Alright, here are my NBA betting picks for the rest of the major NBA individual awards to be handed out before the playoff action starts.

Coach of the Year

Gregg Popovich has done a superb job at guiding the Spurs to 50+ wins for the 10th straight year, despite injuries to Manu Ginobili, Tim Duncan and Tony Parker throughout the season. Some take the Spurs for granted, but this may have been Pop’s best coaching job. I mean, Matt Bonner starts for them and they’re still an NBA betting threat.

Sixth Man

Jason Terry wins this going away, and the only reason he’s not a starter is because Dallas needs bench scoring in the worst way. If the Mavericks want to have any sort of basketball betting chance in these playoffs, he’ll need to be even better.

Most Improved Player of the Year

This award boils down to Devin Harris and Danny Granger, and Granger gets it by the slimmest of margins. Both were All-Stars for garbage teams, but Granger had less help.  This is probably the close NBA betting call of all the awards, but Granger takes it.

I’ve got a busy weekend lined up with UFC 97 odds and NBA betting action for the playoffs, but there’s still some awards to give out, and it started yesterday with LeBron James’ MVP award. Today? The Rookie of the Year and Defensive Player awards.

Rookie of the Year

This draft class turned out to be quite deep, and Memphis’ O.J. Mayo, Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook and New Jersey’s Brook Lopez all deserve a shoutout. But Derrick Rose was under a ton of pressure, being drafted first overall by his hometown Chicago Bulls, and the kid they call “Pooh” delivered and then some. He was probably Chicago’s most consistent player all year, playing arguably the toughest position on the court, and he never really fell off. The kicker: his team has an NBA betting chance in the postseason, not a great one, but a chance nonetheless as he’s one of only two players in the top 10 of that draft class to still be playing. Once he gets a consistent jumper, it’s over.

Defensive Player of the Year

I’ve seen some reporters (ahemESPNahem) that threw names like LeBron James and Dwayne Wade out there for DPOY, and that’s fine, that’s their opinion. The problem is, that opinion is terrible. Dwight Howard is a near-lock to earn the first of many DPOY awards, leading the league in rebounding and blocks, and if there was a stat for altered shots, he’d lead that, too. With D-12 in the middle, Orlando has a very good NBA betting chance of representing the East in the NBA finals.

The season is almost over, and it’s almost playoff time, but NBA betting players still have some player props to bet on, such as the MVP award. Los Angeles’ Kobe Bryant won it last year, and he’s earned consideration this year, but there’s only one winner, and that is……

LeBron James have simply been the best player on the best team in the league, and since that seems to be the way the MVP is decided, he has to win (how the MVP is decided is a whole ‘nother blog post). James is second in the league in scoring, he’s shot career bests from the free-throw and three-point line, he’s become a much better defensive player, and he’s more forceful at the end of games, which is something we’ve been waiting for since his 30-point second-half outburst against Detroit in the playoffs a couple seasons back. You could make a strong NBA betting case for Dwayne Wade, who leads the league in scoring and has carried Miami to a No.5 seed on his back, and Bryant has been the straw that stirs the Lakers, the best team in the West. But when NBA betting players go to make their choice for MVP, they have to go with Lebron James. Give the “King” his crown.