might do like what he does the least, that could tactually be an issue. But looking at the sheer talent they have around him, being able to play Aaron Gordon and KCP at once, but also with Bruce Brown, and knowing that if those are your three, you just playing Nikola Yo Kitchen Jamama, and your offense is going to be fine. That gives me a lot more confidence in this team. When I'm looking at matchups that could actually scare me for them, I think about the Clippers a little bit and their ability to downsize. But I was talking to Light Years of samas Finiari and he made this great point. He made it on his podcast light Years podcast as well, that when you look at the Clippers, like their wings aren't explosive, explosive, And I do think that if Kauai and Paul George want to go after Yokich in the pick and roll in the half court, their bread and butters, if they want to get to the middle of the court, Like, that's probably something especially Kauai that yeah, that could prove problematic for LA. You don't play yokis off the floor in that scenario, though, because when you don't have all this explosion or necessarily athleticism on the wings or heyday athleticism, let's call it, because like Robert Covington, Marcus Morris Senior, Nicholas Batoum, like none of them were the most athletic guys to begin with, but they're, you know, in their post primes at this point. It gets super deep team, but the Nuggets are still gonna have mismatches at the other end. I thought about Golden State. I think that the Nuggets match up with them better than they did last year, And that's kind of low hanging fruit when you have a Michael Porter Jr. And Jamal Murray back, especially offensively. Defensively though, just having Gordon Bruce Brown and KCP to get your different looks with Steph and Clay and everything that they do off the ball, Golden State can encounter then by going if they want to throw Jordan Pool into that equation, is their defense able to withstand app because Pool's been a defensive liability. I think that is a matchup I wouldn't feel great about. But it's not one that if the Nuggets are at full strength with some of the talent that they've added, that I would be so worried about where it's, oh, they can't beat this team, and it's ditto for the Clippers, and then after that it's like there are some lineups that the Pelicans can rat there. I'm not gonna lie. That would terrify the shit out of me. If I were the Nuggets, I think they could be a like a possibly weird matchup if they're playing Minnesota and then it's Regal Barren Karlathy Towns against Yo Kitchen, Like they better not play DeAndre Jordan that scenario, but can does that where Zi Naji becomes important? But even like having Aaron Gordon as your day Facto four in there, if mpg's you're three, or just having both of them, I think you get by when you're going punch or punch with their best units. And I think you have no fewer than two guys on this team that you feel comfortable saying, well, they have two of these half court outside in creation weapons, like we can handle that like between Aaron Gordon and Kcyp. Specifically, Casey was a little bit more up and down last year. I think the people credit that might also describe his entire career. You have Bruce Brown, you could throw in there. You have Devon Reader. Again, I think that Jamal Murray are not like I don't want him defending the best players on the other team, but he gets you to a point if he's healthy, with the way that he can fight and compete and be physical on defense, isn't going to get like, you know, checked into oblivion on screens or caught off guard by them, and he can get through them, around them, over them, whatever, Like he could really do that. That all. I just feel like they have just enough. And if you're a team that I can envision being the thirteenth best defense in the league this season with the talent they have, if they're going to be relatively healthy, we might be looking at a team that's the best regular season record but then also just becomes like this juggernaut in the playoffs. I think that's what ultimately differentiates them from if we wanted to go the Utah Jazz route, where they finished with the best record in the League in twenty twenty one. Last year they fall off or whatever, but once they get to the playoffs, they're considered this paper tiger. I think it very much had to do with what they had in front of around behind Rudy Gobert defensively, and now the Nuggets have plugged to me, at least on paper, a bunch of those issues with Nakole Yokich, who I also just don't think was this categorical liability to begin with. Even when we get to the postseason, there are I'd be worried about Golden States guards going after him. Of course, for them like that would terrify me more than more than anything. With the way that they have it's not even just like going after the Nuggets, and like there's just like a lot of like a lot of yo yo NOAs to the way that the Warrior's guards can play both on and off the ball. Like the movement is so east, west, north, south, pinbally all over the place that I could see it giving them real issues. And I you know, I don't necessarily feel that way about a lot of the other teams in the West, like I said, because of some of the depth in New Orleans I can maybe see that, and just the Zion matchup doesn't seem like it's particularly great for Denver. But you even look at if they were to match up with Milwaukee in the finals. I don't view there as being anything other than a Yana stopper. But having Aaron Gordon in that series is a luxury a lot of other teams wouldn't have. And then you worry about Drew and Chris Middleton. Kcp's gonna help you out on at least one of those assignments. There we stretches where I think Bruce Brown coup the other two, but where Jamal Murray can survive if he's healthy on a Drew holiday. So this team questions depth. I'm taking a gamble here, but I don't feel confident enough in any other team's chances. I come very close to Milwaukee and their depth is just a little bit confusing to me, rom asking, oh, can the Nuggets hit on the defense with very much this proven personnel. There's Milwaukee's depth and I'm just sort of wondering, well, how reliant are they gonna be on some of these guys, Like again, how how good you need Javon Carter to be or certain, like we know their top six, feel pretty certain they're starting lineup, or I guess maybe he wouldn't. It depends on how you feel about Connaton, Middleton, Brick Lopez, Jannis Drawn and Bobby Pores. Maybe you feel really good about their top six, but like having to be relying on West or Sir Jebaca, Javon Carter. I'm Joe Ingles not playing until the middle of the year, and what does he look like upon return, especially on defense. I don't want Bucks fans that take does the slide. I just picked him to come out of the East and make the you know, one of the two teams standing. But that's a real concern for me. So the Nuggets are my twenty two twenty three title pick. That is why I'm still a little bit not so confident about it and incoherent on it. But that's just what I'm settling on because I needed to get something on paper that could be trolled later. As for the rest of the awards, I'll do this. I have this thing set up where you can look at the awards as I go on YouTube if you'd like to all unveil I went five to eat for each award and then ten for MVP, just just because it's really only three and five respectively normally. But I just there are a lot of names that I considered for these, but I wanted to get something on paper so that people can make fun of me later. I will not be doing all NBA at this point. I haven't given enough thought and I kind of just increasingly feel like I don't want to do those leading into the season. That's more of a fun like mid season exercise. And also, you know, if you do poor rankings and stuff like, you can kind of discern what you're all MBA predictions would be. So we'll begin with Coach of the Year here. And I I think the other thing that I think is like important. If you're in the top five of consideration for these awards, it's a big deal. It's not an insult if you want to get on me about snubs. I think even an MVP, if I'm predicting you finished top ten on the MVP ballot, maybe you should be concerned because I suck and I'm an idiot. But finishing the top ten, I think people it's like a legitimately big deal, and I just don't think that we should lose sight of that. So I guess I'll avail my winners first, or I just unvail my top five all at once for the peep, for the kids who are watching from home. Let's do that. So I have, Oh, I already deleted number five here, but number five I have Mike Brown in Sacramento. Just I think if he staves off them being a bottom five defensive team, he's kind of all done his job. But just also the vibes that are emanating out of Sacramento, I just buy into it, where like maybe he's just really laying a cultural foundation to where the team understands how they're playing, what they're doing, so they could win thirty seven games, make the play in and he could still be a solid Coach of the Year candidate. At a number of four, I have Eric Bolster in Miami. I don't have a rhyme reason for this other than like, he hasn't won this award yet. I don't believe, and it's weird that he hasn't because he might just be the best overall coach in the NBA. I'm worried about the heat after losing PJ. Tucker. Even looking at their bench, which proved to be deeper than last year, yet still feels flimsy this year because you're nudging Caleb Martin up into the starting ladder for PJ. Tucker. And then also if you are playing Tyler hero there permanently as a starter, like now it's a Victor Oladipo, who's your your sixth guy. But that team just always overachieved them in the regular season. I was wondering whether they're gonna be top four. They finished with the best record in the East. So he just has to be there Tyler for the Clippers. I just he's a really good coach and he's gonna do some inventive offensive stuff, and I think the lineups he runs out are gonna be when you look at this personnel, those were probably gonna be super creative and inventive. And I just think when you look at his body of work, I mean last season, to have them in the realm of making it, like into the play and then out of the play. And if Paul George doesn't get injured without a Kawhi Leonard dealing with injuries to Norman Powell after he came over, this is someone new. I don't think he's underrated, He's probably properly rated. I think he can contend for this honor in any given year. Number two I have Chris Finch. This is more like I'm super high on the Timberwolves for the regular season, and I feel like he's gonna do some really ingenious offensive stuff, especially with the two bigs on the court. What you're gonna see if you're worried about the shooting in some of the lineups, I think when you get deeper into their bench where there's a lot of concerns, that's where he could really shine there too, and then even in the one big lineups. So I'm just interested to see what that offense looks like, what they're doing in the half court, what does he do defensively, how do they balance you know, the ultra aggressive schemes they were playing last year, with how Rudy Gobert is best suited this year and knowing you don't necessarily have to play hyper aggressive because he is behind you. And I think this team, because it's deemed experimental with the two bigs, I think Gobert Karlathy Towns are cleaner fit than people are crediting. But if they wind up flirting with fifty wins, it's probably gonna take some people back, which is I think I should mention about these. I try to combine my picks with predictions, where it's like when we get to MVP Nicole Yokich, I think could be right there, but he's just not gonna win again, and so I have to factor that, and like they're just not voting for the same dude three times in a row. At this point, my Coach of the Year pick is and I'm very upset. I think this has probably become a little bit more popular. That's the danger of waiting so long to do these, and not that I anyone should take me as a forward thinker or adopt my ideals. I just didn't think I've seen a few people pick him already. I didn't think he was gonna be a pick Willie Green. I'm sold all the way on New Orleans, the way they defended with personnel that wouldn't necessarily intimate they could defend well that way after their three and sixteen start. Being able to get back in transition, taking care of the low hanging fruit when it comes to just getting up on the glass. Having zionback could compromise that a little bit and you have a full season of CJ. McCollum. But I'm like, Zion looks like he's in great shape and it's you know, never mind on the ball. If he can improve a little bit off the ball, I think that goes a long way for this team as well. And if he's able to Willie Green's coaching them into you the you know, the mid tier, the top six in the West, that's just the capslock achievement. So I have him was winning Coach of the Year, that I guess is stepping out on limb. But you could make a case I could have probably went ten deep on this. Just in any given year, it seems like it goes to the coach. It's, oh, it's either the best team or the team that overachieved the most. And so like there are a lot of coaches you can envision meeting that that baseline criteria. Sixth Man of the Year the award I hate. The most Defensive Player of the Year. I might hate the most because I feel like, just full stop, the stuff that I understand about defense is just not granular enough for me to you know, if I actually had a vote to make myself cast it, So that's the hardest. So I don't know if I hate it will just been the year I hate because it's it could definitely be the seventh eighth man. It's almost like, let's have it doesn't matter if the guy's closing game should really be considered a sixth man. But it's an award, so we're going through it. At number five. I have Colin Sexton. I just don't know how long he's gonna come off the bench in Utah four. But if he does, he's like carbon made to win this award, and they're gonna have a ton of space around him in most lineups, Like, yeah, they could play Vanderbilt or Walker Kessler f the five. Kessler might have a jump shot though proh, we know, But like having a link at marketing and being able on the front court with Clarkson and Conley and Relie Beasley and then Sexton himself, there's gonna be a lot of space to operate, and so I think you talk would be a little bit better while they're together then expected on. Oh but it's how long are all these players on this team? How long is context and coming off the bench. I took a little bit of a risk here, but five is an unofficial number for the ballot. You normally go three deep, so I don't feel too bad Norman Powell at number four that you run into the same issue. Will he come off the bench enough in LA I think he will, because the alternative would be I think they'll futs and fiddle with Wall and Jackson before. If there's an issue and we know they're starting Reggie Jackson first, they have Kawai and Paul George, They're gonna start zoobots and so I think for most of the season they're gonna want to gravitate towards Marcus Moore Senior at the four if he doesn't work out. I do feel like they're more inclined to go with maybe a tomb or Covington, and if they want to get smaller or they then go with Terrence Mann instead. Nor Powell could technically be in the starting lineup at the risk there too, I will say the player I wanted to pick, I'll wait until the end. I'll wait until the end. But there's a player I want to pick, I'm just not convinced he's gonna be coming off the bench for that long or enough. Number three Malcolm Brogden. This is probably low hanging fruit one. I guess if you wanted to, he technically could be elevated to start a material in Boston. With Robin Williams the third out, maybe I'll need to adjustice pick there, but he just seems like a no brainer. Gives you a lot of straight line creation, some shooting, and he'll play enough to make an impact. But again, if he winds up starting games, we have to adjust because I wouldn't pick Derek White in his stead. Let's make that clear right now. And a lot of it, you know, it depends on so many different factors. I might have had him winning it if I was more clear on his role, or if I felt better about Boston than I did. Their situation has just devolved so much in the past month. Number two Malik Monk and Sacramento, who I considered to win the award, But I think the first place one technically a no brainer. Sacramentos would be so good on offense, and the spacing should just be bonker. You play whoever you want at the five, and then it's just unless you're trying to get away with some questionable wing minutes. But maybe Casey Apollo is gonna end up hitting these threes. Monk, though, is gonna have all the space to operate. Had a great year in Los Angeles, and I think it was gonna be like just more of a license to go kaboom in Sacramento. I guess you can wonder how how big of a role is he gonna play if they're gonna like, are they staggering him a bunch from Davion Mitchell. I ultimately think that he's just going to play enough, because the top seven on this on that roster is what matters the most. When you're looking at their starting maybe top eight if you want to throw Holmes in there, but you look at their top five of Barnes, Sabonis, Murray Fox, Kevin Herder, you also have Davion Mitchell, Malik Monk. Who am I forgetting that super obvious here right off the bat, I'm already like, I'm already going off the rust. Your Holmes is there for sure. But regards there's wing questions about this team. Did I name Harrison Barnes there? If I forgot Harrison Barnes, I apologize, But I think Monk is going to play a prominent enough role there and his scoring, his shooting, his ability to do things like off the dribble where maybe those assist numbers come up because Sacramento surrounding him with so much shooting. I think these bench line ups could even include Trey Lyles the element of floors basing that you're going to get from him. So I believe that he's probably gonna end up being their most important bench player. To me, that's from someone who's a little bit lower on Davey on Mitchell than the consensus. So I think he's going to be right in that mix. I just don't think ultimately that you're going to beat Jordan Pool. He's my number one pick. Will he come off the bench enough to qualify, Yes, I think the Warriors will just stagger. It's not even stagger at that point. It might just be an early plug if you find if they find they don't want to go with too much Kavan Luny and Draymond Green, or that they want to give it a different look with getting him in there for Clay Thompson even or maybe Andrew Wiggins. It'll happen quickly. He'll play like thirty plus minutes per game. I think he'll close a lot of games still that was not the case in the playoffs. That might be something to watch, but for the regular season, he's the quintessential sixth man of the year. The player I want to pick here, I'm actually not gonna get to because he's as of right now, he's my most improved player pick. And I don't know if it's spicy or not, but number five, I'm most improved player. About Cam Johnson starting in Phoenix, beginning the season with some injury concerns and get an extension that was weird, But now he's playing for his next contract officially that matters, and either he and or Bridges are gonna be saddled with more on ball responsibility. I think I trust mckel bridges more when you're looking at like passing stuff, But when you look at Cam Johnson's shot creation, the types of shots that they can hit, I like him more. And so I could see him just really exploding. And his numbers have already been deflated enough to where if he does pop, it's going to help his most improved case even more. And I think his role becomes much more important this season, not just because Jay Crowder is not there, but the bench might suck. I mean they have, they have real NBA players on there, Don't get me wrong. Mike Viho was singing the praise of Jacklin. Jock Landale to me thinks that I'm really gonna like him, have not seen enough of him in pre seasons of comment on that. I am a an ish Wayne right guy. I don't actually know if he's gonn play. But you trust Landry shammit? Do you trust Cameron Payne? Do you trust Tory Craig. I like the idea of Damian Lee is that is it as good in practice? Though I could not tell you. Josh Akog I don't trust him really at all. Dariel Schartz, let's see what he looks like. It's Matt beyonmo at some calling minutes for them last year, but one I know what I named. Really, I guess you're looking at Craig and Sharts and a Kogi and Lee, Like, if you're talking about the wing minutes, that's where you're going to impact or infringe upon. Cam Johnson's important the most, and I just don't think there's anyone on the roster that can come close to doing that right now. I wouldn't be shocked if people have them higher on their ballots or if you actually won this award. To be quite frankly, that's the other thing. If you're on this ballot, I like I see a pathway to you winning the award. Number four, Tyrese Haliburton. I'm just wondering if he can get better enough on an Indiana team that will eventually be tanking to win. I think that whether or not he's more aggressive as a shot taker and maker, just the passing is beautiful from him. I think he can control and run in offense. I think he can do a lot of stuff out of isolation. I think you're going to see more complicated off the dribble, not moves because he has those, but shots that he'll hit. And if the Pacers are a little bit better than expected in the intern, that will buy his case. But he's just I think this guy's the real deal. Like I think he's a future All NBA candidate, if not outright selections at some point. I'm just wondering if the baseline is too high for him already to where he's not going to play in enough games or the Pacers aren't gonna be good enough to get in attention, or more likely we're dealing with some Tyris Haliburton breaks. Now I did play him through the end of last season. It's just a little bit different when the tanking is going to be as aggressive as it will be this year. That's the level of thought I'm putting into this. If anybody cares, maybe you view that as just the surface level bullshit, but that's the level of thought I'm putting into it. Number three on MP Wendell Carter Jr. I am pretty bullish about this. Average is like fifteen points three assists per game last year on relatively efficient scoring, did a better job of hitting the three ball as the season went on. He's around more talent this year. Franz Wagner is a year older. You have Paalo bank Caro. The guard places still gonna be iffy. Jalen Suggs doesn't look like there's a long term injury concern there. Marco Folts, we know that he's dealing with. It was the thumb injury. It came track all the injuries that were coming out. My point being, there's gonna be a lot of touches for Wendell Carter Jr. Who did a lot of stuff when you're looking at facilitation some of the plays he was making out of pick and roll later a season, being able to stretch the floor. There's also like when you compare him to other bigs, there's more North South jet fuel to him for me, where he doesn't need a running start to get going like he is someone who will absolutely just take you and go off there and then make yo can make plays out of that situation or create for himself there. I think that he could end up in the All Star conversation in the East, and if he does that, he's probably gonna be in the most Improved Player discussion. I think that he improved a great deal last year, but that the baseline isn't so high, or at least his ceiling is so far away enough for me, I can see him contending there and look a lot of people. I don't know how I feel about this. I feel like we might be rushing to coordinate. How good Paalo bank Caro is A lot people think the Magic are going to be better than expected. Wouldn't shock me. They have a lot of intriguing talent here, and if they're just hovering around the fringes of the playing that's going to help him get attention for m IP. Kind of a stab in the dark, but I'm pretty bullish on how good Wendell Carter Jr. Is Number two. LaMelo Ball was my pick. I don't even know if I should have him on this list. He's dealing with the ankle stuff to start the year, not projected to miss a ton of time, but I am convinced the Hornets are not going to be good this season, and so I'm curious as to whether he'll be brought along slowly or he'll miss a mysterious amount of games as they try and enter the Victor Ween ban Yama Scoot Henderson Sweepstakes. And then even if he's going to play a bunch at full bore. Was that kind of look like not coming back from the ankle injury, But with what this team sort of looks like around him, with a lot of an experience at the five, we're just not enough raw talent there. I do think, though, that this is someone who has shown so much already and if he can make any improvement as an on ball defender, I think we've seen that he does a lot of stuff off the ball there, his passing is transcendent. I think he is a better, more expansive scoring package than people credit him for. There's been a lot of talk about whether he needs the offer Dribble three. I think he's actually shown a little bit more with it than people give him credit. I also don't think he needs it when you look at the havoc he can create when going downhill also away from the ball as a shooter. If he is in fact stronger and working on is finishing and getting to the foul line more. This is someone who can make that transition into star slash superstar territory this year. I think for him it's not a matter of skill, it's opportunity and whether the Hornets are gonna give him enough. That's what makes some of these awards super tough, the ones that aren't traditionally tied to winning. And look there was I called it six Man of the Year. How about that sixth Man of the Year. I just fix the typo for anyone who cares. I think it just comes down the matter opportunity is where I'm at, and I don't know how to feel about that. That's what makes these awards. As I was saying so tough, especially the ones that aren't necessarily tied to winning. You'll coach the year. Okay, we can eliminate guys from tanking, but six Men of the Year, most Improved Player, Rookie of the Year. It's more of a free for all there. And I'm not saying team success needs to be everything. When you get into the subject of tanking specifically, that really does impact the volume at which a player is going to see time an opportunity. My number one pick, who was also my sixth Man of the Year pick, but I don't think that he's I think he's ultimately not going to be on the oh he was my runner up in six Man of the Year. Excuse me. I don't think he's gonna come off the bench enough. I think this team fucks with its line up to the time to start, and I could also see him just being a starter by year's end. I am sold on the precious that you experience. He is, just I don't he's an enigma in the best possible way when you look at look we talk about the shooting last year ends up jacking up his attempts shot almost thirty six percent, shot like forty percent to close the year. What he can do is just this ultra switchable defender at every level. It's like he's a stopper at every level on defense, which is just so so so so so so rare. And then we saw it a little bit last season, but we saw this preseason and I got into it with aman Adn when we were talking about the Raptors on our look aad like, he's just there's like a standstill creation game to him now, whereas you don't need to have him grab the ball for rebound and go and transition, although we will do that, give him the ball in the half court and have him initiate. I don't know that I want him running picking rolls. I don't want him and trusted with facilitating for others. But in the preseason he took and hit like some just spinning in between shots. He's able to back guys down with like maybe not the highest level of coordination, but with this speed that puts a lot of pressure on the basket. And if he's going to be someone who can work from the outside in while hitting jumpers, while getting out in transition, sometimes with the ball in his hands, while also switching all over the place, covering every level of defense. You need to be a room protector. Okay, you even to cover a point guard. Fine, muck up plays in the middle. Sure, I don't like most improved is typically reserve for Oh they just made the they graduated from fringe stardom to actual all stardom or something. I get it. I'm not ruling it out for him. I think he's just gonna catch a lot of people, maybe by surprise this year, who weren't paying attention to the good chunk of his season last year. And look he this is not me being out in front on him. Raptors fans were all over him, of course. But I thought that that was the most curious trade that Toronto made when it was for Kyle Lowry, and it ends up that they might have gotten the single most valuable asset out of it. That's no disrespect too. Kyle Lowry looks healthier, just getting a little older, So I would just keep an eye of pressures at you. This is someone who I could see being a mainstay, not just in closing units, but as a starter and as a lot of people already touched upon. He's probably already the best defender on this roster. Now, how much are they going to look to groom him as opposed to well, Scottie Barnes at, Fred van Fleet and Pascal Siakam are already there. That's really not that many guys though, once you think about it, how many on ball reps are they trusting with? Gary Trench Junior and coming off the bench might actually aid his case here because he would have more offensive volume because pressis Chua seems to scale to every type of offensive situation and defense as well, here's any type of offensive role At this point, I'm just keep your on Press Cheuwa. That's the pick I'm going with, and that I think that's probably my spiciest pick of this entire thing. Number five on Rookie of the Year Terry Eason, I'm aboard the train there. I think this dude is just going to be like very good rookie as a rookie defender, and because the Rockets are like they don't have these true wings, I think he wind up playing a pretty big role for them. And I also don't think the learning curve will just be as steep for him as it will be for Jabari Smith Junior, who I think his best skill set right now or best role will be as a play finisher on offense, and then they're gonna try and have him do just really complicated things on defense, particularly when he's playing with Alpern Shane Gouon. I just think it while he by far and away is the higher ceiling, it might take him a little longer to come along. Number four here Heagan Murray. I think a lot of people are gonna pick Keegan Murray ultra plug and play. The way he moves without the ball for Sacramento in Summer League, from what I saw, was just absolutely incredible, going to be able to knock down shots right away for them. He should be fine defensively. I just don't know that I trust him to actually cover wings. I think defense really isn't that important when we're if we're being honest, when we're talking about rookie of the year to begin with, I'm just wondering if he has enough scoring volume or a playing time volume. I don't think Mike Brown will give him a quick hook. But like that hierarchy in Sacramento's pretty crowded with Barnes and Simonas and Fox and Kevin Herder and then Molik Monk coming off the bench. I'm just wondering if some of his offensive production can be artificially repressed and if his role is going to be and you could factor this in, but like, will he be more of a decoy and not have the county numbers to really get involved there? Still top five for him would be pretty good. Wouldn't shock me if he wanted. I think that you could probably name if you told me ees in one Rookie of the Year, I guess I'd be a little bit surprised. But if you just told me, like any of these other guys, and even people that don't make this list, like Jabari Smith Junior, if he just hits right away jere he saw at number three, I'm convinced. He just feels like a very good connective player. And if his jumper improves at all or he shows anything with it this season, I might be ready to vault him up these standings a little bit. I think he's already gonna give the Spurs a lot of defensive valuability. I think he's going to be He has a nice feel for the game, even when he's not taking it like a dribble as a passer, and if you can create space or get him out in transition into lame where he can make plays for others, I think he's going to shine, and I do think the opportunity will be there. I've still gone back and forth and whether I think the Spurs will play. They're really inexperienced kids enough where if it's Josh Primo, I get it, he'll play. A bunch is a sophomore, but they've always been a little bit more judicial with their their rookies. I just don't think that's gonna happen this year. Also, I nudged him up at least a few points in my head because of the hair color. And no, I don't regret that. For anyone who's asking Bennic math at number two, he's been a fairly popular pick to win it. He has and this is take this with a grain of salt, just because anyone who probably paid attention to call best wall move this based off Summer League. He has a lot more on ball juice to offer than I really just ever envisioned. And he's gonna see I think a lot of wing minutes since the Pacers just our anti wing at this point, there's Aaron E. Smith and like that's basically it. Do you consider O'Shea Brisette oh Wing, I don't know that I go that far. So he's like more of a two point five. I guess this dude can score, and if they put the ball in his hands, like it wouldn't shock me if he's just yeah, it could be rough for some moments. But can he work himself in the discussion by the end of the year, like the way Jalen Green did, where he's just putting up these gaudy efficient numbers because it's really coming together for him. What if he does that a little bit earlier because he has a primary ball handling partner that Jalen Green did not have, Like that's not Kevin Porter, Junior John Wall wasn't playing Dennis Shrewder for part of the year. Doesn't count Josh Christopher Ant, So it just wouldn't surprise me if he is the actual winner of this reward. It was actually tough for me to choose here because the player I actually went with with Pale Bank Caro Row Hanging Fruit. I believe so much in him, but now I'm wondering when you look at the guard play and the injury concerns on this roster. Are they gonna put too much on him much like they did with Jalen Suggs last year which contributed in addition to injuries. Have Tim having that sort of you know, stop and start rookie season where he just wasn't super efficient, it could take longer for it to come together. But I just I believe in Palabank Carrot. We're talking mega star material. That's why I sees the outcome for him having someone with his size who could create the way that he does. He's probably already Orlando's best passer. Is it? Like? I don't know how you feel about Suggs or Wendell Carter Junior there, Like, do you really are do you feel that strongly about Cole Anthony? So Palabank Carroll, I don't. I can at least, just if this loses, I can at least justify picking yet because he was just the number one overall pick. I am wondering if I've rushed it though, because he's gonna have such a high profile role, does he need time for it to come together? That being said, like you gave Kay Cunningham a high profile role last year, If he doesn't miss part of the year due to injuries and plays him just as many games as ad minutes as Scotty Barnes and Evan Mobley. Does he win the award? I don't know so I'm I just feel like Orlando's going to give him like complete control over the offense from day one, or at least as much as he wants it. And there's enough talent around him that I think can augment him. If Jalen Suggs has a bounce back year, Franz Wagner is already really good, wind O'carter Junior is really good. Having two caliber players like that around him is a big deal. Questions about the shooting some of the lineups they will run. I ultimately trust him to just really make waves on the offensive end. It wouldn't shock me if he led the magic this season in both points and assists and those numbers on everything, but it would be a pretty big harbinger of how good of a year he's having. Number five on Defensive Player of the Year. I have Evan Mowbury, I mean Evan Mobley just everywhere, all at once, all over the place, just absolutely monstrous. I do if the Calves have a really good defense this season while playing a lot of Mitchell and Garland together, but also while maybe not skewing all the way defense at the three where it's oh, did they try and get away with Jetty Osman for too many minutes there? Like if they go that route, if they play a bunch of Caras Lavert like with those two, and then the defense is still good and probably probably gonna be the primary reason why just because we keep talking about, well, who's their wing defender, who's their wing defender that can you know, Isaaca Coral is good? But can he hit enough of his threes or make you know? Are they going to create enough space to generate him to get moving downhill off the ball? Fair questions and mobile is just like you. You wanted to be your point of attack fender, you're wing defender, You're big. Fine he is. I think he probably deserved to be. I don't know where he finished, but he probably deserved to be in like the top five or six of this last year. I think I might have had him one of my all defense teams. To make of that what you will? Number four, Rudy Gobert, I think he might be. There are two ways to look at this. If Minnesota's just really fucking good when they get him, it's kind of this vindication for Rudy Gobert. But I also wonder if people go the route of trying to discredit him, where this dude's already won thirty times. Now he has better defensive talent around him because of Jane McDaniels, Kyle Anderson, all of those two probably should never play together. And then even Anthony Edwards. They think there's something might argue, like you player, that Angel Mors will put up a lot more defensive resistance than Donovan Mitchell last year. So I think that works against him, but could also work for him. I think he's more likely this would be my and maybe it's it's asked backwards, but maybe not. Maybe it's because the offers outranks the defense. He's more likely to finish to me top ten on the MVP ballot than top five on the Defensive Player of the Year ballot this year. That's probably a dumb prediction, but I think people are gonna use that too. Oh well, he just had more talent in Minnesota this year, like whatever. He could certainly be in the mix there, though Number three apparently doesn't want to show and I deleted them. Number three is I'm doing this for the benefit of people that are watching. I just don't want them to not know who's there. Also, did I forget who's to say? Number three Jan's attend to Kompo. I considered having him win the award. I'm just with Brooke coming back. That helps him playing his best role, but does that also take away from his case. I'm just wor that, not that he's going to break down. I want to make that clear, but that Milwaukee might not care about the regular season enough at this point, and maybe we even see some pullback on the way that Jannis is used. And then if Brook Lopez gets injured or has to miss time like Jannis, all of a sudden becomes like you're primary big in those situations, which might be your best the best version of yourself for the postseason, maybe the best definitely the best version of yourself on offense. Does it displace him from his best defensive role, which is no, you're not necessarily the primary big, but you're not. You're not the like You're just you're all over the place, everywhere, all at wants is the best way that he could play. You don't even want him to be. Yeah, you can go up against certain guys one on one, but that's not what you want him to do. I just splitting hairs here. Any one of these, especially the four, I think you can argue would win the award. Draymond Green at two I wanted to pick him to win. I'm just curious as to how much the Warriors allow him Clay Step to play during the regular season. I'm after talking to Sama's Findiari from light Years, after reading Marcus Thompson, after listening to the light Years podcast, after just reading a buch of Warriors stuff, and knowing how much that they're going to invest in I guess development. With James Wiseman and Jonathan cominga, do you see sort of the minutes for Draymond Green getting a little bit repressed? Does he get injured again? He seems like a lock to win Defensive Player of the Year last year. Then there's the whole punching Jordan Pool thing. Does that make him play better? Does him being the only one not getting an extension out of Wiggins, Pool and himself make him play better or worse? Is there this undercurrent of tension, So does he like actually not up to snuff. There is there a drop off defensively from Golden State that's unfairly attributed to him because they're playing so many youngsters. Again, I think the Warriors are going to have a damn good to great defense, which has been their identity for a lot of this dynasty. Steph Curry is their identity, and he just gets conflated with offense. And that's why everyone assumes it's they've been thermonuclear on offense a bunch of the times, but they've been a defensive team first and foremost through a lot of this run and Green is at the center of it all, regardless of how you feel about him as a lead at this point and what he did to Jordan Poole, I just I questioned the if it's not the commitment to the regular season for the team, can he stay healthy like he seemed to have dealt with stuff over time. And like I said, even if it's not that does some of the new faces or having to play with alongside more youth where it's Moses Moody, presumably Jordan Pool is going to play it a lot more and he's not a good defender. But with Jonathan coming and James Wiseman specifically, does that hurt you at all? I'm just really trying to come up with ways to not pick him. It's hard to just five bam Adebaio at number one. This is probably a little bit of a risk because I think bam Adebaio might be it's him or Yannis or Draymond are the single most important and impactful playoff defenders. I'm wondering if he loses something during the regular season. I think last year he was heroic enough on that end to where he probably could have won the award as well. And so you look at Miami structure, they need him to do even more if they still have this great defense without PJ. Tucker while you're playing a lot of Tyler hero when Caleb Martin is slated to be your four, who Kayla Martin is solid, but you want him being your four. If there's any drop off from Kyle Lowry because he's, you know, four years old at this point, I think that goes as a vote in BAM's favors if he's able to uplift this defense when Miami's rotation kind of outside it's top four guys is just so questionable this year, and look, maybe feel differently if you're in love with Victor Oladipo or you know, Gabe Vinzent Max Strus. They have guys that they can lean on, but you know, none of the people that name just now are these defensive wonderkins. And he can spend time with Omar at seven on this. I know a lot of people are high on heywoodhis Smith's defense, and maybe I'm underrating that. Is Duncan Robinson part of the rotation. If he is, that's a lot too uplifted. But I think that bam is, you know, really set. They've put a lot on him. I think with the loss of p J. Tucker and I would expect him to deliver. I think we're gonna get a huge year from bam Adebayo. I don't know about offensively, I'd like to see him take more shots, even though that argument sounds like it might oversimplify it. The MVP discussion and I'm about to reveal fifth place before I reveal my sixth through ten, not reveal sixth through ten all at once? Okay, ten, I've Pascal Siakam I toyed with putting him even higher in this I hopefully don't know if he'll get to that level. I could see him. He is like the single most important offensive player on the Raptors to me, just trading offers Fred van Fleet maybe in a little bit more Scottie Barnes eat into that importance than of course making room for Pressure Schua Jason Tatum at nine. I just don't know what to expect from the Celtics this year. I'm not I'm not going to lie. He might have to play some center. Do his defensive assignments get a little bit tougher now that Robert Williams the third isn't going to be in that role that Udoka had put him in the middle of last year. I guess he could come back and this isn't you know, if you need Robert Williams a third to help you boost your MVP case where you know, we're just splitting hairs here. But I do wonder if do we see his offensive totals slip a little bit because they are a little bit more aligned on having Malcolm Brockton and Derek White to create maybe even Jim John Brown a little bit more. Maybe Marcus Smart Smart is a little bit more available, This might feel touched too low for him. Would I have to factor in with these rankings, though, I will make clear the teams have to be really good like here, just we saw the Nuggets nakookas forty eight wins kind of feels like the like forty six forty eight territory, And so that's why some other names might not have been considered. I Zion Williamson at eight. That's probably a bigger jump over Tatum. Can he be one of the you know, seven to eleven or twelve best players in basketball, which is what you probably need to win MVP? Yes, I mean we saw him become an All NBA candidate in year two when he was available. If he's going to put up that same production on that same efficiency while getting better on defense, and the Pelicans shoot up to top four in the West, which I do think is possible for them, he's going to be right there. Joel Embiid at seven. I think that he and James Harden are going to cannibalize consideration more than most people think. We're all just assuming this is Joel Embiad's team. That James Harden is cooked. He's done being a top ten to fifteen player. He's more like the you know, sixteenth to twenty seventh best player in the league. I'm not ready to go there yet. With James Harden. That's not an insult to Joel Embiid. You also have to play the availability stuff here. Miss a career low fourteen games last season. Can you count on him to do that again? Knowing how banged up he was come playoffs. I have Nicole Yokich at six. Maybe this is ceremonial. I think realistically he probably should be higher because of how good he is and if the Nuggets are as good as they're going to be. I just don't think that people are going to vote for him fair enough. I don't think that you're they're going to vote for him. So I might have him personally higher on my ballot, but I'm doing predictions here. Number five is James Harden. That's also why I have Joel and being low. I'm gonna I'm gonna lean into this. Maybe I'm just being seduced by his MVP odds, which I think we're at like plus eight thousand last time I checked. Why do we think he's done? Like, let's he's in shape not dealing with a hamstring injury at the moment, and as far as we know, he's not gonna go on an effort strike this year like the past two seasons so that he can get to another team, And that alone is just huge. It's a regular season award too. Maybe the way he's played in the playoffs passed, you know, the ball couldn't get back to him, you know, that kind of taints the way that people of view him. Maybe Joel Beid's importance on defense, coupled with what he does on offense uplifts him over James Harden. I just don't I see that we might have a year or two left of close to Houston Rockets James Harden and knowing how good the Sixers are gonna be, knowing how much he opens up for everyone else, even if he's scoring a little bit less, I think he could firmly end up in this discussion. Luca Danchets at four. He is the betting favorite, I believe, and he's probably gonna be one of, if not the most popular pick. He has the yokih case going for him right now, which is the team around him got worse just by losing John Brunson, and since the reporting cast is so unimpressive to begin with, if he's able to prop up the Mavericks to play like a top four or five team in this West, where the healthy Nuggets and Clippers are there, where the Nuggets and the Suns are there, where the Grizzlies are still sort of hanging around, where the Timberwolves and Pelicans are rising, where the Lakers trey rosters or something that becomes a big deal. And I wouldn't shock me if he want it. I just not that I think Dallas is gonna tank. I question whether they're gonna be good enough for him to win it. But I do recognize that, like their biggest offseason addition right now was him getting a personal chef, because if he's coming in and just great shape and ready to tear it up. Yeah, we saw what he did last year where he kind of willed himself into that like fringe top five consideration. That was with having like two months of the season just sort of thrown away where he was playing his way into shape. So this is tough. It was tough to place him the next one. I think a lot of people will have Devin Booker who have at number three behind on Chitch. I think that might be fair. I'm expecting a massive year from Booker, and maybe it's not enough because there are so many questions about the suns, or maybe they're focusing on giving Aton and Johnson and Bridges different kind of touches. I fully believe that Devin Booker is going to have to be used as even more of a floor general this season, with CP three getting up there, with the questionable depth he finished was a fourth or fifth on the MVP out last year, I would have him hovering around the same instance here. I do tend to be higher on Devin Booker. I just look at the attention that he's able to draw when he's on or away from the ball, the different forms that his offense can take, whether you actually need him to be passing off of live dribbles and going downhill or just snaking into the middle and like mutilating defenses from there. You'd like to see his rim volume go up a little bit more. I'm just convinced one of these seasons he's gonna shoot like forty three percent on four pull up three point attempts per game or something. I just wouldn't rule it out and knowing that CP three is a year older, that the Suns are shallower. Is this someone who could average thirty plus points and like six plus assists per game or seven plus assists. I think that that's his ceiling this year because they need it and he's not someone maybe you don't care about the regular season as much, but you're more likely to curb the minutes of a Chris Paul, which then is going to inflate the you know the criticality of Devin Booker, so you're not going to enforce a minute's cap on him. We have to see how invest that they aren't doing that. And the idea that we need to see more of Devin Booker is I don't say traditional point guard. We've seen him be the primary playmaker before, but like in these actual just slow it down. There is no other option on the court, Like there's been limited lineup sample size with that, and even when he's who's like that, feels like he's also playing off someone. I'm talking no campaign, no Chris Paul on the floor, leaning into some bigger lineus where he's actually your point guard. I'm just this might be me stepping out a limb similar with James Harden. I think it's just going to be a gargantuan season from him, and maybe I'm also trying to counteract how low people are on the Suns. Number two is Steph Curry. He was my pick and you can move him down if you want, and I'd listen to you. I think they're probably gonna arrest him more than anybody else on the team, or at least can serve him because of how important he is. We're talking about someone who is going into his mid thirties now. But I just like people were kind of down on him ras year because he didn't shoot a trillion percent from three. I just feel like he's going to have I don't want to say I'm just gonna throw out monster season again here. It's just he doesn't have anything to prove and they're coming off a title. But man, with all the do we use the Draymond Jordan Pool thing to do? They use it to rally around Steph Curry, and then that narrative gets painted because the MVP a lot of the times is narrative. I'm really not kiking that in if you told me Steph was gonna play in sixty seven to sixty eight games, sixty nine games. If you told me sif I was gonna play in seventy, I'd pick him. Like, let's boost the number. I'm picking the MVP here. So if you told me that Steph was going to play in seventy games, I would give the MVP. Dam I just don't know if he's going to I don't know that the Warriors have made his job any easier by the way. Jordan Pools yet to run a league average offensive better when Steph Curry's off the floor for his career. I don't think that's saying much because last year Jordan Pool was like, there's his first year was throwaway, his second year was like he didn't really get going until later, and then last year was a real full season where it's like, oh, that needed to be the guy during those minutes. I think he's more equipped to do that this year, and they have some interesting players around him, with the partnership with Dante Devincenzo, if they play those two together, or if there's the pick and roll chemistry that he gets going with James Wiseman. I'm not really it out, but I just don't think that the Warriors have done much, if anything, to Ashwaigs their reliance on Steph offensively this year. Jordan Pool is that next in line, having a full year of Klay Thompson. Maybe you trust Andrew Wiggins to do some more stuff on the ball for you. Not ruling it out. I just think that we're gonna once again look at it's not just this wild swing in performance when he's off the court, but that the Warriors offense might be just so measurably worse that we can't deny it. Still, I couldn't bring myself to pick him, mostly because there are a lot of people who cover the Warriors or follow the Warriors, a lot multiple people that just talked me out of it for this reason, and so I put him in too. He probably should be lower based off what they said, though my MVP, my actual MVP pick is Frank Neila k no I went with j honest attent to COOPO. I think the stage is sort of set for maybe him to win the Narrative Award. We could look, we could assume he's pissed off because he didn't win the title and he's just always been like the best player is the last one standing or whatever. But also just Chris Middleton's missing time to start the season, Pat Connaughton's out for a while, the Buck's depth is in question regardless. They just need jonnest tent to Coopo to be honest, Attenta Coopo, e've ben more so. And if we're also going to pepper in some improvement or him continuing to broaden his offensive horizons where we saw him just have more of a mid range game last year, just some counters to counters. Maybe he gets to a point where he's actually looking for those shots rather than taking it because the defense has backed off and just casually driven into it. Like maybe that's something he gets to and gets off at a higher processing speed. If it's like, honestly, just game over there. I really flirted with picking him to win Defensive Player of the Year an MVP. Again, that's just the type of ceiling that he has is to do it twice. But I do think that he gives the Bucks a level of stability even amid all these injuries, even with offensive concerns. For Drew Holiday, who by the way, is kind of a dynamo in the regular season, just hit his stepbacks at an astronomical equip last year it was over forty percent, and he took a good amount of them and his affective field goal percentage like close to seventy or some shit like that on them. But like, there isn't a ton of safety nets here in Milwaukee, and yet I still think pretty confidently they're gonna have one of the like if their floor feels like third in the East to me, maybe they increase their don't give a fuck factor here. But I felt like they were there last year, or at least they were dealing with enough sort of in and out of the lineup not having Brooke, and they still just kind of stumble their way into fifty one games and technical tie for the second best record in the East. This is a team where if it's defense is going to be better through and through, they will certainly be good enough for your honest to get the attention. Just I don't know that. Maybe do we have you honest voter fatigue because he's won twice already. I don't think we're there yet, and this is just the best player in the world buy a pretty substantial marsh now. The only one that I have really in the same realm as him would be Yokich, don Chich, Steph. I guess if you want to go Kevin Durant here, but availability is a thing, and he's just there is no one who is so dominant at both ends of the court like him. It's not me calling him a two way player, it's this is someone who can win, who can lead the league in scoring while winning Defensive Player of the Year. That's like, you know, are we about to see Yannis average thirty plus eight assists while contending for Defensive Player of the year. That is his? Like, that's not even his. I don't want to put a ceiling on him, but like, that's scenario you can envision for Yannis. But I think the it's all lined up in Milwaukee to where they're gonna have to rely on him to such an extent that if he's not in the discussion top two, three, four or five of this, they're they're probably in a little bit of trouble. And so I'm always just gonna trust in Yannis too. To me, is just the best player in the NBA by a substantial margin. Apologies to Lebron James or bouncing you from the top ten. I think that's only the third time in your career, you'd be left out of the top ten or second time since your rookie season, whatever it is. I don't trust the Lakers here like I can't consider Anthony Davison there. Those are my awards picks. Let me know what you think on Twitter or the comment section of YouTube. Please. If you made it all the way here, remember to subscribe. Hit that sub button on YouTube, comment and like the videos to help us, you know, break the algorithm, make the algorithm love us back wherever you want to frame it. Subscribe to us on Apple, Spotify, Stitcher, Google, wherever you get your podcast Dowlan or the episode ratings and reviews. Help a ton there as well. Until next time, and as always, leave, get the shout out to one, the only, the indelible, the actual MVP who's in a class his own. You though I didn't pick him, Frank, You'll do. M