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Before the unfortunate season suspension due to COVID-19, the Philadelphia 76ers were in the midst of rocky journey toward title contention (or a first-round exit, depending on who you ask). While a 39-26 record is nothing to sneeze at, an atrocious road record of 10-24 is definitely cause for concern. The team has struggled to incorporate All-Star centre and recently poached ex-Celtic, Al Horford; Philly's spacing has suffered as a result. It's relatively safe to say that this team has underperformed thus far, considering the sheer amount of talent on the roster and the expectations placed on a team whose short-term financial commitments are considerable. Nonetheless, we have Team Awards to give out, and someone's got to win; so without further ado, let's take a look at who has been award-worthy for the Philadelphia 76ers during the hellacious 2019-2020 NBA season.
Rookie of the Year: Matisse Thybulle
Matisse Thybulle is already one of the best defenders on the Sixers' roster. Right out of the gates, the Washington product has demonstrated his elite defensive acumen, racking up a 1.4 steals and 0.7 blocks per game en route to a Defensive Box Plus-Minus of +3.1, all while staunchly guarding elite opposition out to the three-point line. He's proven enough to head coach Brett Brown to earn the starting nod for 13 games already, and he projects as a (slightly) less-offensively-limited Andre Roberson - a valuable piece for any and all title contenders. In all reality, there's no other first-timer on the 76ers' roster with even a semi-serious argument over Thybulle for the Team ROY. Matisse will likely be seeing time in Philly's playoff rotation once the postseason comes around.
Most Improved Player: Tobias Harris
There's going to be some hand-wringing here, and it'll come as a result of not giving Shake Milton two team-wide awards - he's simultaneously been Philly's best bench-player and their most improved player (according to both traditional and advanced statistics). But this award is ultimately destined for Tobias Harris, who has grown into his role in the City of Brotherly Love, as one would hope in Year 2 of a rather significant investment. Compared to the 27 games he played for Philly last year, Tobias has (slightly) bumped up his scoring (18.2 to 19.4 ppg), three-point shooting efficiency (32.6% to 36.2%), playmaking (2.9 to 3.2 apg), and steals per game (0.5 to 0.8). These minor improvements have made him a slightly better fit in Philly's cramped offense. Considering the lack of definitive forward progress made by Ben Simmons, Joel Embiid, or Al Horford this season (or Josh Richardson, for that matter), this award appears to fall to the Sixers' lone core player on an upward (offensive) trend.
Sixth Man of the Year: Shake Milton
He ranks sixth on the team in games started, ninth in minutes played per game, and wasn't acquired in a mid-season trade (sorry, Alec Burks and Glenn Robinson III). In his second league season, he's doubled his points per game average from 4.4 to 9.5, while drastically improving his shooting efficiency (45.3% from three-point land; 60.8% eFG) and playmaking chops (0.9 assists per game in Year 1 to 2.2 assists per game in Year 2). Put simply: Shake Milton has been the best player on the Sixers bench for the vast majority of the season. Aside from Furkan Korkmaz and the aforementioned Thybulle, Milton is the only Sixer coming off the bench and playing more than 15 minutes per game to post a positive VORP (Value Over Replacement Player) rating. The Sixers' 6MOTY is going to Shake, especially since he was nudged out of the MIP race by the glitzier (and ultimately more important) Harris.
Defensive Player of the Year: Ben Simmons
Big Ben is leading the NBA in steals per game (2.1), guards all five positions on the floor wth aplomb, and has been healthier than Embiid (another DPOY contender for Philly, and league-wide). While Horford has also been mostly stellar on defense, it's about time someone recognized The Aussie's defensive acumen, especially during a tumultuous season where one of the few things Philly has been able to hang their hat on is their team-wide defense (6th overall in Defensive Rating). Sharp, holistic defense starts at the perimeter, and Big Ben has been patrolling the three-point line like a sentry this season; he is in contention for the actual DPOY (although that looks to now be a two-horse race between Giannis and AD), which only serves to cement his status as Philly's best defender this season.
Most Valuable Player: Joel Embiid
With Embiid, the Sixers are 28-16 this year. That's a 52-win pace. Without him, Philly has gone 11-10, barely breaking the 0.500 mark. While perhaps overly simplistic, this stark contrast belies Embiid's importance to Philly's title dreams; when on the court, The Process has racked up a PER of 26.0 while posting averages of 23.4 points, 11.8 rebounds, and 3.1 assists per game on a slash line of 47/35/81 (FG%/3PT%/FT%). Those are numbers that approach league-wide MVP quality, and when compared to Simmons relatively lack lustre offensive game outside of transition opportunities (especially given his lack of a half-court scoring toolbox, which becomes quite necessary as the playoffs slow down game pace into a molasses-like affair), it's very clear which of Philly's twin towers is the more valuable player. Now, if Simmons can get a working jump shot (one of the NBA's current 'great debates'), this becomes a much more serious discussion.
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