Kevin Durant will be the MVP pick of Chris Sheridan

My ballot will be e-mailed to NBA headquarters late at night one week from today, and I will then publish all of my picks for postseason awards — as is my standard practice.

But not every one of the 126 voters makes his/her selections public. At least that is the way it has been in the past.

But this year, transparency rules. The Pro Basketball Writers Association and the NBA media relations office have come to an agreement under which all of the voters’ picks in every single category will be made public. Too bad this didn’t happen a year ago, when we would have learned who had the gumption to vote for Jordan Crawford as Sixth Man of the Year. (The NBA even checked with the voter to see if he meant to select Jamal Crawford, and the voter responded ‘no.’ He actually felt the lesser Crawford was deserving).

With eight days left in the season, I can assure you that Kevin Durant is getting my MVP vote. I believe I have made that clear over the past month as I have published these rankings every Wednesday, and the big question in my mind is who will be placed second on my ballot. LeBron James, Blake Griffin and Joakim Noah are all deserving of consideration, and Al Jefferson would be right there with them if the Bobcats had a better record.

Then again, they are the Bobcats.

And they do deserve some recognition for turning things around two years after posting the worst record, percentage-wise, in NBA history. Jefferson will be the center on my first-team all-NBA ballot, but what about coach Steve Clifford? Doesn’t he deserve some consideration for Coach of the Year? Or have the accomplishments of Jeff Hornacek and Tom Thibodeau trumped what Clifford has done for the ‘Cats?

You can answer that question my voting in this poll. The results will show after you cast your ballot:

My vote counts in the official tally, and I will be influenced not only by your votes in the Coach of the Year poll, but by the choices made in print by veteran columnists Mark Heisler and Chris Bernucca, who will chime in with their picks on Sunday and Monday, respectively. Those two guys are very influential voices, and I respect their opinions as much as I respect any writer anywhere.

But I still have eight days to hem and haw, and that is exactly what I plan to do on a number of the close races (COY, Rookie of the Year, Sixth Man). For our rankings in other categories aside from MVP, scroll down to the links at the bottom of this post. Kels Dayton (Most Improved), Jacob Eisenberg (Sixth Man) and Bernucca (Rookies) have been ranking the top contenders week after week throughout this season.

With that, it is onto the rankings we go. If you care to share your opinion publicly, the comments section is open.

RANK	PLAYER	RUNDOWN	LAST
1		KEVIN DURANT, F, OKLAHOMA CITY: His streak of 25-point games ended last night at 41, and KD said he was glad because he was receiving too many text messages regarding the feat (He was the first player since Michael Jordan to do it 40 straight times). He will win the scoring title, he has left President Obama in awe, and … most importantly, because we value winning around here … he went 4-0 against the Spurs this season.	1
2		LeBRON JAMES, F, MIAMI: He got fouled by Mason Plumlee on that last-second dunk attempt Tuesday night as Brooklyn completed a 4-0 sweep. But he should know as well as anyone that refs tend to swallow their whistles on last-second fouls. Some of us still remember how he pushed Paul George on a game-tying 3-point attempt the first time the Pacers and Heat played in Miami. No whistle then, either.	2
3		BLAKE GRIFFIN, F, LA CLIPPERS: The Clips still have an outside shot at catching the Thunder for 2nd place in the conference, but they’d need OKC to lose at least twice — which would have to happen in the LAC-OKC game tonight and the Pacers-Thunder game on Sunday. And given the way Indiana is tumbling and grumbling, I wouldn’t count on that. OKC also plays Pelicans twice and Pistons.	3
4		JOAKIM NOAH, C, CHICAGO: Terrific profile piece by Ken Berger of CBSSports.com gives a window into the personal background and the oddball ways of the game’s only purveyor of the tornado shot. As mentioned in the preamble, there is an argument to be made that this guy should be 2nd. But at the end of the day, I imagine both Noah and Thibodeau are going to be overlooked more than they should be in voting for this award and Coach of the Year.	4
5		AL JEFFERSON, C, CHARLOTTE: Can Big Al make it onto the top five on enough ballots to actually finish fifth or better? Hard to say, because here will be a bunch of scattered support for guys like James Harden and Dirk Nowitzki. But in my eyes, what this guy has meant to this franchise (remember when he was ridiculed for signing with these perennial doormats) is enormous. Best player they’ve ever had.	5
6		JAMES HARDEN, G, HOUSTON: It ain’t easy to be a better player than Dwight Howard when you are on the same team as Dwight Howard — and to not have Howard resent it. Right, Kobe? The player with the beard that makes the Taliban jealous dropped another 33 Tuesday night in just three quarters, and that makes 22 30-point games for him, including three straight.	9
7		STEPHEN CURRY, G, GOLDEN STATE: The Dubs are going to finish 20 games over .500, give or take, and will be stuck with the sixth seed. Too bad for them, but good for the rest of us because the Warriors and Clippers have what is probably the strongest rivalry in the entire NBA right now. The players have an intense dislike for their adversaries, and that makes for great playoff theater.	6
8		TONY PARKER, G, SAN ANTONIO: He sits out a game in Minnesota, and what happens? The Spurs get trounced by 19. Not that it matters, because they’ll still finish No. 1 overall in the league. But I ask you this: What defines them right now? Their 19-game winning streak and their 60 victories? Or their 0-4 record against OKC and the fact that they should have won the title last year in Game 6? More on that in this CineSport video.	7
9		DIRK NOWITZKI, F, DALLAS: Just passed Oscar Robertson for 10th place on the all-time scoring list — quite the accomplishment. Glad he plans to stick around til he is 42 or 43, which he says is his plan. Has been pouring it on as of late as Dallas has kept on winning despite a brutal schedule, staying in contention for 8th spot in West. Averaging 24.4 and shooting 59 percent in April.	–
10		KYLE LOWRY, TORONTO: If this fella had been traded early in the season when his name was popping up in trade rumors practically every day, the Raptors would be in the mix for Andrew Wiggins, who is still projected to be the No. 1 pick in the draft. Instead, Lowry has earned himself a spot as the most talented free agent PG available this summer — and maybe the top free agent at any position.	8