SIXTH MAN AWARD
J.R. Smith, New York Knicks. Hardest call of any of the bunch – yes, even more so than Coach of the Year. If we gave it to the best tweeter, we’d go with @JCrossover, winner of the prestigious HoopsHype.com Best Tweeter award (although nobody will ever supplant Smith’s Best Tweet Ever.) But the clinching stat comes from Chris Bernucca’s suggestion column: The Knicks are 5-2 when Smith scored 30 or more points. The Clippers are 1-0 when Crawford goes for 30.
Jamal Crawford, Los Angeles Clippers. More evidence of how equal they have been. The Knicks are 19-10 when Smith scores 20 or more points. The Clippers are 18-10 when Crawford does the same. Both are lethal weapons whose success levels will be directly proportional to their teams’ success in the postseason. Again, tough call. What would have put Crawford over the top? If he had come through on his vow to chase Jose Calderon’s FT accuracy record, as he did on the air with us earlier this season. Instead, he will be below 90 percent. If you are upset by this pick, follow @JCrossover and complain. He will tweet back at you.
Jarrett Jack, Golden State Warriors. In my book, the most underrated player in the NBA. Yes, Jeff Green qualified as a Sixth Man candidate, but he did all his damage as a starter. Jack is a guy, like Andre Miller in Denver, who consistently came in and kept the engine running.
MOST IMPROVED PLAYER
Nikola Vucevic, Orlando Magic. One day, when they are counting up total championships won, he may go down in the books as the best of the three centers dealt in the Dwight Howard deal. Just you wait and see. He is on a rebuilding team that is going to have to be reckoned with a lot sooner than people expect. Anybody want to call Rob Hennigan names for not acquiring Andrew Bynum when he had a chance? Hennigan also stole Tobias Harris from the Bucks, and in June he will add a helluva player with what will be a lottery pick. Denver, Philly and the Lakers all owe the Magic first-round picks. 
Paul George, Indiana Pacers. Went from a very good player to an All-Star, which is certainly a worthy measurement of improvement. But did he make a leap like Vucevic did from Club Trillion member to borderline All-Star? No. So the level of improvement that Vucevic displayed wins the quantum leap contest. I actually feel sorry for the Pacers because I didn’t give them a first-place vote here or in Coach of the Year. They are the classiest organization, top to bottom, in the NBA.
Omer Asik, Houston Rockets. Admit it … you thought Morey was crazy when he gave this guy that back-loaded offer sheet and dared the Bulls to match it. Turns out this guy was the second-biggest acquisition made by Morey in the offseason, behind James Harden and ahead of Jeremy Lin. More than doubled his points and rebound totals and finished third in the league in boards. There were plenty of worthy candidates, as outlined here.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Tony Allen, Memphis Grizzlies. If I run an NBA team, I want a guy I can put out there on the other team’s best offensive player and be confident that my guy is going to be in their guy’s jock for 48 minutes. Nobody does that like Allen, who is setting himself up for a monster payday this summer – whether it is with the Grizzlies or someone else. But one of the reasons Memphis traded Rudy Gay was because they realized TA’s value. Check out what he did defending LeBron James, Kobe Bryant and James Harden.
Larry Sanders, Milwaukee Bucks. Will get a lot of votes in this category (and quite a few “Hey Now” references that will go over too many people’s heads), some of which may take away from his finish in the Most Improved Player award voting. He actually blocks shots better than Andrew Bogut did in his younger, healthier days, which is saying something. Bogut, at his peak, had impeccable timing for a shot-blocker.. And the clincher that gets him No. 2 – he worked his way up from the end of the bench. When the season began, it looked like Sam Dalembert and Joel Przybilla would be manning the middle for Scott Skiles. Things certainly changed, eh?
Serge Ibaka, Oklahoma City Thunder. I said it last year and I’ll say it again – he got robbed last year when he became the first power forward to lead the NBA in blocks but lost out to Tyson Chandler of the Knicks, who is a fine defensive player but is nowhere near the game-changer on defense that Ibaka is on a night-in, night out basis.
As we know who wins “Lebron” !!!
“The Lebron”
automatic gate openers
Lebron wins, no doubt.
But Melo over Durant?
This is why I hate the title “Most Valuable Player”, it’s too open to interpretation.
Melo for Durant trade, straight up, no salary cap, and forgetting the future (ie. Durant being younger). IMHO New York get better, OKC gets worse.
Durant would be “more valuable” to New York.
That’s why a straight ranking of “best player” is what this award should be.
What’s the argument in the All-NBA teams for Melo ahead of Durant? The “most valuable” vs “best” semantic argument doesn’t apply there, does it?
Also, what’s your reasoning for Horford? That’s going to be an unusual, possibly unique, pick for 1st team.
Given the time he missed and his tendency to turn on and turn off, I can see CP3 3rd team. You can justify those top 6 guards in any order at all. Not much in it, and Curry will also get some votes.