The NBA Season is down to the final weeks, and while the playoff hunt is becoming clear as to which teams will participate, the NBA season awards are anything but clear at this point.
In question is the games-played rule to qualify for season awards, which currently sits at 65 of 82 games played. And a LOT of players are going to miss out this year who are deserving. Including members of our own Utah Jazz.
At the very least, Keyonte George's star turn should have him under consideration for the Most Improved Player Award, and if the team had won more games, All-NBA consideration wouldn't have been out of the question, either.
But Keyonte is sitting at 54 games played, with 13 remaining, and he's on the injury report to miss tonight's tilt with the Milwaukee Bucks, so he will need to play in 11 of the final 12 games to be eligible for any awards.
The same fate awaits Isaiah Collier, who could get some votes for Most Improved Player if his teammate fails to qualify.
Collier has made significant strides in his second season. His overall shooting being much improved over a year ago, his pass-first mentality, and his rugged six-foot-four, 210-pound frame all make him an intriguing player who can attack the basket and find his teammates from anywhere on the court.
Yet Collier has played 59 games and is slated to miss today's game as well. He will need to appear in six games over the final 11 to qualify for any awards consideration.
And rookie Ace Bailey, who has come on strong the last two months (15.7 ppg, 4.9 boards), should be under consideration for the All-Rookie teams. He has 60 games played thus far, and only needs five more games to be eligible.
The NBA might have no choice but to make exceptions this year
The number of star players who will miss out on awards season this year is staggering. Players like Giannis Antetokounmpo, Steph Curry, LeBron James, Joel Embiid, Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves, and Jimmy Butler, to name a few.
And the frontrunners for MVP, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Nikola Jokic, Victor Wembanyama,
and Cade Cunningham are each close to missing the cut as well.
The Jazz currently do not have any star-level players eligible for season awards - Lauri Markkanen, Jaren Jackson Jr., and Keyonte George are the most significant players that will miss out.
If the NBA ends up with mid-tier players (borderline All-Stars) being the eligible ones, does Adam Silver exert his power and make an exception?
He has shown that he's willing to arbitrarily add players to the All-Star Game (Jazz minority owner Dwyane Wade benefited from this) and has also penalized teams for breaking non-existent rules, so why not tweak a rule that looks more short-sighted by the day?
It's likely that if enough players miss the cut, Silver should consider reducing the games-played threshold to 55 or 60 for this year, and then have the owners revisit the rule after the season. If so, the Jazz could benefit and land someone in the awards after all.