NBA Award Winners at All-Star Break

Well, the NBA All-Star Game is this weekend, and most teams have reached the midpoint of this rough-and-tumble 66-game season.

Two months from now, the season will be over and voting on postseason awards will begin. In that spirit, let's take a look at who has the inside track for this year's postseason awards.

All-NBA Third Team

F Blake Griffin, L.A. Clippers

F Ryan Anderson, Orlando

C Tyson Chandler, New York

G Dwyane Wade, Miami

G Steve Nash, Miami

My All-NBA Third Team is quite a mix, with two former First Team All-NBA players in the backcourt joining three first-timers in the frontcourt.  

Tyson Chandler slides into the center spot due to a horrendously weak field of big men and having the sabermetrics advantage over Greg Monroe. Anderson makes the team for his strong offensive presence.  

Griffin and Wade fall to the third team due to depth and injuries, respectively.

All-Defensive Teams

1st Team

F Josh Smith, Atlanta

F LeBron James, Miami

C Dwight Howard, Orlando

G Andre Iguodala, Philadelphia

G Mike Conley, Memphis

2nd Team

F Kevin Garnett, Boston

F Carlos Boozer, Chicago

C Tyson Chandler, New York

G Kobe Bryant, L.A. Lakers

G Chris Paul, New Orleans

Many of the people on this list are holdovers from previous All-D teams.

However, one addition that needs to be made this year is Josh Smith, who is second in the league in defensive win shares, fourth in defensive rating, sixth in blocks and in the Top 15 in rebounds and steals.  

Mike Conley, who is leading the league in steals, is also added this year.

All-Rookie Teams

1st Team

Kyrie Irving, Cleveland

Ricky Rubio, Minnesota

Kemba Walker, Charlotte

MarShon Brooks, New Jersey

Brandon Knight, Detroit

2nd Team

Enes Kanter, Utah

Isaiah Thomas, Sacramento

Tristan Thompson, Cleveland

Gustavo Ayon, New Orleans

Nikola Vucevic, Philadelphia

The All-Rookie Team disregards position, which allows both Rubio and Irving to be selected. Joining them on the first team are three other guards, including Walker, Brooks and Knight.

The three best big men of this rookie class, Kanter, Thompson and Vucevic, are consigned to the second team. 

Sixth Man of the Year: James Harden, Oklahoma City

This might have been Shane Battier's year...if James Harden had started more than two games.

Harden is leading the Thunder in threes with 56, while pouring in 16.8 points a game with 4.1 offensive win shares (sixth in the league).

All-NBA Second Team

F Kevin Love, Minnesota

F LaMarcus Aldridge, Portland

C Marc Gasol, Memphis

G Derrick Rose, Chicago

G Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City

Two first-timers here: Kevin Love, who is having a monster season up in Minnesota, and Marc Gasol, who is the second-best center in a league of weak big men.

Aldridge is having a decent enough season to warrant a second-team selection. They are joined by two of the league's better guards in Westbrook and Rose.

Most Improved Player: Ryan Anderson, Magic

Ryan Anderson is one of the most underrated players in the league this year. He is leading the league in threes by a substantial margin and also is in the Top 20 in several other statistical categories, including offensive rebounds (seventh), PER (13th), effective field-goal percentage (eighth), offensive rating (second) and win shares (fifth).  

Most of these are significant improvements over last season, hence why he should be the MIP this season.

Though I will grant that if a certain Ivy League-educated Knicks point guard does what he's been doing for the rest of the season, he could be in contention.

Defensive Player of the Year: Dwight Howard

Well aware of the fact that Howard has been DPOY each of the last three years, I'm not seeing a compelling argument why he shouldn't make it four in a row.  

The man is leading the league in defensive and total boards, is fifth in blocks, sixth in PER, 15th in steals and is tops in defensive rating and defensive win shares.

All-NBA First Team

F LeBron James, Miami

F Kevin Durant, Oklahoma City

C Dwight Howard, Orlando

G Kobe Bryant, L.A. Lakers

G Chris Paul, L.A. Clippers

Four of the players are holdovers from last year's All-NBA First Team...as they are unquestionably four of the best players in the league.

Joining them is Chris Paul, who returns to the All-NBA First Team due to his skippering of the division-leading Clippers.

Rookie of the Year: Kyrie Irving, Cleveland

Though Kyrie Irving has been hurt, he is still statistically the best rookie this season. He leads all rookies in PER, value added and wins added.

Tack onto that 18.1 points a game with 5.1 assists and a .569 true shooting percentage.

Coach of the Year: Doug Collins, Philadelphia

Would you believe me if I told you that Doug Collins has never been Coach of the Year? Probably not.

This is his year. He inherited a bottom-feeding Philadelphia team that is currently leading the Atlantic Division despite not having superstar talent. And several of the people ahead of him in record (Tom Thibodeau, Scott Brooks) have already won a Coach of the Year Award, further strengthening Collins' chances.

Most Valuable Player: Kevin Durant, Thunder

I know many people have been saying LeBron, so I'm going to be a contrarian and say Kevin Durant.

Durant is close to LeBron in most statistical categories. The Heat and the Thunder have the best records, but can you really say that Russell Westbrook and James Harden are a better twosome than Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh?

Furthermore, there's often a "well, he shoulda won it a year or two ago" element in MVP voting (Kobe in 2008?); that could help Durant in this case.