Most Valuable Player
Les Carpenter: Kevin Durant, Oklahoma City. This is the year of Durant’s ‘Decision’ and now that he is healthy and only 27 with a chance to land the biggest contract ever, this should be a phenomenal season for him.
Hunter Felt: Anthony Davis, New Orleans. Every year we get the “should the MVP award go to the best overall player or the player who is most valuable to their team?” debate. This year that won’t be an issue because the answer to both questions is Davis, who should single-handedly drag the Pelicans into the playoffs.
Bryan Armen Graham: Anthony Davis, New Orleans. An award that’s always been about personal narrative as much as statistical output – see: Barkley in 1993, Iverson in 2001, Curry last year – will go to the former No1 pick and Olympic gold medalist, who will post PlayStation-type numbers in a system tailor-made for his talents. Scariest of all: he’s only 23.
Terrance F Ross: LeBron James, Cleveland. King James gets his fifth MVP trophy as the Cavs easily coast to the best record in the Eastern Conference.
Rookie of the Year
LC: Karl-Anthony Towns, Minnesota. Usually 19-year-old centers struggle upon arriving in the NBA. But Towns is more mature than many teenagers walking into pro basketball. He was dominant in college at Kentucky and should be able to pick up plenty of rebounds and free throws that will make his numbers stand out.
HF: Karl-Anthony Towns, Minnesota. This is going to be a good race, Jahlil Okafor will put up the biggest numbers, mostly because somebody on the Philadelphia 76ers will have to. The dynamic D’Angelo Russell will have the best highlight reel, especially since he plays for the Los Angeles Lakers. Towns will be the best overall player.
BAG: Jahlil Okafor, Philadelphia. The kid is the goods. Next big NBA star. It’s always been a stats award and the polished seven-footer is assured a lion’s share of touches for the gutted Sixers.
TFR: Emmanuel Mudiay, Denver. Already seasoned in China, the NBA-ready Mudiay will hit the ground running. It also helps that he’ll have ample playing time with Ty Lawson off to Houston.
Defensive Player of the Year
LC: Kawhi Leonard, San Antonio. Though he was never anointed to immediate stardom, he has continued to get better and better. Last year’s defensive player of the year award was not a fluke. He understands roles and fills them beautifully. Expect him to win this the second straight year.
HF: Draymond Green, Golden State. This award could alternate between Green and the Spurs’ Kawhi Leonard for the next few seasons and, well, Leonard won it last.
BAG: Anthony Davis, New Orleans. The Year of the Brow will mean a silver haul as the seven-footer carries the Pelicans into the playoffs.
TFR: Rudy Gobert, Utah. The Stifle Tower has grown in stature each of his two seasons in the league and this year, the Frenchman’s first as a full-time starter, he will be the scourge of anyone entering the paint.
Coach of the Year
LC: Billy Donovan, Oklahoma City. It certainly helps Donovan that he walks onto a team with a loaded roster of players that are healthy and motivated after underachieving last year. He should ride Durant’s MVP season to a big regular season and deep playoff run.
HF: Brad Stevens, Boston. I still have no idea how he managed to guide last year’s Celtics team into the playoffs. Besides “well, it was the Eastern Conference”. If he can do it again, this one’s his.
BAG: Billy Donovan, Oklahoma City. Practically, Golden State’s Steve Kerr will be more deserving, but anything less than last year’s 67 regular-season victories with a plus-10.1 point differential will be read as decline. The Thunder’s greater room for improvement after an underwhelming 2014-15 campaign gives Donovan the edge. Sleeper candidate here: Chicago’s Fred Hoiberg, a debutant in the NBA coaching ranks after five years with Iowa State.
TFR: Billy Donovan, Oklahoma City. Donovan plans to utilize balanced lineups that stagger the Thunder’s scoring corps. Look for a big comeback season for OKC with the former Florida Gators coach leading the way. Oh, and Durant is back …
Most Improved Player
LC: CJ McCollum, Portland. Last year the Trail Blazers guard broke out in the playoffs and the team is structuring a good piece of their offense around him. He will start at shooting guard while also seeing minutes at the point. His numbers will benefit.
HF: Andrew Wiggins, Minnesota. The easy way out is to pick last season’s best rookie and predict that he’ll make a big jump in his second year. I am a fan of the easy way out.
BAG: Bradley Beal, Washington. The 22-year-old two guard fits the profile of recent winners Jimmy Butler and Paul George: a fourth-year player poised for a statistical leap forward. That Wizards coach Randy Wittman intends to rely more on three-pointers and Beal is highly motivated to prove he’s worth max money in a contract year should only juice his numbers.
TFR: Jordan Clarkson, LA Lakers. Last season Clarkson was a pleasant surprise in an otherwise dim season for Laker fans. This year he’s poised for a massive leap.
Sixth Man of the Year
LC: Dion Waiters, Oklahoma City. Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook can’t carry all of the Thunder’s scoring this year. Waiters is going to get his chances to get significant minutes and keep up the team’s offense.
HF: Isaiah Thomas, Boston. This is also something of a cheat since Thomas is pretty clearly the Celtics’ most talented player, and it’s just a technicality that his role involves coming off the bench.
BAG: Isaiah Thomas, Boston. If his knee holds up, one of the league’s finest backcourt scorers will likely earn the award many thought he deserved a year ago.
TFR: Derrick Williams, New York. Williams hasn’t lived up to his potential as the No2 overall pick but he can do one thing right: score. And he’ll do it in bunches this season.
One bold prediction
LC: The Knicks will make a serious playoff run and fall just short. The pieces are there for New York. Their defense won’t be as awful as it was last year. Top draft pick Kristaps Porzingis will turn out to be a star, Robin Lopez will add size and strength and Carmelo Anthony will have another solid year.
HF: The Minnesota Timberwolves, who went 16-66 last season, will be a .500 team. This is an entirely sentimental pick as there’s really no conceivable way that a team that went 16-66 season could possible gain that much ground in the West without adding a superstar. Still, wouldn’t you root for a scenario where Kevin Garnett and a group of untested, young talent played over their heads after the passing of franchise icon Flip Saunders?
BAG: The Cavaliers are tripped up in the Eastern Conference playoffs after rolling to the conference’s best record, costing LeBron a shot to play in a preposterous sixth consecutive NBA finals. King James abides, but injuries remain a concern with this group.
TFR: The Sacramento Kings make the playoffs and Rajon Rondo puts the Dallas debacle behind him by leading the league in assists.
Eastern Conference playoff teams
LC: Cleveland, Toronto, Atlanta, Chicago, Washington, Boston, Miami, Milwaukee
HF: Cleveland, Washington, Miami, Atlanta, Chicago, Toronto, Indiana, Boston
BAG: Cleveland, Chicago, Atlanta, Washington, Toronto, Miami, Milwaukee, Boston
TFR: Cleveland, Miami, Chicago, Atlanta, Washington, Toronto, Indiana, New York
Western Conference playoff teams
LC: Oklahoma City, Golden State, LA Clippers, San Antonio, Houston, Memphis, New Orleans, Dallas
HF: Golden State, Oklahoma City, LA Clippers, San Antonio, Houston, New Orleans, Memphis, Phoenix
BAG: Golden State, Oklahoma City, LA Clippers, Houston, San Antonio, Memphis, Utah, New Orleans
TFR: Golden State, Oklahoma City, San Antonio, LA Clippers, Houston, New Orleans, Memphis, Sacramento
Eastern Conference finals
LC: Cleveland over Chicago. If Derrick Rose can stay healthy and the frontcourt combination of Joakim Noah and Pau Gasol thrive together, the Bulls can push the Cavs in a seven-game series – but Cleveland has too much talent.
HF: Cleveland over Miami. Would there be any storylines to this series, do you think? As always, it doesn’t really matter much who ends up being the team without LeBron James to make the Eastern Conference finals.
BAG: Chicago over Cleveland. Backcourt ballhawk Jimmy Butler’s star ascent will continue, Joakim Noah and Pau Gasol will offer an elite post tandem, sophomores Nikola Mirotic and Doug McDermott will take steps forward and summer league standout Bobby Portis will offer immediate production, but – as always – it will come down to Derrick Rose’s health. It says here lady luck finally shines on the snake-bitten Bulls, who topple the Cavs in a gripping seven-game series after getting eliminated by a LeBron James team in three of the past five postseasons.
TFR: Cleveland over Miami. Not two … not three ... not four ... but five games is all it’ll take for LeBron to see off his former team. Dwyane Wade and LeBron exchange pleasantries that the media misconstrues as collusion.
Western Conference finals
LC: Oklahoma City over Golden State. The Warriors had a great run last year and can still shoot their way through a series. But Durant is on a contract drive and the Thunder have all the pieces for another finals run.
HF: Oklahoma City over Golden State. If the Warriors are healthy, the fully operational duo of Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, possibly working together for the final time, might be the only things that could stop them from a repeat NBA finals appearance.
BAG: San Antonio over Golden State. The team that had the best chance of derailing the Warriors’ charmed title run last year never got a shot after a seven-game loss to the Clippers in the opening round.
TFR: San Antonio over Golden State. A matchup we should have gotten last year. Curry and co run the Spurs out of the building a few times at the Oracle but the retooled Spurs endure. Spurs in six.
NBA finals
LC: Cleveland over Oklahoma City. Finally Cleveland exhales! The city’s long nightmare is over. It will have a winner. LeBron James, still smarting over last season’s finals loss, will lead the Cavaliers while getting significant contributions from Kyrie Irving – who will not forget his injury in last year’s finals – and Kevin Love. Cleveland will lament no more.
HF: Cleveland over Thunder. Please give this to us, Basketball Gods, we need at least one more battle between LeBron James v Kevin Durant/Russell Westbrook in their primes. In theory, the series lasts seven games before LeBron wins it on an overtime buzzer-beater. In response, a suddenly worried Michael Jordan announces he’s coming out of retirement - but that’s a story for next year’s preview.
BAG: San Antonio over Chicago. Questions persist regarding the aging core, most notably the regression of Tony Parker. But the addition of LaMarcus Aldridge, after some early-season growing pains, was the retooling the five-time champs needed. Say nothing of Kahwi Leonard, the 2014 NBA finals MVP and the league’s quietest superstar, whose game is progressing faster than anyone could have imagined – and he’s only 24.
TFR: San Antonio over Cleveland. A repeat of the 2007 finals but a far more exciting version. A healthy Cavs team causes problems for the Spurs but in the end Tim Duncan and co prevail. Duncan and Manu Ginobli promptly retire as LeBron’s left to rue yet another loss in the finals. LeBron’s long-awaited title in Cleveland will have to wait until 2017.
