Heat’s Adebayo and Nunn among finalists for NBA awards. A look at their competition
It has been a while since the Miami Heat took home one of the six annual individual NBA awards.
Seven years to be exact, with the last time coming when LeBron James was named the NBA’s Most Valuable Player in 2012-13 as a member of the Heat.
But there’s a chance that slump could end this year, as the three finalists for the NBA’s MVP, Rookie of the Year, Most Improved Player, Defensive Player of the Year, Sixth Man and Coach of the Year awards were announced Saturday afternoon.
Two Heat players were among the finalists: center Bam Adebayo for the Most Improved Player honor and guard Kendrick Nunn for the Rookie of the Year award.
New Orleans Pelicans forward Brandon Ingram, Dallas Mavericks forward Luka Doncic and Adebayo are the finalists in the Most Improved Player category. Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant, Pelicans forward Zion Williamson and Nunn are the finalists in the Rookie of the Year category.
Voting for NBA awards this season was based on games played from the start of the regular season through March 11, when play was suspended amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Voting did not include seeding games, which began July 30 at Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex in Lake Buena Vista.
A global panel of sportswriters and broadcasters voted late last month for the awards, which also include All-NBA Teams, NBA All-Defensive Teams and NBA All-Rookie Teams. TNT is expected to announce the award winners during the playoffs, which begin Aug. 17.
In Adebayo’s third NBA season and his first as a full-time starter, he entered the league shutdown averaging career-highs in points (16.2), rebounds (10.5), assists (5.1), steals (1.2), blocks (1.3) and minutes (34.4) on his way to earning his first All-Star Game appearance.
Adebayo, 23, and MVP finalist Giannis Antetokounmpo are the only two players in the league who entered the four-month layoff averaging at least 16 points, 10 rebounds, five assists, one steal and one block this season.
Adebayo, who was drafted by the Heat with the 14th pick in the 2017 draft, averaged 8.9 points, 7.3 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 0.9 steals and 0.8 blocks in 82 games last season. He started only 28 games, as he spent the first half of the season playing behind then-Heat starting center Hassan Whiteside.
Heat center Meyers Leonard said last month that he believes Adebayo deserves the Most Improved Player award.
“There’s one answer. It’s Bam,” Leonard said when asked how he defines the award. “That’s what it is. You talk about a young player who’s developing into a superstar right in front of our eyes.
“Obviously, I was in Portland and I was wondering, ‘OK, well what is he capable of?’ To be completely truthful and I’ve said this to Bam before, I thought he was an incredibly athletic player, gifted on the defensive end and could finish around the rim. We all now know that that is the truth, but there’s just so much more.”
The entire TNT team announcing the finalists — Charles Barkley, Draymond Green, Ernie Johnson and Kenny Smith — all agreed Saturday that Adebayo should be named the league’s Most Improved Player.
And it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the Heat has a Rookie of the Year finalist.
Nunn, who turned 25 on Monday and went undrafted in 2018, entered the NBA shutdown averaging 15.6 points on 44.8 percent shooting, 2.7 rebounds and 3.4 assists in 62 games (all starts). Nunn, who went undrafted in 2018, was named the Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month three times this season.
But Morant is the heavy favorite to be named Rookie of the Year. Nunn entered the hiatus ranked second in total points (970), second in total field goals made (381) and third in assists (210) among all rookies, with Morant leading in all three categories.
“I think Ja Morant, Kendrick Nunn and Zion in that order,” Smith said Saturday on TNT of how he would vote for the Rookie of the Year award. “I think just because of the amount of games. Zion would have won it with the number he’s putting up if he would have played the whole season.”
Barkley agreed: “I think it’s easily Ja. I do think Kendrick is the second.”
Nunn has been ruled out for Saturday’s game against the Phoenix Suns because of personal reasons. He left the NBA’s Disney bubble for reasons unrelated to COVID-19 or an injury, according to multiple sources, but he’s expected to rejoin the Heat soon.
The Heat has had two players win the NBA’s Most Improved Player award in franchise history — Rony Seikaly in 1989-90 and Isaac Austin in 1996-97.
The last three winners of the Most Improved Player award: Toronto’s Pascal Siakam in 2018-19, Indiana’s Victor Oladipo in 2017-18 and Antetokounmpo in 2016-17.
The Heat has never had a player win the Rookie of the Year award.
The last three winners of the Rookie of the Year award: Doncic in 2018-19, Philadelphia’s Ben Simmons in 2017-18 and then-Milwaukee’s Malcolm Brogdon in 2016-17.
FINALISTS
MVP
Antetokounmpo
Houston Rockets guard James Harden
James
Rookie of the Year
Morant
Nunn
Williamson
Most Improved Player
Adebayo
Doncic
Ingram
Defensive Player of the Year
Antetokounmpo
Lakers center Anthony Davis
Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert
Sixth Man
Los Angeles Clippers foward Montrezl Harrell
Oklahoma City Thunder guard Dennis Schroder
Clippers guard Lou Williams
Coach of the Year
Milwaukee’s Mike Budenholzer
Oklahoma City’s Billy Donovan
Toronto’s Nick Nurse
This story was originally published August 8, 2020 at 1:03 PM.
