Portland Trail Blazers: Season Awards
By Jakob Ashlin
MVP
This award is the easiest one to hand out. Outside of Giannis Antetokounmpo, James Harden, and Paul George, Damian Lillard could be the leading MVP candidate in the league.
Lillard has far and away been the best player for the Blazers this season. He is leading the Blazers to the fourth seed in the Western Conference despite injuries to Nurkic and McCollum and the lack of another superstar.
He is once again among the league leaders in points per game at 25.9 and has scored 40 points or more points six times this season including a 51 point performance against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Lillard will also set a new career-high in assists per game at 6.9. Internal improvement and development among other players on the roster have given Lillard the luxury of being more of a playmaker this season.
His effort on defense increased this season. At times, Lillard even found himself setting the tone defensively for the team.
There is no doubt that the Blazers would not be where they are without Lillard.
Honorable mention: Jusuf Nurkic