NBA Awards Race: Derrick Rose for MVP and Leading Candidates for Each Award

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Derrick Rose is almost everyone's favorite for this year's Most Valuable Player award.  He may not be a lock, but it's easy to see why he's in the lead.

The MVP is the league's highest individual honor, but it's not the only one.

Over the next couple of months, we'll find out who will win the Coach of the Year, Rookie of the Year, Sixth Man of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year and Most Improved Players of the Year.

Let's take a look at who's leading each award race with less than a month left in the regular season.

Coach of the Year: Tom Thibodeau

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In his first season as a head coach, Tom Thibodeau has the Chicago Bulls in first place in the Eastern Conference with a 50-19 record.

That's already nine more wins than the Bulls finished with in each of the last two years.  And considering the rest of their schedule, they have an outside shot at 60 wins.

Thibodeau has transformed the Bulls into a defensive juggernaut, as they're second in the league in points allowed (91.2).

 

Other Candidates

George Karl: The Nuggets are clearly a better team since they traded Carmelo Anthony.  George Karl has them playing together and with great energy.

Gregg Popovich: A lot of people (myself included) thought the Spurs were over the hill.  Popovich flipped the script and turned up the tempo in San Antonio, and the Spurs are going to lead the league in wins.

Rookie of the Year: Blake Griffin

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This one's pretty obvious, so I don't think I need to elaborate too much.

He may be starting to hit the rookie wall, as his production is down in the month of March, but he still leads all rookies in scoring and rebounding by a wide margin.  He's also third among rookies in assists.

After a healthy offseason in 2011, Blake Griffin could absolutely dominate next year.

 

Other Candidates

John Wall: In most years, John Wall would be a lock for Rookie of the Year, as 16 points and nine assists per game are incredible numbers for a rookie.

DeMarcus Cousins: It seems like all we ever hear about with Cousins is his attitude.  While it may be a problem, he's actually turned out a very productive rookie year.

Sixth Man of the Year: Jason Terry

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Jason Terry won this award in 2009, and it looks like he may get it again.

Compared to his 2008-09 campaign, he's averaging three fewer points per game, but his assists are up and so are his three-point and field-goal percentages.

Even at 33, Terry still brings as much energy to the Mavericks as anyone on the roster.

 

Other Candidates

Lamar Odom: Statistically, he might be the best sixth man.  Thing is, he's started almost half the games he's played in.

Jamal Crawford: Last year's Sixth Man of the Year award winner is turning out another great year coming off the pine.

Defensive Player of the Year: Dwight Howard

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Howard is having the best individual season of his career.  If the Magic weren't so disappointing as a team, he could be in line for the MVP award.

As a consolation, Howard will have to settle for his third-straight Defensive Player of the Year award.

The Magic are fifth in the NBA in points allowed per game and Howard is the only great defensive player on the roster.

He's second in the league in both rebounding and blocked shots.

 

Other Candidates

Andrew Bogut: He's leading the league in blocks and the Bucks are third in the league in points allowed.  Unfortunately for Bogut's chances at this award, the team might not make the playoffs.

Tyson Chandler: The Mavericks are a completely different team on the defensive end this year, and they lost their best perimeter defender earlier this year due to injury.  So the credit goes to Chandler.

Most Improved Player of the Year: Dorell Wright

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Nobody made a bigger leap in terms of production than Dorell Wright. 

Last season he averaged 7.1 points, 3.3 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 0.7 steals and 0.4 blocks per game.  This year he's putting up 16.2 points, 5.3 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.4 steals and 0.8 blocks per game.

Plus, he's currently tied for the league lead in three-pointers made.

 

Other Candidates

LaMarcus Aldridge: He's been huge for a team plagued by injuries.  His play is the biggest reason the Blazers are still going to make the playoffs this year.

Kevin Love: His numbers are off the charts, but I'm not sure how improved he is.  He wouldn't have been this great, but if he would've gotten the minutes last year, he would have been plenty productive.

Most Valuable Player: Derrick Rose

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Before this season started, no one outside of Chicago thought the Bulls would be in the driver's seat and headed toward the top seed in the Eastern Conference.

But here we are at the end of March, and that's the situation in the East.  Amazingly, Chicago is in that position despite Carlos Boozer and Joakim Noah both missing over 20 games due to injury.

Coaching aside, Derrick Rose has been the biggest reason for this team's success.  He's averaging 25 points and eight assists per game and he's added a decent three-point shot to his repertoire.

Plus, he's shown that he not only wants the ball in crunch time, but he delivers.

 

Other Candidates

Dwight Howard: Like I said on Howard's slide, if the Magic were competing for the East's top seed, Howard would likely be the favorite for this award.

Dirk Nowitzki: He's having an incredibly efficient season and he has the Mavericks in position to snag the second seed in the Western Conference.

LeBron James: The Heat are nowhere near as good as they (or much of the media) thought they'd be, but they'll still be a 50-win team and LeBron's numbers are as crazy as usual.

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