Rob Mahoney

I never would have anticipated this for him in terms of the trajectory of his career and the kind of all-NBA-worthy candidate that he is right now and can ultimately be.

But I do think over the last 30 games, Nikhil has kind of stolen this thing away.

And some of that is the way the Hawks have played.

A lot of it, obviously, is Nikhil within that.

I think...

The ability to jump in terms of three-point attempts in the way that Nikhil has is something we don't talk about a lot.

Like how difficult it is to go from putting up like four or five threes a game to eight, nine threes a game.

Those aren't just like he's spotting up and the passes are coming his way.

He is working constantly to make himself open enough to take those shots.

And I say that because he is a high-level threat the defenses are focusing on and trying to take away those attempts.

And he's doing it in spite of that.

And so the huge jump in scoring, the way that he's scoring,

all without giving up any efficiency, all without giving up any of the elite defense he's been playing all season.

I think I'm ultimately moved towards Nikhil, even though Denny's been awesome.

I really thought I would be there in the end, and I just couldn't be.

I just couldn't tuck myself into him quite as much.

We should also flag Keontae among the players who aren't eligible for this award because of the 65 game rule.

So I think he might be on my ballot if he was.

You guys should hear this offline about the 65 game rule.

He just will not shut up about it.