Michael Young named as a preseason candidate for the Karl Malone Award

Yeah, I know - go figure, right? No, I hadn't heard of the Karl Malone Award, either.

That's mostly because it's a relatively new award. Created by the Naismith Hall of Fame in 2015, this is only the third season the award will be given. The Karl Malone Award, given to the top power forward, is one of five positional awards give by the Hall of Fame.

The others are the Bob Cousy Award (top point guard), the Jerry West Award (top shooting guard), the Julius Erving Award (top small forward), and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award (top center).

Young is one of 20 players on the list and with most of these things, he will probably have a difficult time winning it. That's particularly true this season with the Panthers returning so many key players. Young should be the best player on the team but I'm not sure he'll be able to dominate the ball as much as other players will.

But still great to see the recognition.

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