NBA Predictions: Predicting Every 2011-12 NBA End-of-the-Year Award

The NBA season is just around the corner, and I think it's the perfect time to make some end-of-the-year predictions.

At the end of the 2011-12 NBA season the MVP, Rookie of the Year, Coach of the Year, Sixth Man of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year and the Most Improved Player of the Year awards will be given out, and I'm going to tell you who's bound to win them.

With a shortened 66-game season, these awards will undoubtedly be contested and highly argued, but it won't change the fact that the winners of these awards will have taken their game to the next level in 2011-12.

Here it is, full predictions for every 2011-12 NBA end-of-the-year award.  

2011-12 Coach of the Year: Clippers Head Coach Vinny Del Negro

Vinny Del Negro isn't going to win the 2011-12 NBA Coach of the Year award because he is the best coach in the NBA.  He is going to win it because he's the product of a great offseason acquisition in point guard Chris Paul mixed with a young and freakishly athletic roster.

All Del Negro needs to do this season in Los Angeles is stay out of the way.  Del Negro will let his athletic team play in a simple high-screen offense that runs through point guard Chris Paul and power forward Blake Griffin, with center DeAndre Jordan cleaning up on the boards.

After watching the Clippers' preseason games it's evident that as long as Del Negro can keep Paul and Griffin happy, he will have one of the easiest jobs in the NBA.  Luckily for Del Negro, Paul and Griffin aren't hard to please, and he can do so by letting them control the offense.

Del Negro's "coaching" will lead the Clippers to 43-plus regular-season wins, ultimately losing to the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference semifinals.  That will be enough to make Del Negro 2011-12 NBA Coach of the Year.         

2011-12 Defensive Player of the Year: Magic C Dwight Howard

This one is a no-brainer.  Dwight Howard has won the NBA's Defensive Player of the Year award for the past three seasons, and that won't change in 2011-12.

When he's not pulling down defensive rebounds or blocking shots, Howard is simply a dominant presence in the Magic's defense.  Even when Howard doesn't end up blocking shots on defense, he alters them enough to make a serious difference.

In the past three seasons, Howard has averaged 2.7 blocks and 1.1 steals per game.  What is more impressive than his defensive production is his ability to simply be a difference by being in the game.

Guards, forwards and centers have to alter the way they play the game when they are playing against Howard and that is what ultimately will earn him his fourth straight NBA Defensive Player of the Year award.  

2011-12 Sixth Man of the Year: Thunder SG James Harden

I know it's hard to believe, James, but you will win the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year award because of your manly and intimidating beard.

Well, that's not really why James Harden will win the award, but he undoubtedly will be the Sixth Man of the Year.  Over the past two years, Harden's production has steadily increased from averaging 9.9 points per game on 40.3 percent shooting in 2009-10, to averaging 12.2 points per game on 43.6 percent shooting in 2010-11.  Harden's production will only continue to increase in 2011-12, as his chemistry with the Thunder increases.

In the 2010-11 playoffs, Harden was one of the key players in the Thunder's magical run to the Western Conference finals.  Harden hit big-time shot after big-time shot, and that is what he will do off the bench this upcoming year.

The only way Harden won't win the Sixth Man of the Year award is if he beats out SG Thabo Sefolosha for the starting shooting guard spot, which is a legitimate possibility.  Coming off the bench though, there is no better sixth man than James Harden and he will prove that in 2011-12.     

2011-12 Rookie of the Year: Bobcats PG Kemba Walker

I know a lot of analysts are picking No. 1 overall pick Kyrie Irving to be the 2011-12 Rookie of the Year but I think they're wrong.  Kemba Walker will win the 2012 NBA ROY award and here's why.

First of all, Walker is a proven winner.  I know that doesn't always translate into NBA wins, but Kemba has the toughness, physicality and basketball IQ to make his NBA transition that much easier.  In his final collegiate season Kemba won the 2011 NCAA championship while averaging 23.8 points, 5.4 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game.

While Kemba won't put up that kind of production in his first NBA season, I see no reason why he can't put up 14.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game on a Bobcats team that is desperate for explosive talent.

Ultimately Kemba will be the franchise player the Bobcats have been looking for the past few seasons and that will be evident when he wins the 2011-12 NBA Rookie of the Year trophy.  

2011-12 Most Improved Player: Clippers C DeAndre Jordan

Much like Clippers head coach Vinny Del Negro, DeAndre Jordan will truly benefit from the addition of Chris Paul on the Clippers roster.  Jordan will have the best year of his career thus far and it will be in large part due to opposing defenses' inability to key on him when CP3 and Blake Griffin are on the court. 

In 2010-11, Jordan averaged 7.1 points, 7.2 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game, in addition to shooting 68.8 percent from the field.  I see no reason why Jordan can't bump that production up to 14.5 points and 10.2 rebounds per game, averaging a double-double for the first time in his career.  

If Jordan can put up that kind of offensive production while increasing his play on the defensive side of the ball, he will truly be the most improved player in the NBA.  I know Paul and Griffin are both elite talents, but think the Clippers' season will go as Jordan goes, winning when he plays well and losing when he does not.

Jordan will have a lot of competition in the Most Improved Player race, with players like Tyler Hansbrough, John Wall and Andrew Bynum coming close to winning the award.  Ultimately though, Jordan will come away on top, winning the NBA's Most Improved Player of the Year award.  

2011-12 NBA Most Valuable Player: Heat SF LeBron James

The 2011-12 NBA MVP race is going to come down to the wire, with no one being the clear winner come the end of the regular season.  I see the MVP race coming down to four players: LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Chris Paul and Derrick Rose.

Paul won't win the MVP trophy because the Clippers won't be on the same level as the Thunder, Heat and Bulls come the end of the 2011-12 regular season.  Durant won't win the MVP trophy because he still isn't nearly as complete as the other players on this list defensively speaking.  Sure Durant can put up crazy points, but until he learns how to play defense he won't win an MVP award.

That brings the MVP race down to two players, James and Rose.  The one thing separating these two players is something that is purely intangible—it is the fact that LeBron's legacy is on the line in 2011-12 and he needs the MVP more than Rose does.

LeBron will have the most complete statistical year of his career, averaging 28.8 points, 8.7 rebounds and 7.9 assists per game.  That kind of production, in addition to the Heat's best overall NBA record, will be all it takes to earn LeBron the 2011-12 NBA MVP trophy.