Washington Wizards 2015-2016 End of Season Awards
By Ben Mehic
Most Improved Player
David Statman (@DJStatman77):
Otto didn’t look like the murderous length god who we fell in love with during the 2015 playoffs all the time – so, if you look at it that way, his season was a disappointment. I look at it a different way.
Given his first consistent playing time as an NBA player, Otto proved himself to be a reliable secondary scoring option whose shooting really came on towards the end of the season. His spot in the starting rotation was never under threat, and Porter took some real strides from the last two years.
All in all, a successful season for Otto Porter
Winner: Otto Porter
Nithin Kuchibhotla (@NKuchibhhotla):
I’m one of the biggest Otto Porter fans you’ll find and he’s my pick for this spot.
Throughout the first half of the year, his game seemed to really come together except for a creaky jump shot. Post All-Star break, he really turned it up from behind the arc and finished as a 37% 3-point shooter.
People forget that aside from a 10 game sample size in last year’s playoffs, Year 3 of his career was the first to give him consistent minutes, every night. He largely stayed on the floor, was great in transition and from mid-range and showed promise for what’s to come.
Weight will always be a question for him when it comes to defending larger players (LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony), but he must learn to use his length to disrupt players on the perimeter.
Winner: Otto Porter
Osman Baig (@Obtoojiveforyou):
Otto Porter is the easy answer here, mainly because this latest iteration of the Washington Wizards was a vet-oriented team that frankly lacked significant playing time for other young players who had “upside.”
That’s not to take anything away from Otto Porter, who after being invisible his rookie year and in and out of the lineup in his second season, finished his first full season as a starter.
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Porter’s shooting came long as the season went on shooting above 40% from beyond the 3-point line from February through the end of the season.
In addition to shooting better as the season went along, Otto did a great job running the floor, moving without the ball, and getting in passing lanes defensively.
What Otto Porter didn’t give the Washington Wizards is a player who can create his own offense (which shouldn’t have been expected), assertiveness, and defending physical wing players.
Winner: Otto Porter
John Cannady (@John_Cannady):
This category came down to two people for me, Ramon Sessions and Otto Porter. I went with Sessions only because when Sessions was first acquired in a trade for Andre Miller, he was more of a scorer and not really a “run the offense” type player.
With John Wall going down in the playoffs in 2015 with a broken wrist/hand, Sessions had to step up to become that guy for the Washington Wizards. His solid play during the playoffs gave former head coach Randy Wittman enough confidence to use Sessions again this season in a variety of roles.
He would mainly play backup point guard, but due to some mid-season injuries, he was sometimes thrust into the lineup as sort of a point/shooting guard combo. He also greatly improved his finishes around the basket.
Last season, it was sort of a running joke about how many point blank layups Sessions was going to blow, but this season there weren’t many of those. Sessions also regularly went to the free throw line after being fouled going to the hole.
During the last five games that Wall sat out, Sessions put up quality numbers to the tune of 17.6 points and 9.6 assists a game. The Wizards have a decision to make about him returning.
Winner: Ramon Sessions
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