In a memo sent out to all 30 teams, the NBA announced that voting for awards such as MVP, Rookie of the Year and Coach of the Year would be voted for prior to the July 30 restart, meaning voting would be based on games played up until March 11.
MORE: Our picks for end-of-season awards
While awards races are done, the league also announced that statistical championships, such as scoring, rebounding and assists titles would be impacted by stats accrued during the eight seeding games at Walt Disney World.
For the most part, those statistical races are all but decided but in a few cases, the door is open for things to get interesting over the next two weeks.
Before the upcoming eight seeding games get underway, take a look at the league's current statistical leaders along with tidbits surrounding their potential to win titles in their respective categories.
Points Per Game
- James Harden, 34.4
- Bradley Beal, 30.5
- Giannis Antetokounmpo, 29.6
- Trae Young, 29.6
- Damian Lillard, 28.9
Considering Harden's sizable lead over the rest of the top five, it is essentially a foregone conclusion that he will capture the league's scoring title for a third straight season. He would essentially have to go scoreless over the next eight games to slide behind Beal, who is done for the season.
If this holds, Harden will become the seventh player in league history to win three straight scoring titles and the first since Kevin Durant (2010-12).
Rebounds Per Game
- Andre Drummond, 15.2
- Hassan Whiteside, 14.2
- Giannis Antetokounmpo, 13.7
- Rudy Gobert, 13.7
- Domantas Sabonis, 12.4
With Drummond and the Cavaliers not participating in the restart, Whiteside would need to put forth a gargantuan effort on the boards in order to capture his second rebounding crown. How gargantuan? The Portland Trail Blazers big man would need to average 24 boards over the team's final eight games to finish the season with an average of 15.3.
That being said, it appears that Drummond is set for his fifth rebounding title.
Assists Per Game
- LeBron James, 10.6
- Trae Young, 9.3
- Ricky Rubio, 8.9
- Luka Doncic, 8.7
- Ben Simmons, 8.2
In Year 17, LeBron James is leading the league with a career-best 10.6 assists per game. His playmaking has been so impressive that if he somehow failed to record an assist during the Lakers eight seeding games, he would still have a higher assists average than second-place Trae Young.
Since we know LeBron has some big assists nights ahead of him, it's safe to crown the 35-year-old with the title and, as reported by Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press, James is set to become the oldest assists champion since Steve Nash, who did it in 2011 at age 37.
Additionally, James looks to become the sixth player in NBA history with both a scoring and assists title to their name, joining the Harden, Russell Westbrook, Jerry West, Nate Archibald and Oscar Robertson.
Steals Per Game
- Ben Simmons, 2.1
- Kris Dunn, 2.0
- Andre Drummond, 1.9
- Fred VanVleet, 1.9
- Kawhi Leonard, 1.9
This is the race in which we could potentially see a change.
Kris Dunn is locked into his 1.98 steals per game – rounded up to 2.0 – as the Chicago Bulls failed to qualify for the restart. Ben Simmons, however, has eight important games left with the Philadelphia 76ers and is averaging 2.13 steals per contest.
To be specific, Simmons will hold off Dunn if he can grab nine steals over the last eight games, good for an average of 1.125. That doesn't seem like too big of an ask for the current steals leader but there's also a slim outside shot that VanVleet or Leonard bump their averages up by a few decimal points.
Blocks Per Game
- Hassan Whiteside, 3.1
- Brook Lopez, 2.4
- Anthony Davis, 2.4
- Myles Turner, 2.2
- Kristaps Porzingis, 2.1
He might not be able to capture the rebounds title, but Whiteside is in his own league when it comes to shot-blocking, as he is the only eligible player to average over three blocks per contest this season. It would take a combination of Whiteside forgetting how to protect the rim and one of Lopez or Davis putting forth two weeks of record-breaking performances for this to change.
Whiteside stands to take home the blocks crown for the second time in his career and the first time since the 2015-16 season.
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