Jason Quick Votes CJ McCollum, Terry Stotts For Postseason Awards

Jason Quick of CSNNW.com has released his votes for how he voted for end of the year awards around the NBA. Quick notes off the bat that he did not receive ballots for a few awards.

"I did not receive ballots for MVP, All-NBA or Defensive Player of the Year, but did vote on all the other awards."

With that in mind let's take a glance at how he voted. Immediately, Quick jumps in and names C.J. McCollum his Most Improved Player.

1. CJ McCollum, Portland: Although I don't think McCollum improved so much as made the most of his opportunity, he is the clear-cut choice here. As his playing time went up from an average of 16 minutes to 35 minutes a game, his scoring spiked from 6.8 points to 20.9, which were accompanied by impressive and steady field goal percentages (46 from the field, 42 from three). But perhaps the area that separates him from all others is his improvement in running the team as the Blazers' second point guard. He had never proven on the NBA level that he could run a team, but he has left no questions about his ball-handling, decision-making and passing. He averaged 4.3 assists.

Quick also gives a honorable mention vote to former Trail Blazer Will "The Thrill" Barton, who's had a breakout campaign this year for the Denver Nuggets.

The other Trail Blazer centric vote was for Coach of the Year, where Quick opted to go with Trail Blazers coach Terry Stotts.

1. Terry Stotts, Portland: Call me a homer, I don't care, the job that Stotts and his staff did this season is beyond extraordinary. Not only did the Blazers surpass everyone's expectations by becoming a playoff team, they did so while also staying true to their vow to develop their young talent. That can be a tricky balance on a team when you are starting Noah Vonleh during a playoff push, or experimenting with lineups midway through the season. But guys like Maurice Harkless, Gerald Henderson and Meyers Leonard remained engaged while all the tinkering, evaluating and exceptions were made. Also, a sign of coaching is whether players improve, and this season the Blazers have seen career years from Allen Crabbe, Mason Plumlee, McCollum and Lillard.

His picks for All-Defensive team did not include Trail Blazers forward Al-Farouq Aminu. Instead he opted to go with Kawhi Leonard and Draymond Green on the 1st Team and Jimmy Butler and Trevor Ariza on the 2nd Team.

Ariza is a bit of a surprising pick as he hasn't appeared on too many ballots around the internet as of yet, and his team, the Houston Rockets, can't secure a playoff spot until the last game of the season.

To continue reading how Quick filled out his ballots, click here.