Predicting All the NBA Award Winners from MVP to Rookie of the Year

The NBA season is upon us, and the action will be fast and furious as teams will be playing games at a rapid pace thanks to the NBA's shortened schedule.

How that will impact who will win the NBA championship at the the end of the season has yet to be determined, but you don't have to wait until then to see who will capture all of the end-of-the-season awards.

Here's a look at who will win each award along the way.

Coach of the Year

Winner: Vinny Del Negro

I'm not totally jumping on the Los Angeles Clippers bandwagon, but this award typically goes to the coach of what turns out to be a surprise team or the team that makes the biggest improvement from one year to the next.

That's going to be the Clippers, who have a realistic shot to win the Pacific Division and make the playoffs for the first time since the 2005-06 season.

Del Negro will get some of the credit for the dramatic turnaround.

Rookie of the Year

Winner: Kemba Walker

There are a lot of good rookies who will be making their debuts this season, but Walker may be in the best spot to have success.

In Charlotte, Walker will be asked to score and contribute from the get-go.

He will put up some good numbers and at the end of the season will have some hardware to collect.

Defensive Player of the Year

Winner: Dwight Howard

Howard is no stranger to this award, as he's won it the past three seasons.

We may not know what uniform Howard will finish the season in, but we do know he will dominate the paint as always.

It's hard to ignore his impact on the defensive end, and he will be the clear-cut winner of the Defensive Player of the Year Award

Most Improved Player

Winner: Derrick Favors

I was really tempted to go with DeAndre Jordan here and also considered Danilo Gallinari, who I think will have a big year in Denver, but ultimately the trophy will go to Utah's Favors.

He's going to get plenty of opportunity in Utah and he will be good enough to force Utah into dealing their current big men in Paul Millsap and Al Jefferson.

At the end of the day, Favors will show why New Jersey made him the No. 3 pick in last season's NBA Draft.

Sixth Man of the Year

Winner: James Harden

Harden also will likely be a candidate for Most Improved Player as well after having a big season off the Oklahoma City bench.

He will be a big part of what could be the Western Conference's best team and will be the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year.

Most Valuable Player

Winner: Kevin Durant

With all apologies to LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony and others who may have a MVP-type season in 2011-12.

This is Durant's time and he will capture another scoring title, lead the Thunder to their first NBA Finals and win the MVP in the process.