2008-09 NBA Season PredictionsBy: Aran_Smith

NBA Champs:
Lakers

The Lakers were the near unanimous pick to win it all. Boston and
New Orleans each received one vote while the Lakers received the
remaining votes. Their upgrade at small forward (with Trevor Ariza)
as well as a healthy and improving Andrew Bynum combined with their
great depth makes them the most talented team in the league. After
last year’s Pau Gasol trade and a run all the way to the NBA finals,
this team appears ready to win it all this year behind last year’s
MVP Kobe.

NBA Runner Ups: Celtics

Despite being Vegas’ odds on favorite after pulling off the KG trade
last year, not one member of NBADraft.net picked them to win it
all last year. This year they received 1 vote as champs and 4 votes
to reach the finals but lose. Who knows, another mid-season trade
could rock the balance of power (as it did for the Lakers) once
again.

MVP: LeBron James

LeBron’s lifetime achievement award is coming, (and likely more
than one). Whether or not the voters of this award deem him ready
this year is the question. While Kobe was looked over a number of
times despite being deserving in prior years, it’s unlikely he’ll
win this year unless he’s head and shoulders above the field. Chris
Paul received some votes, but the consensus is that it’s LeBron’s
time. If he matches his numbers from the past few years, look for
him to claim his first MVP award.

Scoring Champ: LeBron James

LeBron swept the vote after leading the league in scoring by over
a point last year averaging 30 ppg. Kobe appears to be focusing
on rings as opposed to scoring titles nowadays, so this could end
up being a runaway. Surprising that not even one person chose Kobe
however.

Rookie of the Year: Michael Beasley

Beasley makes the most sense as he’s in a position to score a lot
of points for a Miami team that lacks great depth. He’s also the
most prolific scorer to enter the league in years and could match
the numbers Durant put up last season, although he won’t be the
team’s first option the way Durant was. Oden received a couple votes
but has already suffered a foot injury and struggled to score in his NBA debut. He
should bounce back and have a nice year but his stats will likely
be somewhat modest in his first season. Derrick Rose may ultimately
have the biggest impact and could grab the award based on leading
the Bulls into the playoffs.

Most Improved: Devin Harris

The Knicks have a number of solid candidates for this award including David Lee, Chris Duhon and Wilson Chandler. Harris gets the nod with just two votes as the choices were spread out. Harris figures to take his game up a notch and with little depth behind him, should see significant minutes this season. Hopefully he can do something spectacular this year to make everyone forget about the humiliating English streetballer episode.

Coach of the Year: Nate McMillan

McMillan always gets the most of his teams, as he did
last year with the Blazers making an excellent mid-season run, ultimately
falling short of the playoffs. Portland played much better than
expected with Greg Oden out. McMillan received half of the votes (4)
to win the award.

Defensive Player of the Year: Kevin Garnett

KG won the award last year and there’s no reason to think he won’t
focus his efforts on winning it once again. The team’s defensive
ability was a real key to winning the championship. Garnett’s ability
to defend the perimeter and in the post make him extremely versatile
keying the Celts D.