WBA Awards Season Winners & Losers
With each team now finishing game 80 of the WBA regular season, we come to the end of the line for 14 teams’ aspirations. But before we get too deep into the playoff fever, let’s look at the biggest winners and snubs from the recently announced awards for the WBA and WBADEV 2020 regular season.
Winner- Jervan Timmons, Honey Bees: We might as well start off with the man who took home both MVP and DPOY while leading his team to the one seed in the World Conference. Timmons is the first MVP in recent memory to average fewer than 20 points a game, but made up for that on the stat sheet with absurd leads in assists and steals. As many have mentioned, the Rage’s hold on the WBA throne seems to be more tenuous than ever and the Honey Bees are peaking at the right time to be the ones who assume the mantle and end years of futility for the entire World Conference.
Loser- Benet Da Gama, Disco: Ok, so Da Gama didn’t go away empty handed, collecting the Rookie of the Year trophy for his efforts. But how does 31.5 points, 8.9 rebounds, and 5.3 assists with a 35.1 PER (led the league) and a positive +/- on a 33-47 team fall to the 3rd Team All-WBA? I’m not saying he deserved to repeat the feat of Almantas Talacka in 2014 and win MVP in his rookie season over Timmons (can’t argue with 73-7), but Da Gama deserved better than this.
Winner- Evan Bobbins, Irish/Disco: After taking his lumps last year up in the big leagues, Evan Bobbins looked a lot more comfortable in the WBADEV, averaging 18.2 points and 4.3 assists en route to a sweep for the Disco orginization in the Rookie of the Year category, edging out fellow second year man Hilton Fulton, Mihalis Zizilevs, and one other player we’ll cover in detail later. Rumor has it that Bobbins was the name London front offices would float as tradeable in response to any inquests for Da Gama, but the successful year Bobbins has had in the D League has turned his estimation around big time in the eyes of Disco brass.
Loser- Jarius Miles, Rage: A late season injury took the wind out of the reigning MVP’s sails on awards night, as Miles didn’t make an All-League team for the first time since 2014 and even fell to the 2nd team All-Defense despite more steals and blocks per game than last year. Of course, being healthy for the playoffs and helping the Rage turn back all challengers yet again is the ultimate priority for Miles.
Winner- Artie Duggons, Macaques/Giants: Though he couldn’t compete with the sheer scoring ability of Kevin Whitlock to come away with the WBADEV MVP trophy, Duggons made the most of his time in the D-League for the second consecutive year and came away with All-League and All-Defense First Team selections for his 24.7 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 1.4 blocks along with an elite 34.8 PER. Look for Duggons to be a major weapon in the WBA in the near future thanks to the patience invested into the 7’2 youngster by the Gabon orginization.
Winner- John Keating, Massacre: Keating found another gear this year, adding 6.2 points to his prior season total, along with nice increases in blocks, rebounds, and even assists to earn both First Team All-WBA and First Team All-Defense. Another player who owes a lot of his success to time in the WBADEV, the 26 year old former late first round pick spent large parts of three seasons there, the 4 year/$6.6 million deal he was signed to in 2017 is proving to be one of the biggest bargains in the history of the WBA.
Loser- Klaas Binsenshaum, Rhinos/Rainmakers: Although it’s certainly looking like the Rainmakers got a great player at #10 overall, not taking home D-League ROY and landing on the 2nd team All-Rookie squad must have been a frustrating result for Binsenshaum, who certainly put up the numbers (21.1 points, 5.2 boards, 4.3 assists, 2 steals), but must have fallen out of the memory of voters after suffering a bulging disc injury early in March and only returning for the Rhinos’ final game of the season. An All-Defense first team award softens the blow, but the disrespect to the 2020 rookie class is real.
Winner- Frank Mathieu, Warriors: With his first shot at free agency looming, 23 year old Frank the Tank Mathieu made his case to get paid, averaging 23.8 points and completing the double double with an even ten rebounds per game, landing on an All-WBA team for the third time in his career after being an all-star snub. Mathieu is yet another example of a young player being helped by the WBADEV, dominating the league in 2017 and taking that momentum with him to the big leagues.