Portland Trail Blazers forward Deni Avdija and rookie guard Caleb Love were both nominated for NBA Western Conference awards for the month of January, the [NBA announced today](https://www.nba.com/news/monthly-nba-awards-luka-doncic-jaylen-brown-win-honors-for-january).
Despite missing five games, Avdija earned a nomination for Western Conference Player of the Month after averaging 26 points, 7.1 rebounds and six assists. The Blazers won seven of the ten games in which Avdija appeared.
Love, a nominee for Rookie of the Month, played in all 15 January games, scoring 14.5 points and dishing out 3.5 assists per game. He made 2.7 three-pointers per contest while shooting 34.5% from behind the arc.
Neither ultimately won the award. Luka Doncic took home the honors among all players after averaging 34 points, 9.1 assists and 7.2 rebounds while leading the Los Angeles Lakers to a 9-7 record. Cooper Flagg of the Dallas Mavericks secured the nod for rookies. The NBA’s youngest player continued his ascent to stardom, piling up 20.8 points, 7.2 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game.
Other nominees for Western Conference Player of the Month included Kevin Durant of the Houston Rockets, Anthony Edwards of the Minnesota Timberwolves, Flagg, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder, Kawhi Leonard of the Los Angeles Clippers and Jamal Murray of the Denver Nuggets.
Other Western Conference rookies nominated were Ace Bailey of the Utah Jazz, Derik Queen of the New Orleans Pelicans and Cedric Coward of the Memphis Grizzlies.
In the Eastern Conference, Jaylen Brown of the Boston Celtics was named Player of the Month. Other nominees were Bam Adebayo and Norman Powell of the Miami Heat, Jalen Brunson of the New York Knicks, Cade Cunningham of the Detroit Pistons, Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers, Brandon Miller of the Charlotte Hornets, Donovan Mitchell of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Pascal Siakam of the Indiana Pacers.
The Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month was Kon Knueppel of the Charlotte Hornets. Other nominees included Egor Dëmin of the Brooklyn Nets, VJ Edgecombe of the Philadelphia 76ers, Tre Johnson of the Washington Wizards and Collin Murray-Boyles of the Toronto Raptors.