0
Who Will It Be, Who Will It Be?!
It is a little senseless to make any kind of predictions about the new season after less than a week of play behind us, but it is never too early to at least discuss the candidates for individual awards such as the MVP, MIP, Defensive Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year and 6th Man of the Year.
Candidates for the Most Valuable Player award seem to be obvious. Kobe Bryant, Lebron James, Dwayne Wade, Dwight Howard, and Carmello Anthony are on top of my list. Though D-Wade should have another monster season, being on a mediocre team will once again hurt his chances of being named MVP. With such a strong supporting cast in Pau Gasol, Ron Artest and Lamar Odom, Kobe will probably not score as much as he has in the past. I still fully believe Kobe is the best player in the game, but the MVP is an award for the player who is most valuable to his team, and not for the best player in the league. Dwight Howard and the Magic are destined for another great season, but I see Superman finishing just 2nd or 3rd in voting for the award. My pick for NBA MVP 2009/2010 is Lebron James. King James’ stats of 28.4 ppg, 7.6 rpg, and 7.2 apg from his 2008/2009 MVP campaign should stay very similar, and his Cavs are certainly expected to be among the elite and make a deep run into the playoffs.
I have given much thought to the topic of potential Most Improved Player Award candidates, and I can only come up with a few legitimate names. One is Courtney Lee of the New Jersey Nets, who started for Orlando in the 2009 Finals, but was traded to the Nets in the offseason for Vince Carter. Expect him to have another solid season. Eric Gordon of the Clippers had a strong rookie season averaging 16.1 ppg. Much is expected from Gordon in his sophomore year as the starting shooting guard. My pick for NBA Most Improved Player 2009/2010 is Trevor Ariza of the Houston Rockets. His strong 2008/2009 campaign with the Lakers earned Ariza a 5 year, $34 million contract and the investment seems to have been a wise one for the Rockets. Ariza is averaging just over 23.3 ppg thus far. Don’t expect the averages to stay as they are, but somewhere between 15 and 18 ppg is certainly realistic.
My candidates for the Defensive Player of the Year are Dwight Howard, Dwight Howard and Dwight Howard. I expect Superman to easily repeat his feat.
There are some very impressive names coming off the bench this year. Manu Ginobili, Al Harrington, Lamar Odom, and Jason Terry, who was named 6th Man of the Year last season, are my strongest candidates. With a reloaded squad and finally being healthy again, Manu Ginobili is expected to have a strong year for the Spurs and he is my favorite for the 2009/2010 6th Man of the Year award.
This year’s rookie class should be an impressive one. A lot of rookies are coming into the league ready to contribute and be big parts of their team immediately. Brandon Jennings of the Bucks has been very strong as the starting guard, just as Johnny Flynn of the T-Wolves has. Though he has not played a game in the regular season yet due to injury, Blake Griffin still is my pick for Rookie of the Year 2009/20010. Griffin is simply a beast and expect him to quickly rise in the ranks of the league’s top players.
