Now that you have seen both East and West prediction, how about my overall prediction. You know where all the teams are ranked, you know who I’m high on and who I like, here are all the player awards. Let’s start with the Coach Of The Year.
Coach Of The Year- Nate McMillan-Portland
Why McMillan? Last season, the Portland Trail Blazers were a 12 man wrecking crew. Heck, even Nate McMillan tore his ACL last year. This season, I see much success for Portland. I expect 50 wins and Portland being the team everyone knew had the talent to be a good team and did.
Most Improved Player- Kevin Love, Forward, Minnesota
I would be almost disappointing if Love wasn’t the MIP. In 28mpg last season, Love was averaging 14 points and 11 rebounds. Love should be the starting power forward with Al Jefferson in Utah. He’s one of the more efficient rebounders in the NBA so if Love can get 33 to 35mpg next season, he could push up for 15rpg to go with 17ppg.
6th man of the Year- Anthony Randolph, Forward, New York
Here’s some food for thought: Let’s compare Anthony Randolph and Micheal Beasley last season
Beasley: 14.8ppg, 6.4 rpg, o.6bpg in 30mpg
Randolph: 11.6ppg, 6.5rpg, 1.5bpg in 22mpg
For all the “Anthony Randolph still has to show he’s good talk”, he had comparable numbers to the 2nd overall pick in 2008 while playing 8 less minutes per game. Does that show that Beasley has disappointed or Randolph overachieved? In New York, Randolph will get tons of minutes because Mike D’Antoni plays a 8 man rotation. Right now, I would project Randolph to be the 6th man and with his abilities, I could see him numbers go to 15ppg, 10rpg, 1.5bpg.
Defensive Player Of The Year- Josh Smith, Forward, Atlanta
We could so many ways with this. Gerald Wallace, Robin Lopez and even defending DPOY winner Dwight Howard could go for the three peat but I say Josh Smith. Josh Smith had some monster numbers defensively last season. He’s still a solid defender but 1.6 spg, 8.7 rpg with 2.1 bpg could go up. With Al Horford moving back to power forward and Josh Smith moving to small forward, I could see him increasing his numbers and getting more respect as a defensive player.
Rookie Of The Year- John Wall, Guard, Washington
There could be so many winners for this award. Blake Griffin could win it but with Baron Davis, Chris Kaman and Eric Gordon already in the fold, shots will come around…just not as much for Blake Superior. DeMarcus Cousins could win but right now, he has to win the starting job (currently held down by Samuel Dalembert). Evan Turner could win it but let’s see him with Andre Iguodala first. There very similar.
I picked John Wall for many reasons. One, Wall is a starter. The offense will run through Wall and he will be the setup guy for all the scorers. Second, the talent around him. JaVale McGee, Nick Young, Andrey Blatche, Yi, Josh Howard and Gilbert Arenas should all be looking to redeem themselves after terrible seasons. Wall has the court vision and playmaking to help those players increase there stats. Third, He’s John Wall.
Most Valuable Player- LeBron James, Forward, Miami
Let me explain this.
Here are my 6 players who can win the MVP right now: LeBron, Wade, Durant, Kobe, Howard and Paul. Here’s how I see it. Chris Paul has the toughest chance to win it because right now, he’s on a below average team. You need to at least get to the playoffs to win the MVP. Dwyane Wade could win it BUT I see by December, this will be LeBron’s team. Kevin Durant has one way of winning it: Win the scoring title. It’s a double edge sword for Durant. If his team gets better and his numbers go down…how can you give it to him?
This leaves 3 people: LeBron James, Dwight Howard and Kobe Bryant
Kobe has a great chance of winning it. He has the “legend” factor in which: some voters feel he’s slowing down ( if Kobe slows down), has a great season and they get him the award as a last hurrah. Kobe is also the guy for a defending champion. This can work both ways because even though Jordan won title after title in the 90’s, Jordan wasn’t the NBA MVP every year he won a title. Overall, Kobe should be good but I see him finishing 3rd.
Howard could win the MVP. I think Orlando would have to finish 1st in the East and dominate the East. Dwight Howard had 3 fantastic seasons so far and now he’s ready to show more by working with Hakeem Olajuwon on those post moves. If Howard could develop another solid post move, could he crack 25-11-3? That’s tough. I rather wait and see so Howard is 2nd in my MVP voting.
LeBron James won the MVP based on the potential of him playing point guard. We all compared LeBron to Jordan when he’s more like Magic Johnson. Mind you, LeBron did finish in the top 10 last year in assists. You give him Dwayne Wade ( Top 5 scorer), Chris Bosh ( Top 12 scorer) along with shooters like Eddie House, Mike Miller and James Jones and you have something there. If LeBron is given the point guard position, he could average 22-8-12 next season and that along with the fact that Miami should be a top 3 team in the NBA should get LeBron the MVP.