2017-18 NBA Awards Watch (Week 3)

ROY
Three more debuts this week: Derrick Walton (Heat), Tyler Cavanaugh (Hawks), Tony Bradley (Jazz) bringing the total to 66 so far.

Ben Simmons (Sixers) still leads all rookies in Per Game: Minutes, Points, Rebounds, Assists, Free Throw Attempts (and is second in Steals). Who else can you possible vote for? And that's considering that this is a strong and interesting rookie class but Simmons is clearly the best of the bunch. He'll be an All-Star, should get some MVP votes and could even snare an All-Pro spot.


DPOY
Demarcus Cousins (Pelicans) is among league leaders in Blocks, Steals, Defensive Rebounds and Minutes Played. Factor in that his effective FG% is 53% and he's currently leading the league in Free Throw Attempts and that's a pretty good case that he is controlling the game as well as anyone in the league.


6th Man
No clear cut standout so far but some interesting stats: Spencer Dinwiddie (Nets) has 54:12 Asst:TO off the bench. Marco Belinelli (Hawks) has a 27:12 Asst:TO, is averaging 2 APG/1 RPG, and is shooting 45% from 3 and 95% from the line. Alex Len (Suns) averaging 8RPG and 5FTA off the bench. Marcus Smart (Celtics) has 48:21 Asst:TO and Terry Rozier (Celtics) has 27:7 and both are among the league leaders in Steals (though neither is shooting particularly well). John Collins (Hawks) and Ed Davis (Blazers) are among the league leaders in Offensive Rebounds. PJ Tucker (Rockets) not really showing up in the stats (leading in Minutes Played off the bench) but the eye test suggests to me he's contributing a lot for his squad.


Coach 
Brad Stevens (Celtics) is the easy pick so far: totally revamped roster, blistering expectations, already endured a heart-breaking injury to their big free agent pickup, getting a lot of minutes out of untested youngsters and the Celtics are still tops in the League--and looking like they could very well stay there all season long. That's amazing and totally legit: this team as it is right now looks like the best in the East. (Man, I'd never advocate bringing a guy back from injury too soon, but if Hayward were ready by mid-March, the Celtics might be looking pretty good to win it now)

I'd say Frank Vogel (Magic) and Jeff Hornacek (Knicks) should get big credit for their teams' hot starts.


Executive 
Yeah, this is still Danny Ainge's (Celtics) to lose, right? We'll see if some crafty GM can swing the perfect move at the trade deadline (Cousins is just waiting to be plucked), otherwise this is all Celtics.


MVP
Personally I think Brad Stevens is the Celtics' MVP but I can certainly understand the kudos for Kyrie Irving. LIkewise, I'd say the Warriors are too good, too balanced to produce a particular MVP. But Kristap Porzingas (Knicks) has been balling out and leading his team. Ben Simmons (Sixers)--yeah, I said it, this kid is un-guardable and clearly the reason for their hot start (Embiid is the icing but Simmons is the cake). And, of course, can't forget how great James Harden (Rockets) still is. Still lots of time for other candidates to emerge.