Handing out the NBA year-end awards

The long, wild, unpredictable regular season is but a couple days from its conclusion. Who would have known the West would be so crazy? Who could have guessed the Sixers would be a playoff team? And who would have thought we needed to prepare for the Oklahoma City Sonics (or something like that)? Oh, well, that’s why they play the games.

The playoffs loom as a wonderful main course after the 82-game appetizer and offer what could be the most post-season drama the league has seen in a long time. While the final few details are ironed out in the Western Conference, and the matchups are established, it’s time to clean up some details regarding the previous five-and-a-half months of action. That’s right; it’s time for the year-end awards. We have already taken care of the MVP race (Kevin Garnett), but there are a few other categories to consider.

Coach of the Year: There are many excellent candidates for this honor, from Boston’s Doc Rivers to Philadelphia’s Mo Cheeks to Houston’s Rick Adelman. But there is one clear-cut choice for the award, and that is the Hornets’ Byron Scott. The Bugs have gone from out of the post-season to — at worst — the third spot in the West and probably position two. Scott has nurtured Chris Paul into one of the league’s best points and built a rotation that works well together and competes like crazy. New Orleans was a feel-good story back in January, and many people expected a late-season fizzle. Instead, they have stayed strong and won the Southwest Division. That’s remarkable and good reason to shower the team’s coach with accolades.

Rookie of the Year: Since Greg Oden was confined to weightlifting and light running this season, this award was wide open. And not many of the expected candidates stepped up. High picks like Mike Conley, Yi Jianlian, Jeff Green and Brandan Wright struggled in their first seasons, leaving the door open for players like Luis Scola, Jamario Moon and Al Thornton, all of whom enjoyed strong campaigns. The final battle comes down to a decision between Seattle’s Kevin Durant (20.0 ppg, 4.2 rpg) and Atlanta’s Al Horford (10.2 ppg, 9.6 rpg). Horford gets points for providing a much-needed interior presence for a Hawks team, which made the playoffs. But I agree with Sonics coach P.J. Carlesimo, who argues that no other rookie was the focus of so many opposing gameplans as was Durant. He’s still too skinny and needs to work on his shot selection, but Durant delivered this year and gets the nod here.

Comeback Player of the Year: After playing just 13 games last year, Peja Stojakovic returned with a vengeance this season, averaging 16.5 ppg and giving the Hornets a much-needed long-range boost. In fact, without any other real bombardier on the roster, Stojakovic’s presence was a big reason for the team’s turnaround. Credit Paul, David West and Scott, but don’t forget Peja. He made a big difference.

Best/Worst Deal: How nice for the Grizzlies to let me combine two categories into one. By dishing Pau Gasol to the Lakers for a lot of nothing (sorry, Javaris Crittenton), Memphis helped shift the balance of power in the West. Not that the Grizz was going anywhere but to the bottom of the standings, but the Lakers definitely weren’t strong enough to win the West — until the trade. Adding Gasol to Lamar Odom and Andrew Bynum was huge. How good/bad was the deal? Well another Western Conference coach told me his team definitely would have put forth a better offer for Gasol, if only to keep him away from the Lakers.

All League Teams: New faces shake these lists up, although there are plenty of old heads, too.

First Team

G: Chris Paul, New Orleans: Point of the future.
G: Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles: Showing signs of playing to win, not just for him.
F: LeBron James, Cleveland: Consistent excellence in need of more support.
F: Kevin Garnett, Boston: Simple, pure, nightly excellence.
C: Dwight Howard, Orlando: Already scary; Will be frightening.

Second Team

G: Allen Iverson, Denver: Still shoots too much but has matured.
G: Steve Nash, Phoenix: Kept the Suns together as they Shaq-climated.
F: Amare Stoudemire, Phoenix: Dynamic star needs only defense to be complete.
F: Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas: Does it all at 7-feet.
F: Tim Duncan, San Antonio: Steady greatness must be rewarded.

Third Team

G: Baron Davis, Golden State: Showed leadership, along with major skills.
G: Kevin Martin, Sacramento: The next great two man in the NBA.
F: Carmelo Anthony, Denver: A bit selfish but no denying his talent.
F: Chris Bosh, Toronto: Quietly blossoming into a big-time force.
F: Tracy McGrady, Houston: Showed he could lead when Yao went down.

GAME OF THE WEEK: Utah at San Antonio, Wednesday, April 16.

This could be a first-round matchup and could decide which team has homecourt advantage, so expect a real battle from beginning to end, provided Manu Ginobili’s cranky groin lets him go at full speed.

IN THE PAINT

After that great run throughout March, the Sixers have fizzled of late, splitting their last 10 and sliding into an unwanted first-round matchup against Detroit.

Atlanta soared over its last 10 (7-3) and was even more impressive over the last 16 (11-5). There’s talk Larry Brown might be called in to replace Mike Woodson, but that might be a hard sell, now that the Hawks are winning. Then again, a four-game exit against Boston might make it easier to replace the coach.

Denver snuck into the playoffs, but don’t expect the Nuggets to spring a Golden State-style first-round surprise. First, Denver doesn’t play much defense. Second, there is no team against which they match up so favorably as did the Warriors against Dallas last year. Looks like another first-round exit for the Nugs and an offseason of wondering whether the Iverson-Anthony pairing will ever yield any real results.

The most interesting first-round series in the East promises to be Cleveland-Washington. The trash-talking has already started, and Agent Zero’s return has added some intrigue.

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