Donovan Mitchell is the latest, but he has a lot of company — and he will get more.
On Monday night, when Cleveland hosted Phoenix, Mitchell missed his 18th game this season, making him ineligible for NBA postseason awards based on the league’s new 65-game rule (a player cannot miss more than 17 games to be eligible for most postseason awards). Mitchell had been in the mix for an All-NBA spot, but now he will not even appear on the ballot.
Mitchell has company and will soon have more. The list of name players already not eligible for postseason awards is fairly long and growing fast. Here are the biggest names already ineligible for any postseason awards (not all of them would have been voted in, but now voters can’t even consider them). This list hits the All-Defensive team list particularly hard.
• Joel Embiid (Philadelphia 76ers)
• Jimmy Butler (Miami Heat)
• Julius Randle (New York Knicks)
• Donovan Mitchell (Cleveland Cavaliers)
• Draymond Green (Golden State Warriors)
• OG Anunoby (New York Knicks)
• Evan Mobley (Cleveland Cavaliers)
• Kristaps Porzingis (Boston Celtics)
• Kyrie Irving (Dallas Mavericks)
• Jamal Murray* (Denver Nuggets)
• Bradley Beal (Phoenix Suns)
*Murray is a special case, he has only missed 16 games so far and could play in 66 games. However, the new NBA rule states that players must play 20 minutes in a game for it to count toward the total and twice this season he has played less than that and had to exit the court due to injury, so he is technically not going to get to 65 qualified games. Denver can appeal that. How the NBA would rule is impossible to predict, there is no precedent.
That list is going to grow, there are a number of players who are on the verge of missing too many games, or will hit the mark soon because of injuries.
The players on the edge of not qualifying include:
• Tyrese Haliburton. The Pacers breakout guard and All-Star starter, who would get strong consideration for an All-NBA spot, can only miss four more games.
• Devin Booker. The Phoenix Suns guard, also a potential All-NBA player, can only miss three more games.
• Trae Young. The Hawks guard is sidelined following finger surgery and, while not to the magic number yet, will not qualify for postseason awards.
• Karl-Anthony Towns. The Timberwolves All-Star big man remains out following knee surgery and soon will hit the mark and not qualify for any postseason awards (the hope is he could be back for, or during, a first-round playoff matchup).
• Alperen Sengun. The Houston Rockets big man was one of the leading candidates for Most Improved Player, but he is likely done for the season following a Grade 3 ankle sprain and a bone bruise on his knee. He will not get to 65 games.
While there is rightfully plenty of backlash to the new rule, league officials will be quick to point out that the 65-game rule was collectively bargained — it’s part of the new CBA the players voted to approve. They argue that asking a player to be in 80% of his team’s game to be eligible for an award is reasonable. Don’t think for a second that this is about the fans, it’s not a coincidence that the NBA pushed for this as it was negotiating a new television rights deal and trying to drive up the value of regular season games.
What bothers me about the rule is it takes the nuance out of things, it tells voters they aren’t trusted to accurately reflect the league on things like third-team All-NBA. Voters already took games and minutes played into account, they just didn’t see a bright line for disqualification. As a practical example, if Haliburton plays 63 games should that be a hard line? Or should some leeway be given to voters to say his 63 is more valuable than the contribution of someone who played 66 games?
It’s going to be interesting to see how this rule is tweaked and evolves over the next couple of years because it will change. But this season, the 65-game rule is hard and fast.
