Jokic, Doncic, Gilgeous-Alexander top three for MVP as NBA releases award finalists

It's NBA Awards season.

The votes are in and over the next couple of weeks, the NBA will roll out its winners for its end-of-season awards. Sunday they released the top three finalists for all of the individual awards, here is the complete list (which doesn't have a lot of surprises):

NBA Most Valuable Player

Nikola Jokic (Denver)
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Oklahoma City)
Luka Doncic (Dallas)

NBA Coach of the Year

Mark Daigneault (Oklahoma City)
Chris Finch (Minnesota)
Jamahl Mosley (Orlando)

NBA Clutch Player of the Year

Stephen Curry (Golden State)
DeMar DeRozan (Chicago)
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Oklahoma City)

NBA Sixth Man of the Year

Malik Monk (Sacramento)
Naz Reid (Minnesota)
Bobby Portis (Milwaukee)

NBA Rookie of the Year

Victor Wembanyama (San Antonio)
Chet Holmgren (Oklahoma City)
Brandon Miller (Charlotte)

NBA Most Improved Player

Coby White, (Chicago)
Alperen Sengun (Houston)
Tyrese Maxey, (Philadelphia)

NBA Defensive Player of the Year

Rudy Gobert, Rudy (Minnesota)
Victor Wembanyama (San Antonio)
Bam Adebayo (Miami)

There are no real surprises here, but credit to Wembanyama, who is in the top three for Rookie of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year. Also, Josh Hart was unhappy that his coach was not in the top three for Coach of the Year.

Otherwise, there are no big surprises on the list. One could argue someone should be in the top three — like Thibodeau for Coach of the Year — but the top three candidates are all good choices.