Awaken the Maelstrom has two targets: the player who will draw cards and the permanent an opponent controls that will be destroyed. You must choose legal targets for both to cast Awaken the Maelstrom. All other choices are made on resolution. Specifically, this means you can create a token that's a copy of the artifact you just put onto the battlefield (which perhaps you just drew) and then put +1/+1 counters on it if it's also a creature.