{"id":1546442,"date":"2023-01-18T11:31:00","date_gmt":"2023-01-18T16:31:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/?p=1546442"},"modified":"2023-01-18T11:31:09","modified_gmt":"2023-01-18T16:31:09","slug":"2022-23-nba-awards-picks-paolo-banchero-jaren-jackson-jr-earn-sweeps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/2022-23-nba-awards-picks-paolo-banchero-jaren-jackson-jr-earn-sweeps\/","title":{"rendered":"2022-23 NBA Awards Picks: Paolo Banchero, Jaren Jackson, Jr. Earn Sweeps"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Three months into the <a href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/tag\/nba\">NBA<\/a> season and there are many questions still to be answered. Can the Boston Celtics put together a full year of solid basketball? Will LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers miss the playoffs for the second straight year?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sports7's NBA staff members voiced their opinions on some individual achievements, with <a href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/paolo-bancheros-nil-valuation-duke-final-four\/\">Orlando Magic rookie Paolo Banchero<\/a> and Memphis Grizzlies forward Jaren Jackson Jr. getting some serious love. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-sports7-s-nba-awards-picks\">Sports7\u2019s NBA awards picks<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img alt=\"2022-23 NBA Awards Picks: Paolo Banchero, Jaren Jackson, Jr. Earn Sweeps\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1080\" height=\"1080\" src=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/NBAFacts-Figs.png?w=925&#038;strip=all&#038;quality=80\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1546475\" \/><figcaption>Sports7\u2019s NBA awards picks for the 2022-23 season | Mike Calendrillo\/Sports7<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-mvp\">MVP<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/author\/adamfromal\/\">Adam Fromal<\/a>:<\/strong>\u00a0<strong>Nikola Jokic<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The beauty of Nikola Jokic\u2019s perennial MVP candidacy is that his dominance in the realm of advanced statistics is almost unnecessary justification. Just watch the Denver Nuggets play an unorthodox brand of heliocentric basketball, building everything around the big man\u2019s near-stationary presence, and his value is obvious enough. He\u2019s the league\u2019s best passer, a hyper-efficient scorer, and \u2014\u00a0yes, we\u2019ll go there \u2014 a vastly underrated defensive presence.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/author\/jack-dougherty\/\">Jack Dougherty<\/a>:<\/strong>\u00a0<strong>Nikola Jokic<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here we go again. Nikola Jokic is nearly averaging a triple-double this season (24.7\/10.9\/9.8) while shooting the highest percentage of his career (62.0%). And the advanced stats? Forget about it. Jokic currently leads the NBA in PER, win shares, box plus\/minus, and VORP, just to name a few. This would mark the third straight season in which the center led the league in all four categories. Oh, and the Denver Nuggets are the best team in the Western Conference at 30-13. The three-peat is off to a roaring start.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/author\/mike-thomas\/\">Mike Thomas<\/a>:<\/strong>\u00a0<strong>Jayson Tatum<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Tatum continues to lead the way for the team with the best record in the NBA, as evidenced by his 51-point effort Monday. As of this writing, the Celtics have rattled off seven straight wins to give them a 33-12 record and a 4.5-game lead over the Brooklyn Nets. Tatum has improved his game by taking the ball to the basket more, adding another dimension to his strong all-around game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/author\/joe-kozlowski\/\">Joe Kozlowski<\/a>: Nikola Jokic<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now that we\u2019re into the New Year, it\u2019s safe to start drawing some conclusions. One of those is that the Denver Nuggets aren\u2019t going anywhere. And, since we feel safe with that statement, we can give plaudits to the man who makes everything in Denver possible: Nikola Jokic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While the big man\u2019s scoring (24.7 points per game) is low by MVP-race standards, his ability to do whatever the Nuggets need on a given night can\u2019t be overlooked. Whether it\u2019s efficiently putting the ball in the basket, dishing out assists, or pulling down rebounds, Jokic makes it happen in the Mile High City. He\u2019s also producing the sort of moments that drive an MVP narrative, like draining a step-back, game-winning three to keep his club\u2019s winning streak alive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-lvp\">LVP<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Ben Simmons tonight:<br><br>0 PTS<br>9 REB<br>13 AST<br>2 STL<br>0-3 FG<br><br>Averaging 8\/7\/6 this season. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/5vSVHI9F0g\">pic.twitter.com\/5vSVHI9F0g<\/a><\/p>&mdash; StatMuse (@statmuse) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/statmuse\/status\/1613728915549261829?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 13, 2023<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Adam: Ben Simmons<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Forget about asking Ben Simmons to be a game-changing presence. He\u2019s struggling to even serve as a stabilizing fringe star for the Brooklyn Nets. While he deserves some credit for accepting his limitations and exerting himself on defense, his woeful foul shooting and the lack of aggression that stems from his fear of the charity stripe hold the offense back significantly.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Jack: Kawhi Leonard<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Coming off a torn ACL, Kawhi Leonard has played in just 21 of the Los Angeles Clippers\u2019 45 games to start the season. LA has gone 13-8 in those games, but the frustrating load-management strategy has held the team back from its full potential all year. The Clippers are clearly playing it safe ahead of the playoffs, but Leonard hasn\u2019t done anything this season to prove he\u2019ll be a reliable contributor come April.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Mike: Ben Simmons<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Nets have turned things up a notch and find themselves with the second-best record in the Eastern Conference. Simmons has shown some flashes this year, but he\u2019s failed to step up lately in the absence of the injured Kevin Durant. If he could become a little more aggressive on the offensive side of the ball, he might make his way off this list.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Joe: Ben Simmons<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In previous picks, I\u2019ve tried to avoid going for Ben Simmons, but I can\u2019t overlook him anymore. The guard has appeared in 31 Nets games as of Jan. 17 and is only averaging 7.5 points per outing. His rebounding and assist numbers help mitigate things, but, quite simply, Simmons isn\u2019t producing at the level you\u2019d expect, given that he theoretically replaced James Harden as the Nets\u2019 third weapon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-rookie-of-the-year\">Rookie of the Year<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">31 PTS<br>6 REB<br>3 AST<br>2 STL<br>6\/7 3PM<br><br>Paolo Banchero showed out in the Magic W. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/zEfmcNGupi\">pic.twitter.com\/zEfmcNGupi<\/a><\/p>&mdash; NBA (@NBA) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NBA\/status\/1604606236460306432?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 18, 2022<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Adam: Paolo Banchero<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Let\u2019s not waste time here. Shoutout to Bennedict Mathurin, Walker Kessler, and the other first-year players strutting their stuff across the Association, but only Paolo Banchero has looked like an All-Star candidate during his inaugural campaign. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Jack: Paolo Banchero<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The only thing that\u2019s changed in the Rookie of the Year race over the past month is Paolo Banchero widening his lead. The Duke product was a -440 favorite to win the award back in December, and he\u2019s a -1000 favorite now. Only a season-ending injury (knocks on wood) would keep Banchero from winning ROY.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Mike: Paolo Banchero<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There\u2019s just no debate right now about who the NBA\u2019s top rookie is. He\u2019s far and away the frontrunner for Rookie of the Year and should be a star for the foreseeable future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Joe: Paolo Banchero<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s a consistent pick, but it\u2019s the right one. At this point in the season, there\u2019s no reason to overthink it. Paolo Banchero is looking like a legit pro as a rookie; expect him to cruise to this title and only improve as he gets more professional basketball under his belt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-defensive-player-of-the-year\">Defensive Player of the Year<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Jaren Jackson Jr tonight:<br><br>18 PTS<br>8 REB<br>6 BLK (!!)<br>+30 <br><br>Leading the league in 5-block games. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Os4UFPTE2s\">pic.twitter.com\/Os4UFPTE2s<\/a><\/p>&mdash; StatMuse (@statmuse) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/statmuse\/status\/1615157498880880640?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 17, 2023<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Adam: Jaren Jackson Jr.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Being a black hole on offense is bad. The reverse is true for defense, and few players fit the descriptor better than Jaren Jackson Jr. His area of the court is where possessions go to die, whether he\u2019s rotating to cut off a passing lane before the play develops, snuffing out interior shot attempts better than anyone else in the league, or switching onto smaller players and holding his own. He\u2019s a system unto himself. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Jack: Jaren Jackson Jr.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jaren Jackson Jr. led the NBA in blocks per game last season with 2.3. That was an impressive mark by itself, but it has nothing on his league-leading 3.3 blocks per game in 2022-23. Jackson has been the best rim-protector in the NBA all season, and he leads the league in defensive win shares (0.152).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Mike: Jaren Jackson Jr.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jackson has some competition, but for now, he\u2019s the favorite. The best rim-protector in the game gets the nod over players like Bam Adebayo and Robert Williams III, who has turned the Celtics back into one of the best defensive teams in the league. Jackson anticipates well on defense, but his shot-blocking skills put him over the top.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Joe: Jaren Jackson Jr.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While there are some concerns about Jaren Jackson Jr. \u2013 he\u2019s only averaging about 26 minutes per game and has a knack for picking up cheap fouls \u2013 his impact on the court is impossible to ignore. He\u2019s an elite rim-protector, can shut down virtually any drive, and looms large as the best defender on a strong defensive team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-most-improved-player\">Most Improved Player<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Another Shai Gilgeous-Alexander 30 piece tonight:<br><br>33 PTS<br>5 REB<br>5 AST<br>W<br><br>\u26c8\ufe0f\u26c8\ufe0f\u26c8\ufe0f <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Y343DvV5fV\">pic.twitter.com\/Y343DvV5fV<\/a><\/p>&mdash; NBA (@NBA) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NBA\/status\/1612287908412809217?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 9, 2023<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Adam: Luka Doncic<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Dallas Mavericks\u2019 do-everything superstar won\u2019t get much love in the actual Most Improved Player race, but he should. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As tough as it is for a player to transition from good to great, it\u2019s even harder to make significant strides as an established superstar. That\u2019s exactly what Luka Doncic has done, somehow cutting back on his turnovers while becoming <em>more <\/em>involved on offense. He\u2019s also increased his scoring average by more than five points per game to an ostentatious 33.8, and that's come as his true shooting percentage has skyrocketed from 57.1 to 60.8. He's leaped into the stratosphere \u2014 beyond, really \u2014 and that deserves more credit than it actually gets. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Jack: Lauri Markkanen<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is the slight betting favorite to win Most Improved Player, and he deserves to be, but I can\u2019t ignore Lauri Markkanen\u2019s coming-out party. The sixth-year forward improved his points-per-game mark from 14.8 last year to 24.6 this year, and he\u2019s the main reason why the Utah Jazz have far exceeded expectations this season.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Mike: Shai-Gilgeous-Alexander<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Last month, I went with Lauri Markkanen, who still is a viable candidate. After a quick start, however, the Jazz have come back down to reality. Gilgeous-Alexander is averaging nearly 31 points per game, and the Thunder are one game behind the Golden State Warriors for the seventh playoff spot in the Western Conference.\u00a0I believe the Thunder will end up the better team, and that will be the difference-maker between the two players.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Joe: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As the other guys have mentioned, Lauri Markkanen is a legitimate player in the MIP equation With that being said, though, I still give Shai Gilgeous-Alexander the nod. The OKC guard\u2019s 30.7 points per game place him fifth in the entire Association, ahead of Kevin Durant and LeBron James. It\u2019s impossible to overlook that, especially if SGA can maintain it over the course of the full campaign.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Paolo Banchero is clearly the frontrunner for the NBA's Rookie of the Year honor.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":145,"featured_media":1546475,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[447288],"tags":[91],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v22.3 (Yoast SEO v22.9) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>2022-23 NBA Awards Picks: Paolo Banchero, Jaren Jackson, Jr. Earn Sweeps - Sports7<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Members of Sports7&#039;s staff make their NBA awards predictions through the first three months of the 2022-23 NBA season.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/2022-23-nba-awards-picks-paolo-banchero-jaren-jackson-jr-earn-sweeps\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"2022-23 NBA Awards Picks: Paolo Banchero, Jaren Jackson, Jr. Earn Sweeps\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Members of Sports7&#039;s staff make their NBA awards predictions through the first three months of the 2022-23 NBA season.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/2022-23-nba-awards-picks-paolo-banchero-jaren-jackson-jr-earn-sweeps\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sports7\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-01-18T16:31:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-01-18T16:31:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/NBAFacts-Figs.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mike Thomas\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@NostraThomas123\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Mike Thomas\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/2022-23-nba-awards-picks-paolo-banchero-jaren-jackson-jr-earn-sweeps\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/2022-23-nba-awards-picks-paolo-banchero-jaren-jackson-jr-earn-sweeps\/\",\"name\":\"2022-23 NBA Awards Picks: Paolo Banchero, Jaren Jackson, Jr. Earn Sweeps - 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