AWARDS 09

Awards for the end of the season:

MVP
1. LeBron James
2. Dwyane Wade
3. Kobe Bryant
No one else is really close to these three. LeBron wins because he has taken a mediocre squad to 65 plus wins. Sure, his stats are redic, but he's also claimed the title of best player. Wade is second for getting a crummy team to the playoffs by himself. You can argue that Kobe is the top dog still, if not the best man on the best team.... but Kobe has the most talent surrounding him, and his main task is just to score. Wade and LB have to do EVERYTHING for their teams.

DEFENSE
1. Dwight Howard
2. Shane Battier
3. D Wade
Howard is an easy choice. He dominates the paint and glass. Note that Wade is coming on here.

ROOKIE
1. Derrick Rose
2. O.J. Mayo
3. Russell Westbrook
4. Brook Lopez
5. Eric Gordon

This is a very solid rookie class. I predicted Mayo could win it because he would have the best chance of averaging nearly 20 a game. Well, he almost did that, but Rose has been spectacular. He scored more than I thought, and he handled the starting job well. Despite a lot of early turmoil in Chicago, they are going to the playoffs. That's worth a lot. Mayo and Westbrook did great for their teams, and Lopez may be a franchise center. Gordon, Marc Gasol, D.J. Augustin, Kevin Love, and Michael Beasley also put up some good numbers, and Rudy Fernandez and Mario Chalmers are getting minutes for playoff teams. The only maybe disappointment for rookies is Greg Oden, but he's had to deal with injuries and high expectations. He's still a valuable part of a Portland team that won 50 games.

COACH
1. Mike Brown, CLE
2. Stan Van Gundy, ORL
3. Nate McMillan, POR
4. George Karl, DEN
5. Rick Adelman, HOU

Brown gets credit for getting LeBron to play defense, while figuring out a way to use him on offense to carry a mediocre unit. He has an undersized back court and two old guys down low, but this team still led the league in points allowed. I like what Van Gundy has done in Orlando, building an up-tempo game around Howard. McMillan won 50 games quicker than I thought he would. Karl was very impressive in making Denver better despite losing Marcus Camby for nothing. Adelman has surived in Houston despite injuries, but needs a playoff win to get noticed.

6th MAN
1. Jason Terry
2. Andrei Kirilenko
3. Lamar Odom
4. Anderson Varejao

Terry wins big as a sub who averaged nearly 20 a game. He also made the Jason Kidd deal look better, as he fits well next to the real point. Kirilenko showed some life with the second unit. Odom might have won this if Andrew Bynum didn't get hurt, making him a starter. Varejao started a lot of games for Cleveland, too, but has really been key to their defense.

MOST IMPROVED
1. Jameer Nelson
2. Danny Granger
3. Nate Robinson
4. Ramon Sessions
5. Wilson Chandler

Nelson wins, despite missing a large chunk of the season. I wasn't sure if he was a starter or should come off the bench, and Orlando was rated very low at point guard, but he worked his way into the all-star game. Granger went from solid player to all-star. Robinson and Chandler thrived in the Knicks' new system, changing them from afterthoughts to key cornerstones. Sessions inexplicably had a hard time getting minutes in Milwaukee before he showed he could be a capable starter.

ALL NBA: LeBron, D Howard, Wade, Kobe, Chris Paul

2ND: Garnett, Duncan, Nowitzki, Pierce, B Roy

3RD: Ming, Billups, Carmelo, T Parker, Bosh

ALL ROOKIE: Rose, B Lopez, Westbrook, Mayo, Gordon

R 2ND: Love, M Gasol, Beasley, Augustin, Chalmers

HM: Fernandez, J Thompson, Oden, C Lee

ALL DEF: D Howard, Garnett, Battier, Wade, Rondo

D 2ND: Varejao, LeBron, Duncan, Artest, C Paul