The NBA regular season is approaching an end and with that comes the end of season awards.
Obviously, the Washington Wizards and their players won't get much, if any recognition in these discussions this season and with a 17-61 record, it's easy to understand why.
Despite that, the team and their fanbase deserve the opportunity to have the fun debating who should earn what award, regardless of how poor their season was.
With that in mind, I decided to take the time to name a winner for each NBA end-of-season award — Wizards edition.
Coach of the Year: Brian Keefe
This is obviously the easiest award to give out being that Brian Keefe has quite literally no competition to lose the award. However, I want to take a minute to give the first-year head coach his flowers while I can.
Keefe came into the season understanding that this is a developmental year. Of course the Wizards record doesn't reflect much of any encouragement unless we're talking about the possibility that Washington lands the No. 1 overall pick to select Cooper Flagg, but still the head coach did show promise in his first season.
Setting up his players for success down the stretch, prioritizing development and working through his own growing pains throughout it all is a job well done as far as I'm concerned.
Will Keefe be a Hall of Fame head coach? Doubtful. But did he do a fair job considering the task at hand with the roster he was given? I'd say so.
Most Improved: Jordan Poole
Last year around this time Jordan Poole found himself coming off the Wizards bench after being demoted for his poor play. The guard went into the offseason with plenty to dwell on, but instead he decided to use his demotion as motivation.
Labeled at one time as the worst contract in the league, Poole has put together a career-year averaging 20.5 points, 4.5 assists and 3 rebounds, while shooting 43.1% from field goal range and 37.7% from three.
Although he may not be the franchise player that the Wizards desperately need right now, his improvement on the floor and behind the scenes as a leader has to be recognized.
Defensive Player of the Year: Bilal Coulibaly
Bilal Coulibaly's season was cut short due to a knee injury, but that didn't stop the French product from making this list, regardless of a 65 game rule.
The two-way guard impressed early on in the season with his ability to defend multiple positions, but the defensive display he put together against Trae Young and the Atlanta Hawks early in the season was just scratching the surface of the type of player he could become.
Coulibaly averaged 1.3 steals and 0.7 blocks on the season, and while those stats alone are impressive, his ability to defend arguably 1-4 is the most encouraging of it all.
This award was a toss up between Coulibaly and Alex Sarr, but I gave the nod to the second-year guard.
Sixth Man of the Year: Corey Kispert
Corey Kispert signed an extension heading into this season and up to this point of the year, he's done exactly what the Wizards asked of him.
The Gonzaga product accepted his role as the team's sixth man and he's thrived in the position. Averaging 11.6 points, 3 rebounds and 1.7 assists on the season, Kispert locks himself in as the team's most valuable player off the bench.
Rookie of the Year: Alex Sarr
Alex Sarr missed out on the Defensive Player of the Year award, but there was no way he could miss out on the award, especially after his play down the stretch.
There's no denying that Sarr has had his fair share of struggles this season and his poor shooting efficiency is definitely something he needs to work on. However, the reigning No. 2 overall pick has shown flashes of his ability to be a two-way monster for the Wizards and with a big offseason, he could be in the running for a more prestigous award next season.
Sarr is averaging 13 points, 6.5 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 1.5 blocks and 0.7 steals as a full-time starter for Washington this season.
Most Valuable Player: Jordan Poole
As we mentioned before, Poole's leap this season was not only impressive, but what Washington truly hoped to see from him. Props to both Keefe and Poole for doing their share to get him to this point.
Although the guard has still shown inconsistency at times this season, there's no denying that in the games the Wizards did win this season, Poole was responsible for many of them.
It's unlikely that Poole ever wins an actual MVP award throughout his career, but he is more than worthy of earning this award in the Washington Wizards edition.