The NBA regular season comes to a close Wednesday night, which means the debate for the NBA awards will begin to heat up.
The Boston Celtics have had a tremendous season, despite losing Gordon Hayward, Kyrie Irving, Marcus Smart and Daniel Theis to injury along the way.
It also helps to have Brad Stevens as the head coach.
Jayson Tatum certainly has made a case to be this year’s Rookie of the Year by exceeding plenty of expectations, while Stevens is in the running for Coach of the Year. But ESPN’s Forecast panel does not foresee any member of the Celtics taking home hardware after the season concludes.
The Forecast panel projects Tatum coming in third for Rookie of the Year behind Utah Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell and Philadelphia 76ers guard Ben Simmons, respectively. Both Mitchell and Simmons are having exceptional seasons, which has sparked some banter between the two of them for who deserves the award.
Terry Rozier has come in clutch many times for the C’s this season, averaging 11.3 points and 4.7 rebounds per game for his injury-riddled team, but with players like Houston Rockets point guard Eric Gordon and Los Angeles Clippers shooting guard Lou Williams in the mix for the Sixth Man Award, Rozier will likely be overlooked.
There’s been plenty of talk surrounding Stevens and his 2017-18 Celtics team. Despite losing Hayward minutes into his Boston debut to dealing with a plethora of players succumbing to injuries, he still has led the depleted roster to the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference. But just as he’s led his squad to a successful regular season, so has Toronto Raptors head coach Dwayne Casey, who’s pegged as Coach of the Year per ESPN.
The NBA Awards will be announced June 25th.
