Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Heat’s 2017-18 MVP? Has to be Goran Dragic
MIAMI —
The ballots for the NBA’s annual awards are out, with that voting to be completed following Wednesday’s close of the regular season and then revealed during the league’s award show on June 25.
For the Heat, there are neither awards nor ballots, but if there were, they would, in this view, go something like this.
Heat Most Valuable Player:
Goran Dragic. Dragic has stood as the portrait of consistency, refusing to miss time, willing to both step up for big shots and step aside when other options are more favorable.
No, he is not a traditional point guard, almost as likely to amass rebounds as assists. But on an equal-opportunity roster, he has the temperament to know when to seize control, when to defer.
With the Heat’s firstround pick conveyed to the Phoenix Suns for this June’s draft not a lottery selection, it makes the 2015 trade even more palatable, even with a 2021 firstround selection also due.
Heat Defensive Player of the Year: Josh Richardson.
Blocks and steals tend to be overstated when it comes to defensive standards. Both can come in lieu of required assignments.
But what Josh Richardson has accomplished by reaching combined thresholds of block and steals that no other NBA player has matched this season is something that has been achieved while also taking on the most difficult nightly perimeter challenges.
While the impact likely won’t have Richardson in the mix for NBA Defensive Player of the Year, a spot on an All-Defensive teams certainly seems within the realm.
Heat Sixth Man Award:
Wayne Ellington.
In many ways he is the definition of the award, to the degree that he would at least deserve consideration somewhere in the vote for the NBA award: When Ellington enters the game, the game changes.
It’s not only the NBA single-season record for 3-pointers off the bench that he set this season, it’s how defenses change their approach when Ellington enters. Those Kelly Olynyk successful fake handoffs for layups or dunks? It’s because the threat of the dribble handoff to Ellington is real, and spectacular.
Heat Most Improved Player:
Justise Winslow. This easily could be Richardson, but Richardson’s growth also is a product of health.
What Winslow has done is rebuilt his shot to the point where, when left open, there now is hope instead of horror.
But it’s more than that. It’s also the adjustment to playing as a contributing component instead of attempting to force the action as a leading man.
Where there previously was doubt, there now is a perceived value. That is a significant step forward as the Heat debate the Oct. 31 deadline for his rookiescale extension.
Heat Newcomer of the Year:
Kelly Olynyk. Obviously, going by the NBA’s official awards, the Heat’s Rookie of the Year would be Bam Adebayo, both by default and by merit. Yes, Donovan Mitchell got away one pick earlier. But was anyone selected after No. 14 Adebayo that truly has been decidedly superior, save, perhaps, for Kyle Kuzma?
As for Olynyk, he has been a game changer . . literally by being a game changer. He is such a stark contrast to Hassan Whiteside that when he enters, the game basically slows down and throws the opposition out of whack.
If there were any questions in July about the $50 million over four years the Heat threw at Olynyk after losing out on Gordon Hayward in free agency, there shouldn’t be now.
Heat Comeback Player of the Year: Dwyane
Wade.
The NBA got rid of this award several years ago, but Wade stands as the prime example of what new life can mean to a player and a franchise.
It was only after Wade’s return at the Feb. 8 NBA trading deadline that the Heat again turned AmericanAirlines Arena into a danger zone for opponents.
Now, White Hot Heat playoffs are back, as is the player who arguably has a right to that trademark.
Yes, the Heat could have made the playoffs even without reacquiring Wade, but the playoff confidence is at an entirely different level because of his acquisition.