The NBA announced on Friday, its finalists for the 2019 NBA Awards for the 2018-19 regular season. There are three finalists for each award including the NBA Most Valuable Player, NBA Rookie of the year, NBA Coach of the Year, NBA Sixth Man of the year, NBA Defensive Player of the Year, and NBA Most Improved Player of the year.
For league MVP the finalists are Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo, Houston’s James Harden, and Oklahoma City’s Paul George.
Before the start of the season, Las Vegas’ Bovada favored Antetokounmpo and Harden – who is the reigning MVP — with the third and fourth best odds, respectively, to win the award. George, out of 30 total players, had the 22nd-best odds to win league MVP.
Atlanta’s Trae Young, Dallas’ Luka Doncic, and Phoenix’s Deandre Ayton are the finalists for Rookie of the year.
Doncic leads all rookies in scoring with 21.2 points per game during the regular season. Young, with 8.1 assists per game, led all rookies in that category and was second in scoring at 19.1 points per game as well.
The finalists for the remaining awards are listed as follows per the NBA’s official website.
Kia NBA Sixth Man Award
Montrezl Harrell, LA Clippers
Domantas Sabonis, Indiana Pacers
Lou Williams, LA Clippers
Kia NBA Defensive Player of the Year
Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks
Paul George, Oklahoma City Thunder
Rudy Gobert, Utah Jazz
Kia NBA Most Improved Player
De’Aaron Fox, Sacramento Kings
D’Angelo Russell, Brooklyn Nets
Pascal Siakam, Toronto Raptors
NBA Coach of the Year
Mike Budenholzer, Milwaukee Bucks
Michael Malone, Denver Nuggets
Doc Rivers, LA Clippers
Each award will be awarded during the League’s third annual NBA Awards Show on June 24 and will appear on TNT at 9 p.m. ET.
