Post by donatello2424 on Dec 7, 2009 8:09:17 GMT -5
Sorry for the lateness, but after several days I finally get the Midseason(ish) Award Predictions up. Just a note this was done over several days, so the stats may be off and as a result, some of the defensive things might be off. For example, when I started this Burke was beating Wallace and Camby by .1 bpg. Also some players are not on the same team (ex. Shaq), but I was not about to go through and change things up. The same thing I said about his age and contract holds true for the Mavs. I also didn't proofread this so there are likely to be mistakes that spell/grammar check didn't pick up. This was done over 4 or 5 days so understand that.
Most Valuable Player: Etienne Preira, SG, Chicago Bulls
-Really no surprise. After filling in for injured center Dikembe Mutombo, Preira is back trying to be a super 6th man sub. He is a Mr. Do-it-all with scoring, rebounding, assists, and defense. 5.8 in total-defense rankings is amazing. The Bulls will try and win another title one last time as their window is closing. Dikembe and Maxwell look to be on their last leg and if they retire, that leaves (next year ages) a 33 year-old Camby, 33 year-old Ignacio, 27 year-old Peja, and 31 year-old Preira. The Bulls might try and rebuild by going young, but that you involve Preira, and I don’t see most teams paying what Tiger’s asking price will be.
I know I won’t find any pictures of EP, so I am just going to put random Bulls in
Runner-Up: Stephen Jackson, SG, Philadelphia 76ers
-Jackson is a great scorer who can do just about it all. He gets the nod here over Carter due to Carter’s crappy rebounding and assist numbers…and his lack of defense at all. The 76ers were always a team that I liked their build, just not their team.
Defensive Player of the Year: Etienne Preira, SG, Chicago Bulls
-He is in the top 5 in blocks and the top 1 in steals, so putting anyone else here would be crazy. He will likely be the dpoty for the rest of his sim years unless he takes a major hit or plays either guard position full time.
Runner-Up: Pat Burke, C, Philadelphia 76ers
-I think that this is a close race between him, Wallace, and Camby. All 3 have around the same blocks, but Burke gets the nod because he is tied for 1st among these 3 with the highest number of steals, and he gets 0.1 more bpg.
Rookie of the Year: Dwayne Wade, SG, Vancouver Grizzlies
-Wade is having a great year for the Grizz. 22 ppg, 6 rpg, and 4.5 apg give him a very good statline. The grizz are set up with him, Alston, AK, and Duncan. The Grizz have been part of some questionable practices concerning their lack of depth and the fact that their team should be better than they currently are. Wade looks to be their wing scoring threat that compliments Alston’s feed ‘em style, AK’s defensive abilities, and Duncan’s post game.
Runner-Up: Lebron James, SF, Los Angeles Lakers
-Haha, Lebron is a runner-up in something. His ppg aren’t high enough to overtake Wade for ROY, but his rpg numbers from a SF are just under David West’s as a PF. I also don’t like Hinrich’s topg numbers. If he was at 3ish, then Hinrich wins this award. But he is a turnover whore so it goes to Lebron.
All-League
Center: Wang Zhi-Zhi, C, Washington Bullets
-Wang is taking over Shaq’s reign on the center position now. While his rating may not be jaw dropping, the numbers he is putting up are. He is top 10 in both scoring and rebounds, and is the only C or PF in the top 10 in scoring. He is the driving force behind the Bullets’ offense. He is having career highs in every category and had a career high in point with 64 yearly for the Bullets. They have had a long line of top big men (Dream and Webber) and it seems that Wang looks to continue that.
Runner-Up: Shaquille O’Neal, C, San Antonio Spurs
-Rumor has it that play is shopping Shaq with hopes to rebuild, but the big man is 31 and is expiring, so interest in him may be lower than it should be. Even though the Spurs are having a down year, Shaq is continuing to be at the top of his game. He is averaging nearly 25/13/2 blocks which is great. He is still turnover prone and is a bad free throw shooter, but he is a beast. The real question will be whether or not he gets a max contract. He is good enough, but his age is a concern.
Power Forward: Dirk Nowitzki, PF, Sacramento Kings
-Here is an interesting tidbit of information: There are only 2 PFs in the top 10 for rpg and only 1 in the top 10 for bpg. Dirk isn’t on either list, but he is having a solid season. 23 ppg and 11 rpg is solid. Many teams are running a lot of 2 C sets so the person playing PF is listed as a C. If they moved the player, this could be a different race. But as of right now, the 3-shooting German will win this award.
Runner-Up: Jermaine O’Neal, PF, Philadelphia 76ers
-This was a close race for me between him and Garnett. I went with O’Neal due to him being dominate in rpg and being a better shot blocker. He doesn’t score as much, but it isn’t a huge gap either. Due to the lack of dominate PFs, O’Neal will likely come in 2nd. Both of these guys won’t sniff the award banquet if some other people are moved to PF since they are their team’s 2nd and 3rd option respectively.
Small Forward: Vince Carter, SF, Houston Rockets
-Carter is the driving force on a team with 5 players for 2 positions. Carter is averaging over 30 ppg and is close to the .500/.900/.500 club where he is hitting half of his fgs, 9/10 of his fts, and half of his 3’s. What is even more amazing is that he is a 30 ppg scorer on a team with 3 other guys who are scoring 20+ ppg. Carter is only an average rebounder and still can’t play defense, but he is a deadly scorer. Next year should be interesting for the Rockets. They have 6 guys current under contract for just under 70 million. They may be in a budget crunch when it comes to trying to bring back their big men.
Runner-Up: Tracy McGrady, SF, New York Knicks
-Part of a major in season trade that sent him to New York and Wang to Washington, McGrady is the #1 to New York’s new 1-2 punch with himself and Manu. He is averaging 26 and 7 which places him on the top 10 for ppg. New York has to hope that he does not bolt like Shawn Marion did last season if they want to build their team for the future.
Shooting Guard: Etienne Preira, SG, Chicago Bulls
-Not very surprising. He is playing everyone on the court but because he is listed as a shooting guard he gets the award here. This is like when I was writing these articled when you have MJ and Dream winning 3 awards, I ran out of things to say about them. And, I still have one more award to give him.
Runner-Up: Stephen Jackson, SG, Philadelphia 76ers
-Runner-up to the MVP and runner-up to all-league honors. It is shocking to think that Jackson is only 25 and he could play 3 positions. Philly has a great young core with him and JO, but I’m not sure if they are enough to win them a title. They have to bring back Burke for next season and then think about the future as Penny and Jimmy Jackson will want new deals after next. Should be interesting.
Point Guard: Damon Stoudamire, PG, Dallas Mavericks
-Mr. Untradeable gets his award which will skyrocket the asking price for him, but there is a reason he wins this award. Usually, I would put Nash, Bibby, Cassell, or Kidd over Damon, but they are not their team’s #1 option (2 of them are #3 and two more are #2). Damon is putting up very good numbers with 27 ppg and 8.5 apg. Dallas wants to get more youth to build around, but they cannot ship Damon off. Even though he is putting up great stats, I think Dallas should have tried to move him at a discount. Either keep him and make your pick crappy or ship him off, get back a pick, and have a solid pick.
Runner-Up: Steve Nash, PG, Atlanta Hawks
-Even though he is horrible on defense, Nash is still an elite point guard. His apg numbers are the best in the league and he is a great scorer. The Hawks can thank Nash for delivering pinpoint passes to SAR and Rip. His apg are amazing and are 2 more than anybody else in the league. It is just a shame he sucks so bad defensively.
All-Defensive
Center: Pat Burke, C, Philadelphia 76ers
-The league leader in blocks and the dpoty of course is going to win it. The runner-up DPOTY race is a close one, so this one is close as well. Burke, Camby, and Wallace will all be in the running, but deciding who wins it is really a toss-up.
Runner-Up: Ben Wallace, C, Atlanta Hawks
-It is close between him and Camby, really close. I went with Wallace since he is up by .1 on spg + bpg. If rebounds are taking into consideration (which they possibly are, it is up for debate), I expect Camby to win it here. But since it is unknown, I just went with blocks and steals. Wallace is the perfect complement to Kandi since he provides great defense, which is all that they need.
Power Forward: Eddie Griffin, PF, Milwaukee Bucks
-He is a full 1 bpg less than Burke, so that tells you have many shot blocking PFs there are. Griffin has been the mainstay of an often injured Bucks teams. With McDyess missing time, Griffin has proved to be a solid defender and a double-double threat. He still needs some work, but is young and has a lot of talent around him to learn from.
Runner-Up: Jermaine O’Neal, PF, Philadelphia 76ers
-This was harder than I thought. First, I only found 3 guys who were logical choices due to most PFs being listed as Cs. Next, there 3 guys I had were all ties. Each had the same 2.7 as their defensive score for me. One was a backup who, if he was starting, would have run away with this. Since he was a backup, his rpg numbers were down, which was his downfall. I went with JO over KG and DD because of the rpg numbers. That is the only reason.
Small Forward: Clifford Robinson, SF, Chicago Bulls
-A backup winning this award? Clifford has the highest total bpg+spg number by 1, so I have to put him here. Old Cliffy continues his defensive team ways as a backup for the Bulls. This will likely be his last one since he should retire. Makes my life a little harder since that is one less top guy to I keep my eye out for.
Runner-Up: Andrei Kirilenko, SF, Vancouver Grizzlies
-Barely beating out Gerald Wallace, AK has to take a backseat to Clifford for now. AK should be back on top of his game next year. AK continues to look like a great player who is fine with playing 3rd fiddle on the Grizz and can provide great defensive in the post and on the perimeter. Too bad he is so creepy looking.
Shooting Guard: Etienne Preira, SG, Chicago Bulls
-He continues to pull in awards and this is no different. Not only is he leading the league in spg, but he is also a break shot blocker. I’ve got nothing else to write about him.
Runner-Up: Stephen Jackson, SG, Philadelphia 76ers
-He just can’t catch a break. He is a great player, he just happens to play behind an even better one. Until Tiger moves Preira to a new position, it seems that S-Jax will continue to be the 2nd best SG in the league.
Point Guard: Gilbert Arenas, PG, Los Angeles Clippers
-The Clipper got lucky in free agency by landing Gilbert. He gives them a young guard to help Yao out and to build around. Picking the point guard to win this award was a bit difficult since there are 3 points guards each with 2.2 steals per game. I went with bpg next and Gilbert narrowly edged out the other two. Gilbert is struggling with turnovers this year but if C-Mike put some articles into his guys, he could have a sick core.
Runner-Up: Jason Kidd, PG, Sacramento Kings
-I have two guys both with the same number of spg and bpg, so what is my tie breaker? I just looked at overall defensive and by one letter grade; Kidd gets the award over AI. Kidd is a do-it-all PG; he can score, dish, handle the ball, and play defense. In a league of point guards, he is certainly one of the top ones. Kidd will be a free agent this year so marty will need to decide if he wants to handcuff himself with a max contract for a 30-year old. He has a 25 year-old PF who is a stud, but how much longer can Kidd hold up?
All-Rookie
Center: Emeka Okafor, C, Charlotte Hornets
-Coming into the league as a power forward, Emeka was thought of as the next Dikembe Mutombo, a guy who will win multiple defensive player of the year award. Well a year later and he is showing us that the thought is true and some. He is averaging a double-double with his 13/11.5 stats, and around 1 spg and 2.7 bpg. Many thought he was a very polished player and wouldn’t grow much, even though he was young. His scouted has dropped to C so any big future improvements may be out the window, but he looks like a player that will be able to give a team a double-double nightly with 12+ rpg and 3+ bpg. Any team would take that.
Runner-Up: Darko Milicic, C, Indiana Pacers
-There were several centers that were taken later, but it is a converted power forward who takes the runner-up place just like the winner. Darko is a young player who fell a little in the draft due to the rawness of his game. So far he has shown that he is a solid player, averaging 13/7.5. I feel that he is going to develop into a good offensive and defensive player, but I don’t think his rebounding will ever come around unless he spends a lot of articles on it.
Power Forward: David West, PF, Charlotte Hornets
-Drafting West and Okafor seemed a bit much since both were listed as power forward, but move one to center and you have a dominate combo for years to come. West has exploded into the steal of the draft, putting up 17.5/9 in his first year. His ratings don’t jump out at you, but his stats sure do. It may be due to paying on such a shitty team, but West looks like he will be a good scorer with good rebounding numbers who is a very good man defender. Which works great with Emeka’s blocking ability.
Runner-Up: Mike Sweetney, PF, Toronto Raptors
-This was an interesting one to figure out. 8/7 doesn’t seem like great numbers but on the Raptors those are great. He will never be much of a scorer and likely will be at best a 6th man as a team’s 3rd big. There is really nothing to say because finding a runner-up for PF was fairly hard.
Small Forward: Lebron James, SF, Vancouver Grizzlies
-Lebron was thought to be the next big thing, as so far, he is being overshadowed by Wade. Lebron is going to be Mr. Everything since he can score inside, handle the ball, play defense and rebound. The question with Lebron is about his lack of a 3-point shot and the question of where he plays on defense. As he continues to develop it should be obvious where he plays, but if he develops enough in his handles and passing, he could be an Etienne Preira type player who can play everywhere.
Runner-Up: Josh Howard, SF, Cleveland Cavaliers
-The Cavs went on a selling spree this season and sold away most of their pieces with hopes to tank. They succeeded with the tanking part and almost with the sell all part with only Kerry Kittles and Laphonso Ellis being the two contracts they have for older players. Howard has played well as of late and has really turned it on. His age is a bit of a concern as one has to question whether his A scouted is really that high. Right now he looks like he is going to be a very good defensive wing. Some nice TCs and some articles and he could be a stud out there.
Shooting Guard: Dwayne Wade, SG, Vancouver Grizzlies
-Wade is similar to Lebron, they both can’t hit the 3. Wade will become a very good player, but he needs to become a better shooting. He is a fine scorer, his percentages need some major work. If he can develop a mid-range and long-range game, he could be sick.
Runner-Up: James White, SG, San Antonio Spurs
-I had no idea who to put here. I tried to find another SG who was actually playing and producing, but my searching turned up nothing. 7/4 isn’t bad for a SG, but I think White gets here for winning the slam dunk contest…as a rookie.
Point Guard: Kirk Hinrich, PG, Boston Celtics
-Hinrich is producing…kind of. He is averaging almost 19 ppg and 8.5 apg, but those stats are kinda offset by his 3.9 topg, which is first in the league. It isn’t anything uncommon to see guys with horrible topg numbers starting at the point, just look at Kirk, Wagner, Penny, Tinsley, and AI. Boston has a great player on their hands, but needs to put some articles and some it into him if they want him to be a PG. If Not, just move him to SG to get it over with.
Runner-Up: Jameer Nelson, PG, Toronto Raptors
-Toronto just seems to be a hodgepodge of players. They don’t really have a star, just a lot of decent looking players. Some are young, some are old. It is going to be interesting to see what saga can do it make sure he makes his CY. Back to Nelson. He looks solid right now. His topg are a little high and his assists are a little low, so he is going to be the Raptor’s PG next year, saga has some work to do. I think he is likely part of a trade to bring in a more established player. But right now, Nelson looks to be a keeper.
Most Valuable Player: Etienne Preira, SG, Chicago Bulls
-Really no surprise. After filling in for injured center Dikembe Mutombo, Preira is back trying to be a super 6th man sub. He is a Mr. Do-it-all with scoring, rebounding, assists, and defense. 5.8 in total-defense rankings is amazing. The Bulls will try and win another title one last time as their window is closing. Dikembe and Maxwell look to be on their last leg and if they retire, that leaves (next year ages) a 33 year-old Camby, 33 year-old Ignacio, 27 year-old Peja, and 31 year-old Preira. The Bulls might try and rebuild by going young, but that you involve Preira, and I don’t see most teams paying what Tiger’s asking price will be.
I know I won’t find any pictures of EP, so I am just going to put random Bulls in
Runner-Up: Stephen Jackson, SG, Philadelphia 76ers
-Jackson is a great scorer who can do just about it all. He gets the nod here over Carter due to Carter’s crappy rebounding and assist numbers…and his lack of defense at all. The 76ers were always a team that I liked their build, just not their team.
Defensive Player of the Year: Etienne Preira, SG, Chicago Bulls
-He is in the top 5 in blocks and the top 1 in steals, so putting anyone else here would be crazy. He will likely be the dpoty for the rest of his sim years unless he takes a major hit or plays either guard position full time.
Runner-Up: Pat Burke, C, Philadelphia 76ers
-I think that this is a close race between him, Wallace, and Camby. All 3 have around the same blocks, but Burke gets the nod because he is tied for 1st among these 3 with the highest number of steals, and he gets 0.1 more bpg.
Rookie of the Year: Dwayne Wade, SG, Vancouver Grizzlies
-Wade is having a great year for the Grizz. 22 ppg, 6 rpg, and 4.5 apg give him a very good statline. The grizz are set up with him, Alston, AK, and Duncan. The Grizz have been part of some questionable practices concerning their lack of depth and the fact that their team should be better than they currently are. Wade looks to be their wing scoring threat that compliments Alston’s feed ‘em style, AK’s defensive abilities, and Duncan’s post game.
Runner-Up: Lebron James, SF, Los Angeles Lakers
-Haha, Lebron is a runner-up in something. His ppg aren’t high enough to overtake Wade for ROY, but his rpg numbers from a SF are just under David West’s as a PF. I also don’t like Hinrich’s topg numbers. If he was at 3ish, then Hinrich wins this award. But he is a turnover whore so it goes to Lebron.
All-League
Center: Wang Zhi-Zhi, C, Washington Bullets
-Wang is taking over Shaq’s reign on the center position now. While his rating may not be jaw dropping, the numbers he is putting up are. He is top 10 in both scoring and rebounds, and is the only C or PF in the top 10 in scoring. He is the driving force behind the Bullets’ offense. He is having career highs in every category and had a career high in point with 64 yearly for the Bullets. They have had a long line of top big men (Dream and Webber) and it seems that Wang looks to continue that.
Runner-Up: Shaquille O’Neal, C, San Antonio Spurs
-Rumor has it that play is shopping Shaq with hopes to rebuild, but the big man is 31 and is expiring, so interest in him may be lower than it should be. Even though the Spurs are having a down year, Shaq is continuing to be at the top of his game. He is averaging nearly 25/13/2 blocks which is great. He is still turnover prone and is a bad free throw shooter, but he is a beast. The real question will be whether or not he gets a max contract. He is good enough, but his age is a concern.
Power Forward: Dirk Nowitzki, PF, Sacramento Kings
-Here is an interesting tidbit of information: There are only 2 PFs in the top 10 for rpg and only 1 in the top 10 for bpg. Dirk isn’t on either list, but he is having a solid season. 23 ppg and 11 rpg is solid. Many teams are running a lot of 2 C sets so the person playing PF is listed as a C. If they moved the player, this could be a different race. But as of right now, the 3-shooting German will win this award.
Runner-Up: Jermaine O’Neal, PF, Philadelphia 76ers
-This was a close race for me between him and Garnett. I went with O’Neal due to him being dominate in rpg and being a better shot blocker. He doesn’t score as much, but it isn’t a huge gap either. Due to the lack of dominate PFs, O’Neal will likely come in 2nd. Both of these guys won’t sniff the award banquet if some other people are moved to PF since they are their team’s 2nd and 3rd option respectively.
Small Forward: Vince Carter, SF, Houston Rockets
-Carter is the driving force on a team with 5 players for 2 positions. Carter is averaging over 30 ppg and is close to the .500/.900/.500 club where he is hitting half of his fgs, 9/10 of his fts, and half of his 3’s. What is even more amazing is that he is a 30 ppg scorer on a team with 3 other guys who are scoring 20+ ppg. Carter is only an average rebounder and still can’t play defense, but he is a deadly scorer. Next year should be interesting for the Rockets. They have 6 guys current under contract for just under 70 million. They may be in a budget crunch when it comes to trying to bring back their big men.
Runner-Up: Tracy McGrady, SF, New York Knicks
-Part of a major in season trade that sent him to New York and Wang to Washington, McGrady is the #1 to New York’s new 1-2 punch with himself and Manu. He is averaging 26 and 7 which places him on the top 10 for ppg. New York has to hope that he does not bolt like Shawn Marion did last season if they want to build their team for the future.
Shooting Guard: Etienne Preira, SG, Chicago Bulls
-Not very surprising. He is playing everyone on the court but because he is listed as a shooting guard he gets the award here. This is like when I was writing these articled when you have MJ and Dream winning 3 awards, I ran out of things to say about them. And, I still have one more award to give him.
Runner-Up: Stephen Jackson, SG, Philadelphia 76ers
-Runner-up to the MVP and runner-up to all-league honors. It is shocking to think that Jackson is only 25 and he could play 3 positions. Philly has a great young core with him and JO, but I’m not sure if they are enough to win them a title. They have to bring back Burke for next season and then think about the future as Penny and Jimmy Jackson will want new deals after next. Should be interesting.
Point Guard: Damon Stoudamire, PG, Dallas Mavericks
-Mr. Untradeable gets his award which will skyrocket the asking price for him, but there is a reason he wins this award. Usually, I would put Nash, Bibby, Cassell, or Kidd over Damon, but they are not their team’s #1 option (2 of them are #3 and two more are #2). Damon is putting up very good numbers with 27 ppg and 8.5 apg. Dallas wants to get more youth to build around, but they cannot ship Damon off. Even though he is putting up great stats, I think Dallas should have tried to move him at a discount. Either keep him and make your pick crappy or ship him off, get back a pick, and have a solid pick.
Runner-Up: Steve Nash, PG, Atlanta Hawks
-Even though he is horrible on defense, Nash is still an elite point guard. His apg numbers are the best in the league and he is a great scorer. The Hawks can thank Nash for delivering pinpoint passes to SAR and Rip. His apg are amazing and are 2 more than anybody else in the league. It is just a shame he sucks so bad defensively.
All-Defensive
Center: Pat Burke, C, Philadelphia 76ers
-The league leader in blocks and the dpoty of course is going to win it. The runner-up DPOTY race is a close one, so this one is close as well. Burke, Camby, and Wallace will all be in the running, but deciding who wins it is really a toss-up.
Runner-Up: Ben Wallace, C, Atlanta Hawks
-It is close between him and Camby, really close. I went with Wallace since he is up by .1 on spg + bpg. If rebounds are taking into consideration (which they possibly are, it is up for debate), I expect Camby to win it here. But since it is unknown, I just went with blocks and steals. Wallace is the perfect complement to Kandi since he provides great defense, which is all that they need.
Power Forward: Eddie Griffin, PF, Milwaukee Bucks
-He is a full 1 bpg less than Burke, so that tells you have many shot blocking PFs there are. Griffin has been the mainstay of an often injured Bucks teams. With McDyess missing time, Griffin has proved to be a solid defender and a double-double threat. He still needs some work, but is young and has a lot of talent around him to learn from.
Runner-Up: Jermaine O’Neal, PF, Philadelphia 76ers
-This was harder than I thought. First, I only found 3 guys who were logical choices due to most PFs being listed as Cs. Next, there 3 guys I had were all ties. Each had the same 2.7 as their defensive score for me. One was a backup who, if he was starting, would have run away with this. Since he was a backup, his rpg numbers were down, which was his downfall. I went with JO over KG and DD because of the rpg numbers. That is the only reason.
Small Forward: Clifford Robinson, SF, Chicago Bulls
-A backup winning this award? Clifford has the highest total bpg+spg number by 1, so I have to put him here. Old Cliffy continues his defensive team ways as a backup for the Bulls. This will likely be his last one since he should retire. Makes my life a little harder since that is one less top guy to I keep my eye out for.
Runner-Up: Andrei Kirilenko, SF, Vancouver Grizzlies
-Barely beating out Gerald Wallace, AK has to take a backseat to Clifford for now. AK should be back on top of his game next year. AK continues to look like a great player who is fine with playing 3rd fiddle on the Grizz and can provide great defensive in the post and on the perimeter. Too bad he is so creepy looking.
Shooting Guard: Etienne Preira, SG, Chicago Bulls
-He continues to pull in awards and this is no different. Not only is he leading the league in spg, but he is also a break shot blocker. I’ve got nothing else to write about him.
Runner-Up: Stephen Jackson, SG, Philadelphia 76ers
-He just can’t catch a break. He is a great player, he just happens to play behind an even better one. Until Tiger moves Preira to a new position, it seems that S-Jax will continue to be the 2nd best SG in the league.
Point Guard: Gilbert Arenas, PG, Los Angeles Clippers
-The Clipper got lucky in free agency by landing Gilbert. He gives them a young guard to help Yao out and to build around. Picking the point guard to win this award was a bit difficult since there are 3 points guards each with 2.2 steals per game. I went with bpg next and Gilbert narrowly edged out the other two. Gilbert is struggling with turnovers this year but if C-Mike put some articles into his guys, he could have a sick core.
Runner-Up: Jason Kidd, PG, Sacramento Kings
-I have two guys both with the same number of spg and bpg, so what is my tie breaker? I just looked at overall defensive and by one letter grade; Kidd gets the award over AI. Kidd is a do-it-all PG; he can score, dish, handle the ball, and play defense. In a league of point guards, he is certainly one of the top ones. Kidd will be a free agent this year so marty will need to decide if he wants to handcuff himself with a max contract for a 30-year old. He has a 25 year-old PF who is a stud, but how much longer can Kidd hold up?
All-Rookie
Center: Emeka Okafor, C, Charlotte Hornets
-Coming into the league as a power forward, Emeka was thought of as the next Dikembe Mutombo, a guy who will win multiple defensive player of the year award. Well a year later and he is showing us that the thought is true and some. He is averaging a double-double with his 13/11.5 stats, and around 1 spg and 2.7 bpg. Many thought he was a very polished player and wouldn’t grow much, even though he was young. His scouted has dropped to C so any big future improvements may be out the window, but he looks like a player that will be able to give a team a double-double nightly with 12+ rpg and 3+ bpg. Any team would take that.
Runner-Up: Darko Milicic, C, Indiana Pacers
-There were several centers that were taken later, but it is a converted power forward who takes the runner-up place just like the winner. Darko is a young player who fell a little in the draft due to the rawness of his game. So far he has shown that he is a solid player, averaging 13/7.5. I feel that he is going to develop into a good offensive and defensive player, but I don’t think his rebounding will ever come around unless he spends a lot of articles on it.
Power Forward: David West, PF, Charlotte Hornets
-Drafting West and Okafor seemed a bit much since both were listed as power forward, but move one to center and you have a dominate combo for years to come. West has exploded into the steal of the draft, putting up 17.5/9 in his first year. His ratings don’t jump out at you, but his stats sure do. It may be due to paying on such a shitty team, but West looks like he will be a good scorer with good rebounding numbers who is a very good man defender. Which works great with Emeka’s blocking ability.
Runner-Up: Mike Sweetney, PF, Toronto Raptors
-This was an interesting one to figure out. 8/7 doesn’t seem like great numbers but on the Raptors those are great. He will never be much of a scorer and likely will be at best a 6th man as a team’s 3rd big. There is really nothing to say because finding a runner-up for PF was fairly hard.
Small Forward: Lebron James, SF, Vancouver Grizzlies
-Lebron was thought to be the next big thing, as so far, he is being overshadowed by Wade. Lebron is going to be Mr. Everything since he can score inside, handle the ball, play defense and rebound. The question with Lebron is about his lack of a 3-point shot and the question of where he plays on defense. As he continues to develop it should be obvious where he plays, but if he develops enough in his handles and passing, he could be an Etienne Preira type player who can play everywhere.
Runner-Up: Josh Howard, SF, Cleveland Cavaliers
-The Cavs went on a selling spree this season and sold away most of their pieces with hopes to tank. They succeeded with the tanking part and almost with the sell all part with only Kerry Kittles and Laphonso Ellis being the two contracts they have for older players. Howard has played well as of late and has really turned it on. His age is a bit of a concern as one has to question whether his A scouted is really that high. Right now he looks like he is going to be a very good defensive wing. Some nice TCs and some articles and he could be a stud out there.
Shooting Guard: Dwayne Wade, SG, Vancouver Grizzlies
-Wade is similar to Lebron, they both can’t hit the 3. Wade will become a very good player, but he needs to become a better shooting. He is a fine scorer, his percentages need some major work. If he can develop a mid-range and long-range game, he could be sick.
Runner-Up: James White, SG, San Antonio Spurs
-I had no idea who to put here. I tried to find another SG who was actually playing and producing, but my searching turned up nothing. 7/4 isn’t bad for a SG, but I think White gets here for winning the slam dunk contest…as a rookie.
Point Guard: Kirk Hinrich, PG, Boston Celtics
-Hinrich is producing…kind of. He is averaging almost 19 ppg and 8.5 apg, but those stats are kinda offset by his 3.9 topg, which is first in the league. It isn’t anything uncommon to see guys with horrible topg numbers starting at the point, just look at Kirk, Wagner, Penny, Tinsley, and AI. Boston has a great player on their hands, but needs to put some articles and some it into him if they want him to be a PG. If Not, just move him to SG to get it over with.
Runner-Up: Jameer Nelson, PG, Toronto Raptors
-Toronto just seems to be a hodgepodge of players. They don’t really have a star, just a lot of decent looking players. Some are young, some are old. It is going to be interesting to see what saga can do it make sure he makes his CY. Back to Nelson. He looks solid right now. His topg are a little high and his assists are a little low, so he is going to be the Raptor’s PG next year, saga has some work to do. I think he is likely part of a trade to bring in a more established player. But right now, Nelson looks to be a keeper.
