no way in hell Derozan is making 1st Team...if he does make a team, it will be 3rd Team U could see Harden making All-Defense 2nd Team? Lol, c’mon man...
He is top 5 in the MVP race right now, and led the Raptors to the top seed in the East. Wouldn't be shocking if he made 1st team. But I also wouldn't be surprised if he ended up in the 3rd team. Someone I forgot is Damian Lillard. Probably will be in the top 2 teams for the year.
Harden, Curry, Lillard, and CP3 or Russ will be on the 1st 2 teams IMO...Derozan will be fighting with guys like Oladipo for 1 of the final spots
I'd definitely vote Casey for COY. What he has done is the epitome of great coaching. Couldn't change out the players so changed up the entire philosophy and got better. It's one of the most impressive things I've seen a coach do. Most coaches are hesitant to even consider changing THEIR style. With that said, DAntoni deserves heavy consideration as well. Did he beat expectations? Yes. The general consensus among the media was that the Harden/Paul combination would fail. Instead, it has flourished. Most media members had the Rockets as a 3rd or 4th seed. Instead, they are running away with the 1 seed. Did he do anything noteworthy as a "coach" from x's and os' Yes. The Rockets are basically running a different system than D'Antoni has ever run. Instead of super fast, league leading pace, the Rockets slowed down a little and have gone ISO heavy. This has allowed his two superstars to THRIVE together and create the best team in the league. He has put role players like Tucker and Mbah a Moute in tremendous positions to succeed and has basically created a plug and play system. It almost doesn't matter who is on the court alongside Harden. Did he overcome any adversity? Yes. It's almost forgotten really, but the Rockets have dealt with A LOT of injuries throughout the season. For example, the devastating loss of Jimmy Butler that is the big excuse for the Wolves will mean he STILL plays more games than Chris Paul. Steph Curry's devastating injury? He'll miss 7 games more than Paul. Every member of the rotation has missed significant time. Yet the Rockets are running away with the best record in the NBA.
Can't have the best player on the best team in the East not make an All-NBA team. I could see Harden and Lillard in the first team, with Russ/Curry and DeRozan 2nd team, CP3 and Curry/Russ 3rd team. Russ had good stats but almost missed the playoffs. Curry missed a lot of games.
https://www.si.com/nba/2018/04/11/2...liers-rockets-lebron-james-harden-ben-simmons EXECUTIVE OF THE YEAR Daryl Morey, Rockets Kevin Pritchard, Pacers Danny Ainge, Celtics Media members don’t cast official votes for Executive of the Year; that task falls to the executives themselves. Unofficially, Morey deserves the recognition. Often, Executive of the Year awards reflect years of planning and building. That’s the case with the Rockets, who have diligently recast their roster around James Harden. But Morey also enjoyed an excellent 2017 off-season. He traded for Chris Paul in a complicated blockbuster that has proven to have a larger influence on the 2018 title race than any other summer move. From there, he made purposeful, targeted additions aimed at shoring up his team’s defense, signing P.J. Tucker and Luc Mbah a Moute. To top it off, he charted a clear and modern vision for the group, giving coach Mike D’Antoni the ability to stagger Harden and Paul and to utilize fully interchangeable lineups. Cleveland, Oklahoma City, Boston and others took big swings in hopes of challenging Golden State. Only Morey truly connected. Pritchard should savor his season-long victory lap after setting a new NBA record for shattering conventional wisdom. In truth, Indiana’s haul in the Paul George deal surely exceeded Pritchard’s own wildest dreams: Victor Oladipo has been a revelation and Domantas Sabonis will likely join Oladipo on some Most Improved Player ballots. Remember, Pritchard executed that trade after George backed the Pacers into a corner and longtime team president Larry Bird abruptly announced his retirement. Rebooting a franchise is no easy task; doing it on short notice and with little leverage is even more difficult. Ainge nailed his four big 2017 moves—trading for Kyrie Irving, successfully courting Gordon Hayward, trading away the No. 1 pick, and using the No. 3 pick to draft Jayson Tatum—and in so doing added top-level talent and young assets without sacrificing depth. The full fruits of his 2017 labors will be revealed next year and beyond.
