Chris Haynes Shares NBA Awards Ballot

After submitting his ballot for the end-of-season NBA awards, Chris Haynes of Yahoo! Sports has shared his entire ballot with readers, which includes nods for three Portland Trail Blazers: Damian Lillard, Enes Kanter, and Robert Covington. Haynes slotted Lillard fourth in the MVP vote, behind Chris Paul of the Phoenix Suns and ahead of Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors. He also selected Lillard for First-Team All-NBA. Lillard averaged 28.8 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 7.4 assists over the 2020-21 season over 67 games.

Meanwhile, Haynes placed Enes Kanter as second in Sixth Man of the Year, with Jordan Clarkson of the Utah Jazz at number one and Chris Boucher of the Toronto Raptors in third. Kanter played all 72 games of the 2020-21 season — the only Trail Blazer to do so. He averaged 11.2 points, 11.0 rebounds, and 1.2 assists per game. There is no doubt that Kanter contributed a lot to the team over the course of the season, especially with Jusuf Nurkic out for a long stretch due to injury.

Finally, Haynes selected Robert Covington on Second-Team All-Defense, along with Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks, Joel Embiid and Matisse Thybulle of the Philadelphia 76ers, as well as Jimmy Butler of the Miami Heat. Covington averaged 8.5 points over the season, along with 6.7 rebounds and 1.7 assists, while on the defensive end, he averaged 1.4 steals and 1.2 blocks.

What do you think of Haynes’ ballot? Let us know in the comments. You can view the entire thing here.