After two Portland Trail Blazers players were nominated for Western Conference Player of the Week last Monday, no Blazers received a nomination this week. Instead, Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic won
the award for Western Conference while Detroit Pistons guard Cade Cunningham took home the honor for the Eastern Conference.
Jokic led the Nuggets to a 4-0 record this week by averaging an emphatic triple-double of 31.3 points, 13.3 assists and 11.3 rebounds per game. The Pistons also went 4-0 this week, while Cunningham averaged 31 points and 9.8 assists.
Western Conference nominees included Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker, Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, New Orleans Pelicans wing Trey Murphy III, Minnesota Timberwolves forward Julius Randle and Houston Rockets big man Alperen Sengun. Eastern Conference nominees included Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, Pistons center Jalen Duren, Charlotte Hornets rookie Kon Knueppel, Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell, Miami Heat guard Norman Powell and New York Knicks big Karl-Anthony Towns.
Forward Deni Avdija and guard Jrue Holiday were the two Trail Blazers nominated for the award last week. If anybody was going to receive a nomination this week, it would’ve been Avdija. The 6-foot-8 forward averaged 30.7 points, 9 rebounds and 6.3 assists over three games this past week. The Blazers finished those games with a 1-2 record, which might be why Avdija didn’t get his second straight nomination.
