The regular season isn't over quite yet, but several writers went on record today with their picks for the league's awards. Since media types are the ones whose votes count, their opinions matter. Let's take a look at some players who could be in line for a trophy:
- SI.com's Chris Mannix and Ian Thomsen agree on LeBron James for MVP, Kyrie Irving for Rookie of the Year, and James Harden for Sixth Man of the Year.
- David Aldridge of TNT goes with James for MVP as well, and picks Ersan Ilyasova over Jeremy Lin for Most Improved Player.
- Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio picks Kevin Durant as his MVP, and selects Shawn Marion to unseat three-time winner Dwight Howard as Defensive Player of the Year.
- Sam Smith of Bulls.com goes with darkhorse Kobe Bryant for MVP, and thinks former MVP and Coach of the Year Larry Bird should get to add Executive of the Year to his resume as well.
- Hoops Rumors doesn't have a vote (yet), but I'd go with James for MVP, Gregg Popovich as Coach of the Year, Irving as Rookie of the Year, Tyson Chandler as Defensive Player of the Year, Harden as Sixth Man of the Year, Lin as Most Improved Player, and R.C. Buford as Executive of the Year.
Sam smith is a freaking moron