NBA Preseason Hardware

By E. Spencer Kyte
Love of Sports Correspondent

Three months from now, the sports pages and networks will be starting to devote a great deal of time to hyping up and breaking down candidates for the NBA Awards.

We’ll probably be traveling down that road too, but before that day comes, why not get a head start on things?

The season just tipped off a couple days ago, and it’s with that in mind that we roll out our picks for this season’s NBA hardware.

NBA Preseason Awards

NBA CHAMPIONS: Los Angeles Lakers

The Celtics are actually a better team this year than they were last season when they hoisted the Larry O’Brien Trophy amidst the confetti and camera flashes. However, regardless of how good they are, repeating is next to impossible. It just doesn’t happen anymore. Players get injured. Shots don’t drop. Things happen. That’s why we’re going with Kobe and company to not only return to the Big Dance, but to go out on top this time around.

The Lakers are also better than they were last season with Pau Gasol being around for the whole year, Andrew Bynum returning from injury and a bench full of contributors like Derek Fisher, Jordan Farmar and Sasha Vujacic. One guy to keep an eye on this season is Trevor Ariza. The one-time Knick and Magic forward has the athleticism to deliver highlight reel plays on a regular basis and should see more burn this season now that he too is finally 100%.

MOST VALUABLE PLAYER: Chris Paul, New Orleans Hornets

This will be the year the torch is officially passed from Steve Nash to the next generation of point guards, and CP3 is the head of that new class. Paul’s been better than advertised since entering the league out of Wake Forest and still makes you wonder on a nightly basis just what Atlanta was thinking taking Marvin Williams with the second overall selection in the 2005 draft. As great as he was last season – and he was a legitimate MVP candidate – Paul will excel even more in his third year and take home his first MVP.

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Derrick Rose, Chicago Bulls

Perhaps not the popular choice, considering the rookie class boasts two outstanding scorers (Michael Beasley and O.J. Mayo) and one defensive dynamo (Greg Oden), but if Chicago decides to let Rose run the show sooner rather than later, the one-and-done Memphis Tiger will have a season worthy of some hardware. He’ll need a little time to adjust, but think weeks, not months. Rose will be an All-Star in the very near future and will remain there for years to come.

MOST IMPROVED PLAYER: Jose Calderon, Toronto Raptors

Calderon could’ve earned the award last season when he spent the better part of the year as the Raptors starting point guard after T.J. Ford was injured in Atlanta. This season, he starts the season in the role with Ford having been shipped to Indiana as part of the Jermaine O’Neal trade. You can mark him down for at least 12 and eight a night with a couple steals and a great assist-to-turnover ratio. If Toronto plays up to their potential, it’ll have as much to do with the continued improvement of Calderon as it will O’Neal’s health.

SIXTH MAN OF THE YEAR: Grant Hill, Phoenix Suns

The one-time “Next Michael Jordan” said over the preseason he was very much all right with coming off the bench this season if that’s what new coach Terry Porter thought was best. Regardless of Porter’s decision, we think bringing him off the pine is the best course of action. Despite his advancing age and injury history, he’s still a guy who can do a little bit of everything for his team, despite having an awful season shooting the ball last season in the desert. A starting lineup of Shaq, Boris Diaw, Raja Bell, Leo Barbosa and Captain Canada, with Hill as the sixth man, sounds like the best option for a successful Suns season.

COACH OF THE YEAR: Michael Curry, Detroit Pistons

Remember how the Pistons just seemed to lack that fire the last couple seasons? Forget about it now that the self-made former journeyman is at the helm. The one thing that stood out about Curry’s game during his playing days was his heart, and that’s what he’ll demand most from his players this year in Detroit. There will be no slacking off and no coasting through games. Every night will be an all-out effort from everyone or you’ll find yourself on the bench. With that in mind, we see a return to the Eastern Conference Finals for the Pistons and a fancy looking trophy for Curry’s mantle at the end of the year.

EXECUTIVE OF THE YEAR: Kevin Pritchard, Portland Trailblazers

This is more a result of a couple years of solid planning and building, but the Blazers that Pritchard’s spent the last three years crafting are ready to ascend to the next level in the ridiculously competitive Western Conference. Over those three years, he’s transformed his team into an impressive young squad by moving up in the draft to select Brandon Roy, dealing Tyrus Thomas for LaMarcus Aldridge, getting a hold of Sergio Rodriguez and making the right choice of Greg Oden over Kevin Durant, regardless of the missed season. The Blazers won 41 games last season without “Old Man” Oden, and you’ve got to think he’s good for nine more victoriess to put Portland over the 50-win plateau for the first time since the heyday of the Jail Blazers.