If the season was to end today, which Toronto Raptors players would win each individual award on offer?
The significance of individual awards in sports vary. Some people believe that individual awards define a player’s greatness, while others believe that the only thing that matters is team success. However, it’s likely that one often leads to the other – and vice versa. Over the years, the Toronto Raptors haven’t been particularly blessed with individual accolades.
However, the Raptors finally have a taste of winning the big one. The last few years have been the best in franchise history, with four 50-plus win seasons leading up to the first-ever title win in Raptors history last season.
While the Raptors didn’t have the best regular-season record in the 2018-19 NBA season, nor did they have the MVP — that accolade deservedly belongs to Giannis Antetokounmpo — but, finally, the Raptors had a reason to celebrate individual accolades, with Pascal Siakam winning the NBA’s Most Improved Player award.
Siakam averaged 16.9 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 3.1 assists per game, shooting 55-percent from the field and 37-percent from three. His rise was one of the stories of the season, and he became the first player in Raptors history to win the award.
Despite missing 11 games this season, Siakam is still mentioned as a potential MIP candidate for the second year in a row and was getting a whiff of MVP buzz early in the year before a slight dip.
Across the board, you could *maybe* make a case for a Raptor to be contending for any award. It’s a tough case to make, and probably a stretch, so we won’t do that.
Instead, we’ll keep everything in-house. Imagine a world where the Toronto Raptors scope all the awards – that’s what’s happening now. From Rookie of the Year to MVP, let’s decide who is deserving of what award at the midway mark of the season.