This is Part Two in a two-part series that hands out the Timberwolves End-of-Season Awards. Part One can be found here.
Defensive Player of the Year — Ricky Rubio
This award was nearly impossible to decide. Karl-Anthony Towns was a defensive force right from the beginning, a fact that was often overlooked because his offensive game was so polished. Rubio, on the other hand, had his defense often overlooked because of his limitation shooting the ball.
Diving into the statistics a bit, Towns was tenth in the league with 1.7 blocks per game. He also averaged 0.7 steals and had 2.8 defensive win shares, which is “an estimate of the number of wins contributed by a player due to his defense,” according to Basketball-Reference.com.
Rubio averaged 2.1 steals, good for fifth in the league, and actually led the NBA with a 3.5 steal percentage,the percentage of opponent possessions that ended in a Rubio steal while he was on the court. Rubio also racked up 2.2 defensive win shares of his own.
Outside of the stats, both showed that they are great defenders. Towns’ instincts and intimidation helped him cover his teammates’ backs when they would get beat. His one-on-one post defense was also extremely solid for a rookie. He knew his opponent’s favored moves and could snuff those out, forcing a tough shot or a pass out.
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Rubio was able to keep top point guards from penetrating and warping the Timberwolves defense all season long. Both the offense and the defense were so much smoother with him on the floor; he’s not just a floor general on the offensive end. His leadership and energy on defense helps keep everyone rotating and in the correct spots.
Ricky and KAT could easily share this award, but this is where I’ll defer to a basketball mind much smarter than my own, Zach Lowe from ESPN.com. As previously mentioned, he just did his end-of-season awards and put Rubio on the All-Defense second team with this explanation:
"Point guards drive so much of NBA offense, and they are impossible to guard in the no-hand-check era. Having guys like [Chris] Paul and Rubio who can actually do that job is super-valuable. They stay attached to their opponent’s hip around screens, help and recover with perfect timing, and rip steals without gambling their way out of position. Rubio is huge, and takes charges; if you want him on the first team, I wouldn’t argue."
In an award race that’s almost too close to call, Lowe’s endorsement earns Rubio the edge over Towns.
Most Valuable Player — Karl-Anthony Towns
This is another extremely close race between Towns and Rubio. Both did so much for the team, and both in ways that can be measured and in ways that can’t.
In Towns’ case, he played in all 82 games and was just one of 13 players in the league to average a double-double. He led the Timberwolves in rebounds and blocks, with 10.4 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per contest. KAT was also second on the team with 18.3 points per game .
In addition, while he had a -1.6 +/- rating according to NBA.com, he led the Wolves with 8.3 win shares according to Basketball-Reference.
Rubio played in 76 games and was second in the league in steals while placing fifth in assists. He led the Wolves in both of those categories and, as discussed in the prior section, led the Wolves on both the offensive and defensive ends. Everything ran better with Rubio on the floor, and the contrast how the team played with Rubio on the floor versus off was oftentimes jarring.
Rubio was the only Timberwolves player with a positive +/- reading outside of Kevin Garnett, and also contributed 5.8 win shares.
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The impact of both players is extremely hard to quantify. By conventional measures, when Rubio was on the floor, the Wolves slightly outscored their opponents; the advanced stats show that KAT was worth a bit more than Rubio.
The decision to take Towns over Rubio in this category is based mostly on production. I know, Rubio fans: not everything Rubio does is captured in box scores or even in advanced stats.
Towns was a machine, though, never hitting a rookie wall and playing at a level that, by one popular measure, has only been matched by David Robinson, Tim Duncan, and Shaquille O’Neal in their rookie seasons.
In addition, Towns has supplied Wolves fans with even more hope than they had last year. He has all the tools necessary for a modern big man, and he, Wiggins, and LaVine form an extremely talented trio that are not satisfied with where they are at.
By all indications, these young stars are willing to put in the work and the time to become serious threats in this league. The team’s late-season surge has optimism for the team very high heading into the off-season, and KAT’s play is right at the center of that.
Next: Timberwolves End-of-Season Awards, Part One
Based on his comparisons, Towns will likely thrust himself into the real MVP conversation very soon. For now, he’ll have to settle for team MVP.
What a shame.