Dennis Schroder, Billy Donovan named NBA Awards finalists

On Saturday, the NBA announced the final three finalists for their NBA awards, and the Thunder finished with two of their guys included.

Dennis Schroder was named along with the Clippers’ bench duo of Lou Williams and Montrezl Harrell for Sixth Man of the Year, and Billy Donovan was named a finalist with the Bucks’ Mike Budenholzer and Raptors’ Nick Nurse for Coach of the Year.

Schroder is the more likely of the two to win an award as Dennis is having a career season off the bench for Oklahoma City, averaging nearly 19 points a game on efficient shooting with four assists. Schroder is part of the infamous three-guard lineup that the Thunder dominate teams with and has done a great job in coming off the bench and creating his offense.

Williams and Harrell being on the same team should do Dennis some good with his odds of winning the award as their votes would be split between the two Clippers players.

Donovan has seen his image vastly improve this season as the once sitting duck coach is now on his way to getting a handsome extension with the team this offseason. Donovan has done a great job of making a team that was not supposed to be a playoff team into a playoff team.

Billy recently co-won the NBCA’s Coach of the Year award with Budenholzer, where each head coach had one vote. The NBA’s Coach of the Year award will be voted on by the media.

The three finalists for the other awards are:

MVP: Giannis Antetokounmpo, LeBron James, and James Harden

Rookie of the Year: Ja Morant, Zion Williamson, and Kendrick Nunn

Defensive Player of the Year: Antetokounmpo, Anthony Davis, and Rudy Gobert

Most Improve Player: Bam Adebayo, Luka Doncic, and Brandon Ingram