The NBA is in mid-season form and it’s time to give out mid-season awards. Some awards, as usual, feature the players that people predicted would be in the mix, but some  others are a big surprise.

Let’s start  with the MVP award. At this point in the season, the award has  to go to Rockets guard James Harden. In the month of January, Harden averaged 43.6 points while his all-star teammate Chris Paul was hurt and starting center Clint Capela was out as well. He single-handedly managed to keep the Rockets in the top 6 in the west. Behind him in the MVP race is  Giannis Antetokounmpo, who is leading the Bucks to a phenomenal regular season.

Defensive player of the year at mid-season goes Paul George. He’s averaging 2.3 steals a game which leads the league. Rookie of the year is a clear choice as  Luka Doncic from the Mavericks has taken the league by storm.

On the coaching front, Michael Malone of the Nuggets is the  top choice right now for coach of the year the Nuggets are neck and neck with the Warriors for the top seed after missing out on the playoffs last year. D’Angelo Russell is the most improved player at this point, going from 15 points to almost 20 and is leading the Brooklyn Nets to a likely first round series.

The Nuggets have been a top two seed for months now, which has been surprising,  but the Nets are the surprise team of the season at this point because no one had them even being competitive this year.

The most disappointing team to this point are the Wizards. They brought in multiple new players including Jeff Green, Trevor Ariza, and Dwight Howard but still aren’t a top 8 seed in the East. Another disappointing team is  the Pelicans, who are currently bottom of the West. Their best player, Anthony Davis, may not even finish the season with them as he requested a trade last week.