It’s awards season at Celtics.com. We’re handing out seven awards over the couple of weeks as we roll through this year’s Celtics.com Awards Series. We may not have trophies or acceptance speeches, but we do have some top-flight Celtics performances to outline. Here we go...

BOSTON - No award was more difficult to determine than Boston’s Most Valuable Player. For a team that oftentimes won as a result of effort and teamwork, much more so than individual accolades, no player stood head and toes above the rest.

Still, someone on this team was most valuable, and that player is Evan Turner.

Wind the clock back to Sept. 29, 2014, when Boston announced that it had signed the free-agent swingman. No one – and we mean no one - thought that it was a game-changing move.

Turner was coming off of a season during which he was traded to the Pacers and blamed by many for Indiana’s postseason failures. He was the scapegoat; the bad apple in the locker room that couldn’t make plays on the court for a good team.

Those assertions couldn’t have been further from the case.

The Celtics welcomed Turner with open arms and he returned the favor to each and every one of his teammates and coaches. He brought a positive vibe to the locker room throughout the season, during both the good times and the bad. He was a calming veteran presence, making teammates laugh when they needed one, and forcing them to focus when the time was right.

Turner’s presence in the locker room wasn’t the only factor he brought to the table. Playing in all 82 games, he was fantastic on the court, particularly over the final four months of the season.

Boston traded away four-time All-Star Rajon Rondo on Dec. 18, leaving only rookie Marcus Smart and seldom-used Phil Pressey in the team’s point guard pool. (Jameer Nelson was briefly on the team, but he was of lame-duck status as the C’s looked to move him elsewhere).

The Celtics needed someone to run the offense and to do so in an efficient manner. Enter Turner, the point-forward.

Turner officially started 32 games at small forward but served as the team’s primary ball handler during each of those contests. He was the glue that held the offense together despite the team’s inefficient shooting all season. He made plays for himself and for others and consistently made good decisions with the ball.

No player on Boston’s roster averaged more assists than Turner’s 5.5 per game this season. That number is skewed a bit low as well, as he averaged 6.3 helpers a night after the Rondo trade and 6.8 APG after Feb. 1. Only seven players in the league dished out more assists than Turner over the final 10 weeks of the regular season. Just think about that for a moment.

Turner was actually better than Rondo after the trade, in nearly every area of the game. Turner scored more points, grabbed more rebounds and had a better assist-to-turnover ratio than Rondo did following the blockbuster deal that landed Rondo in Dallas with a team that many considered to be a title contender.

Those across-the-board contributions led to Turner racking up the first triple-double of his career on Feb. 25 when he tallied 12 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. Soon thereafter, triple-doubles No. 2 and No. 3 were accumulated. Those three triple-doubles tied for the third-highest total in the NBA in this season.

We also can’t forget about all of the big shots Turner hit this season. Boston likely doesn’t beat Portland on Jan. 22 without his game-winning 3-pointer from the right corner. It also likely doesn’t outlast the East’s top team, the Hawks, on Feb. 11 without his game-winning runner in the lane.

Those two baskets – two of many key shots that Turner made or created for Boston this season – gave the C’s two wins, but they also gave the team confidence and momentum. You would be hard-pressed to find two more important victories for Boston this season, and they happened because of Turner.

There is nothing about Turner’s raw 2014-15 averages of 9.5 PPG, 5.5 APG and 5.1 RPG that would make you think “MVP,” but without him, the Celtics do not make the playoffs.

Turner was consistent. He was a playmaker. He was clutch. And with all of that in mind, we must name him as Boston’s Most Valuable Player.