NBA Midseason Awards: Who Should Be The Winners?

The All-Star break and trade deadline have both come and gone, and it's time to hand out the NBA Midseason awards.

MVP, Derrick Rose

NBA fans have heard enough about how Rose and the Bulls have only had Carlos Boozer and Joakim Noah together in their lineup for nine games this season and still are the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference, but consider this: Could other superstars do what Rose is doing with the little talent he has had around him?

Only a few players could carry a team the way Rose has carried the Bulls thus far, which is why he is the lead candidate. LeBron carried worse teams to better records during his years in Cleveland and has two MVP's to show for it.

Kobe Bryant carried those awful Lakers teams in 2005 and 2006 to worse records but had far less talent around him (Kwame Brown was arguably the third-best player on those teams, seriously, look up the stats) and while he never won an MVP for his efforts, he easily deserved it.

The point? Early this season, the Bulls looked similar to LeBron's Cleveland teams; solid starters and bench players, but no real second option on the offensive end, specifically when Carlos Boozer was nursing his injured hand, Rose still had Chicago hovering around the top of the Eastern Conference.

Soon after Boozer's return from injury, the Bulls lost Joakim Noah, the team's best defensive big man and rebounder, and once again Rose had to put the Bulls on his back and, once again, he succeeded and lead the Bulls to a 22-8 record without Noah.

The MVP award is for the most valuable player, not the best, and Rose has been more valuable than anyone this season so far. Unless Kevin Durant goes on a tear, expect it to stay this way.

Defensive Player of the Year, Kevin Garnett

 Garnett is the heart and soul of the Celtics and, while his offensive skills have slipped with age, his defense has never been better.

His block numbers are down, but everyone knows that defensive player of the year isn't about the stats, its about impact.

Garnett makes a huge impact physically by controlling the paint and barking out defensive orders to his teammates, but his greatest defensive strength is the psychological impact he has on opponents.

His intensity is unmatched and while he has been known only to pick on younger, smaller players, he intimidates players of all ages, sizes, and skill sets.

All that being said, what swayed me was watching Garnett at the All-Star festivities.

Garnett was sitting courtside during the Dunk Contest and celebrating each dunk with a big smile and outburst of joy alongside Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade.

This may sound surprising, but there was something about Garnett's expressions, every time he and Wade would high-five or jump around together in reaction to the rim rattling dunks, he would have an evil smile on his face.

Garnett is befriending the same guy who he will be battling for the Eastern Conference title with and by playing nice with him gains a competitive advantage, even if Wade only loses a tiny amount of competitiveness against the Celtics, to Garnett, it's worth it.

The Celtics, and Garnett especially, seem to have had a chip on their shoulder this year and it may come from the heartbreaking loss to the Lakers in Game 7 of the finals last year.

Each Celtic saw and felt the confetti falling from the rafters of the Staples Center and heard the cheers of the Lakers fans that will haunt them forever.

It seems they have decided that they will never, ever, let that happen again, and Garnett's defense and play style have reflected that mentality.

With Kendrick Perkins' departure, Garnett will have an even bigger defensive responsibility for the Celtics.

Without as many big bodies on the front lines and in the paint, Garnett will have to prove why he should be the Defensive Player of the Year.

Simply put; the best defensive player on the best defensive team deserves respect, which is why Garnett is my DPOTY.

Rookie of the Year, Blake Griffin

Do I even have to write anything? Just go YouTube "Blake Griffin."

(It's too bad John Wall has been hurt all year, otherwise this could have actually been a race.)

Coach of the Year, Gregg Popovich

Pops has taken a Spurs team that was projected to be too old and finished, to having the best record in the league, all while Tim Duncan has averaged career lows. Tom Thibodeau of the Bulls is a close second but Popovich has the edge as of now.

Sixth Man of the Year, Jason Terry

Terry is shooting a career high from the field and from beyond the arc, he's averaging almost 20 points a game for the Mavericks..blah blah blah. I'll just be honest, who actually cares about this award?

Sixth men are important, but what makes Jason Terry so much more important to the Mavericks than J.J. Barea?

I say if we are handing out Sixth man of the Year, let's hand out 12th Man of the Year. Brian Scalabrine would rack those up like Jordan racked up MVP's.

There could even be 12th man statistics taken: Cheers Per Game (CPG), how loud, supportive, and coherent the cheers were.

D.J. Mbenga would have loud cheers but would be hurt in this category when his teammates could only hear grunts and "Baby Ruth" chants like Sloth from The Goonies. 

Another stat: Towel Waving Velocity (TWV), how fast and enthusiastically the 12th man waves towels in celebration of big dunks and buzzer beaters.

Kevin Love set the record for Towel Waving Velocity during the 2010 FIBA Championships as he rode the bench to a gold medal.

Terry gets my Sixth Man of the Year award and Brian Scalabrine wins 12th Man for the 10th straight year; his CPG and TWV are off the charts. 

Most Improved Player, Kevin Love

Love is leading the league in rebounds and had the first 30-30 game in my lifetime. He is turning into a rebounding force, and his offensive skills have vastly improved from last year.

He will be in contention for the rebounding title for the next 10 years and would be awesome to see paired with an explosive scorer in Minnesota.

Golden State may have to move Monta Ellis if they choose to move forward with Steph Curry, and it seems like Ellis would fit nicely with Love on the Timberwolves.

Love was part of the group that won gold in Turkey this past summer, and it looks like that experience was huge in helping them all improve.

Executive of the Year, Sam Presti

The Oklahoma City Thunder's GM took the lead in this race after pulling off a trade with the Celtics to get Kendrick Perkins and filling the Thunder's biggest void in the process.

The one piece the Thunder were missing to battle the size of the Lakers was a big man to help protect the rim and body up Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum.

Perkins has playoff experience and specific experience against the Laker bigs. Along with picking up Perkins, Presti obtained Nazr Mohammed from the Bobcats and got another big body to shore up the team's front line.

These two moves alone have put the Thunder into title contention and have become major threats to the Lakers and Spurs in the Western Conference. 

There is a lot of season left to be played, but as of right now, these are the lead candidates for the various NBA awards.