The NBA gives out a ton of post season awards, which includes all individual ones as well as selecting the all-NBA teams. In continuing with my win prediction pieces from yesterday, I am going to try and pick all of these before I have watched any games. I will start it off with the major award winners and a dark horse for each one:
Most Valuable Player: Lebron James
He is the best player in the NBA since Michael Jordan. He should collect his 5th MVP award unless the voter’s want to shake things up. Dark Horse: Kevin Durant
Defensive Player of the Year: Dwight Howard
I expect him to be fully healthy. In other words the Dwight Howard that dominated on the defensive end in Orlando. Dark Horse: Lebron James
Rookie of the Year: Victor Oladipo
I think Victor is in the best place of all the good rookies. He will play a ton of minutes for a bad team that will keep him on the floor regardless of mistakes. Dark Horse: Michael Carter-Williams
Sixth Man of the Year: Jarrett Jack
He was an impact player last year for the Warriors and had a huge effect on the growth of Stephen Curry as a player. This could have the same effect on Kyrie Irving this year. Dark Horse: J.R. Smith
Most Improved Player: Enes Kanter
I thought last season would be his breakout year so I am banking on being off by a year. He should be a\posting a double-double every night. Dark Horse: Anthony Davis
Executive of the Year: Billy King Brooklyn Nets
I feel the Nets will be a top three seed in the East and go to, at worst, the conference finals vs the Heat. That should be enough to get him some hardware. Dark Horse: Chris Grant Cleveland Cavaliers
All-NBA First Team
Lebron James, Kevin Durant, Dwight Howard, James Harden, and Chris Paul
I don’t feel that there are any surprises here. Four of the five guys have already been multiple time first teamers.
All-NBA Second Team
Paul George, Kevin Love, Tony Parker, Derrick Rose, and Tim Duncan
This team is again made up of players who have all be on an all-NBA team before. Duncan could slid out if he gets less playing time to be fresh for the playoffs.
All-NBA Third Team
Dwayne Wade, Marc Gasol, Stephen Curry, Russell Westbrook, and Anthony Davis
Three of the five have been here before. Curry and Davis are the only first timers on any of the three teams. I feel that Stephen Curry took a huge step after the all-star game and just missed out on last years teams. Davis is just a difference maker and will show it on both ends of the floor this year.
All-NBA Defensive Teams
Before I list my defensive teams I have to do a little ranting. These two team can be hardest or the easiest to pick, here is why:
For reference, the coaches pick these two teams. The only rule is you can’t vote for your own players. This way it’s the easiest is to just pick the guys that were on the team last year regardless of how they play. The reasoning is that the coaches most of the time seem to not care and just submit the same players. Kobe Bryant was a great defender in his prime. That being said, he stopped guarding the best wing or guard on the other team about six years ago. Over the last three years he has been a liability on the defensive end of the floor. In the last six years he made 4 first teams and 1 second team. Luckily, he was finally bumped out this past season. I intend to pick the best ten defenders in the league weather they have made one before or not. As a result, this could be inaccurate.
All-NBA Defensive First Team
Dwight Howard, Serge Ibaka, Lebron James, Iman Shumpert, and Tony Allen
All-NBA Defensive Second Team
Anthony Davis, Marc Gasol, Joakim Noah, Paul George, and Avery Bradley
This is pretty close to the status quo except I love Shumpert and think that he needs to get recognized for how he plays on the defensive end. Anthony Davis is also going to be new to the defensive teams. However he will become a staple after this. He could find his way onto the first team if the Pelicans are a playoff team.
All-NBA Rookie First Team
Victor Oladipo, Michael Carter-Williams, Anthony Bennett, Kelly Olynyk, and Trey Burke
All-NBA Rookie Second Team
Cody Zeller, Vitor Faverani, Steven Adams, Dennis Schroder, and Ben McLemore
This is widely recognized as a very weak rookie class. In other words, we are going to see some rookies who average 7 points and 5 rebounds or worse make one of these teams. The players that have the best shot at making the all-rookie teams this year are playing on teams trying to lose the most. I am going to say that five of the tem players that make these all-rookie teams will have any impact after this year.
I hope you enjoyed reading these as much as I had writing them. I will revisit them at the end of the season and see how I did. Hopefully you will too.
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