The Boston Celtics will soon embark on another run through the NBA playoffs, so it’s likely they’re not paying too much attention to end-of-season awards projections.
That’s what they have us for.
The NBA’s play-in tournament kicked off Tuesday, meaning ballots have been cast and voting is behind us when it comes to the league’s season-end awards. ESPN’s Zach Lowe, a voter on each of the major awards, was fully transparent and revealed his ballot to the public Wednesday, where the Celtics were notably absent.
Boston only had two representatives across the six individual awards, with Jayson Tatum placing fourth in the MVP race and Malcolm Brogdon placing second in Sixth Man of the Year. Though it’s become a near-universal opinion that Tatum fell behind Joel Embiid, Nikola Jokic and Giannis Antetokounmpo for MVP honors, Brogdon’s place in the 6MOY ballot behind New York Knicks guard Immanuel Quickley was curious. Here’s how Lowe explained his pick:
Brogdon had a grip on this award at midseason. He has been scorching all season from deep, bringing a firm hand to Boston’s reserve-heavy units. His dribble-happy, score-first approach stands out in a good way among Boston’s role players. It looks gorgeous when everyone cuts and screens and touches the ball around, but at some point, someone needs to put their head down and score the damned thing.
Where Brogdon adds a jolt of something different to Boston’s identity, Quickley is definitional to New York’s in a way that is hard to quantify. This New York team would not look, play, feel, or even sound the way it does without Quickley. The speed and energy of the game change the second he steps on the floor.
That was pretty much it for the Celtics’ case to have an award winner this season. There was no love for Joe Mazzulla for Coach of the Year despite his ability to handle an awkward situation and zero love for Marcus Smart in his quest to defend the Defensive Player of the Year award, as Lowe is a believer that no one under 6-foot-4 should win that hardware.
Sam Hauser did get a quick mention for Most Improved, though it was among a list of guys like Anthony Lamb, Isaiah Joe and former Celtic Aaron Nesmith — all who play specific roles on their clubs. There was also a small mention of Derrick White for DPOY, but Lowe said he’s more likely to find his way on one of the All-Defensive teams.
Though the Celtics were blanked in this projection, they should be represented well on the All-NBA and All-Defensive teams, with Tatum, Jaylen Brown and White serving as very real candidates.
In the end, no one will care about these results if Boston is able to finally capture Banner 18 come June.
