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Projecting NBA award winners halfway through 2016-17

Bill Baptist / National Basketball Association / Getty

This week marked the official midway point of the 2016-17 season, both in terms of total games played and calendar days. Here are the seven players theScore's NBA editors project are halfway to some hardware.

MVP: James Harden

Marginal differences separate Harden from Russell Westbrook in a neck-and-neck race. Both are putting up astronomical numbers, but Harden is more efficient with his possessions, and therefore his Rockets are more successful than Westbrook's Thunder.

The Beard makes the most of his shots. Westbrook has 185 more attempts than Harden but only leads him in scoring by 47 points. The difference is made even clearer by true shooting percentage: Harden's shooting 61.3 percent when factoring in threes and free throws, while Westbrook's mark of 54.3 hardly nudges past league average.

Harden's teammates also make the most of his passes. He's creating 28.3 points per game on assists as compared to 23.7 for Westbrook. Houston's wealth of 3-point shooters (as compared to OKC's dearth) accounts for much of this difference, but Harden lacks the type of efficient finishers on the inside (Enes Kanter, Steven Adams) that Westbrook has to work with.

These marginal differences add up at the team level. Harden is the engine of a Rockets team pushing for second, while Westbrook's club toils in seventh. The MVP award rewards winners, and Harden has made more winning plays for his team than Westbrook. - William Lou

Also receiving a vote: Russell Westbrook

Defensive Player of the Year: Rudy Gobert

Gobert is the best and most impactful defender on the No. 1 defensive team in all of basketball. That should put him in the conversation automatically.

The Stifle Tower leads the Association in rejections, the opposition shoots 42.9 percent at the rim when he's protecting the fortress, and Utah allows 5.3 fewer points per 100 possessions when he's on the hardwood.

With Kawhi Leonard taking home the year-end award the past two seasons, it's easy to forget that it usually goes to the league's dominant defensive fives. The field is awfully crowded with no clear-cut favorite, but so far, the Salt Lake City shot-blocker has put together the strongest case. - Chris Walder

Rookie of the Year: Joel Embiid

Embiid is the front-runner, and it’s not close. The 22-year-old center's racked up each of the monthly rookie awards while leading his peers in scoring, rebounding, and blocks, despite being on a minutes restriction after foot problems delayed his NBA debut by two years.

The Process has been worth the wait - he looks like Philadelphia's most promising star since Allen Iverson. Embiid's impact is felt at both ends of the court: he's scoring at a rate only bested by one other rookie in history - Wilt Chamberlain - and making the Sixers' defense the best in the league. Off the hardwood, the Cameroonian's a social media sensation who received enough fan votes to start in the All-Star Game. - Victoria Nguyen

Sixth Man of the Year: Eric Gordon

In a season in which depth figured to be an Achilles' heel for the top-heavy Rockets, Gordon has been a stabilizing force that exemplifies the team's ethos better than anyone not named Harden.

Gordon leads the NBA in 3-point makes, shooting 40.3 percent from deep on an absurd 9.2 attempts per game. He also shoulders the lion's share of second-unit ball-handling duties while rarely turning it over, and has even been an active and engaged defender. He owns the third-best individual net rating and second-best defensive rating on the Rockets, and they've been 4.4 points per 100 possessions better with him on the floor. - Joe Wolfond

Also receiving a vote: Zach Randolph

Most Improved Player: Giannis Antetokounmpo

Over the last three months, Antetokounmpo has blossomed from borderline top-35 player to potential top-five superstar. If that's not cause for a unanimous MIP selection come April, nothing is.

The 22-year-old is averaging 23.7 points, 8.7 rebounds, 5.6 assists, 2.1 blocks, and 1.8 steals - numbers only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has matched - on nearly 54 percent shooting, keeping the young Bucks in the Eastern Conference playoff hunt while emerging as a two-way beast and logging minutes at virtually every position. - Joseph Casciaro

Also receiving a vote: Jabari Parker

Coach of the Year: Mike D'Antoni

While a number of recently signed coaches are enjoying remarkably good seasons with their new teams, no head coach has had a greater impact in 2016-17 than Mike D'Antoni.

The Rockets bench boss infused new energy into Houston's lineup, implementing his famed "Seven Seconds or Less" offense flawlessly through the first half of the campaign.

It remains to be seen whether the Rockets can keep up their torrid offensive pace in the playoffs, but D'Antoni deserves credit for turning Houston into a dark-horse contender in the West. - Patrick Britton

Also receiving votes: Gregg Popovich

Executive of the Year: Bob Myers

It's too easy to say Warriors general manager Bob Myers deserves his second EOY in three years simply because he signed Kevin Durant, although that's a big part of it. Role additions Zaza Pachulia and David West have been relatively solid too, and the fact remains that the Dubs are atop the league with a 36-6 record going into Friday. - John Chick

Also receiving votes: Daryl Morey, David Griffin

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