In 2006, Steve Nash won his second consecutive MVP award after guiding the Suns to the #2 seed in the West despite losing Amare Stoudemire for the entire season due to multiple knee injuries. The top seeds from each conference, Detroit and San Antonio, failed to reach the NBA Finals, as both were beaten by the eventual finalists, Dallas and Miami. Here are my rankings for where each player should have ended up in the final voting for each of the major offensive awards, with actual finish in parentheses.
Most Valuable Player
1. Dirk Nowitzki - DAL - 26.6 pts, 9.0 reb, 2.8 ast (3)
Dirk set a career high in scoring in 2006 while leading Dallas to 60 wins and the second best record in the Western Conference. Although he didn't win an MVP award until the next season, his performance that season should not have been overlooked, as he showed in the playoffs as he led the Mavericks to the NBA Finals for the first time.
2. LeBron James - CLE - 27.3 pts, 6.7 reb, 6.0 ast (2)
LeBron's stats were down from the previous season, when he averaged a career-high 31.4 points per game, but he led Cleveland to home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs, where they lost in 7 games to the top-seeded Pistons in the second round. He was already the best player in the league, he just didn't quite have the wins to earn the MVP.
3. Tim Duncan - SAS - 18.6 pts, 11.0 reb, 3.2 ast (8)
Duncan averaged below 20 points per game for the first time in his career, but what he did was lead San Antonio to the best record in the West again while deferring a little more to his improving teammates. The Spurs may have lost in the second round of the playoffs, but they made up for it by winning it all the next season.
4. Dwyane Wade - MIA - 27.2 pts, 5.7 reb, 6.7 ast (6)
Wade set new career highs in points, rebounds, field goal percentage, and free throw percentage in his third season in the league, and led Miami to their first NBA Finals, where they came back from a 2-0 deficit to upset the Mavericks and win the title, for which Wade was named the Finals MVP.
5. Shawn Marion - PHX - 21.8 pts, 11.8 reb, 2.0 stl (10)
With Amare Stoudemire out of the lineup, Marion took advantage and set career highs in scoring, rebounding, and field goal percentage, all of which are still standing 5 years later. Steve Nash may have gotten more headlines and the MVP award, but Marion was a big part of the reason Phoenix returned to the Conference Finals.
6. Kobe Bryant - LAL - 35.4 pts, 5.3 reb, 4.5 ast (4)
Kobe became the first player to average 35 points per game since Michael Jordan in 1987, but the Lakers barely squeaked into the playoffs before losing to Phoenix in the first round. Kobe was only the fifth player ever to average 35, and was just the second to do so in the past 39 years.
7. Elton Brand - LAC - 24.7 pts, 10.0 reb, 2.6 ast (7)
As odd as it is to see a member of the Clippers mentioned among MVP candidates, that's exactly where Brand belonged in 2006, when he bested his old career high in scoring by more than 4 points per game, and led the Clippers to the playoffs, where they were able to upset Denver in the first round before eventually falling to Phoenix.
8. Steve Nash - PHX - 18.8 pts, 4.2 reb, 10.5 ast (1)
One year after winning his first MVP, Nash set new career highs in field goal percentage, free throw percentage, rebounds, and points while guiding the Suns back to the Western Conference Finals without their leading scorer from the previous year. He led the league in assists for the second time and free throw percentage (.921) for the first time.
9. Vince Carter - NJN - 24.2 pts, 5.8 reb, 4.3 ast (NR)
Vince played very well in his first full season in New Jersey, helping them run away with the division title and into the second round of the playoffs. He did not appear to have missed a step from his days in Toronto, and was still one of the best players in the league at age 29.
10. Pau Gasol - MEM - 20.4 pts, 8.9 reb, 4.6 ast (NR)
Playing in Memphis caused Gasol to be somewhat overlooked, but his first 20-point season helped Memphis to the second-best record in franchise history and a spot in the playoffs for the third straight season, even though it ended in a sweep for the third straight time.
Rookie of the Year
1. Chris Paul - NOK - 16.1 pts, 5.1 reb, 7.8 ast (1)
It was apparent, even when he was a rookie, that Chris Paul would be a star in this league, and it was no mistake that he ran away with the Rookie of the Year award after putting up an amazing season in which he started all 78 games in which he played and had the displaced Hornets within 6 games of making the playoffs.
2. Charlie Villanueva - TOR - 13.0 pts, 6.4 reb, 1.1 ast (2)
Villanueva played well for a Toronto team that struggled after trading away their franchise player the previous season. That void allowed the rookie to get significant playing time and earned him a spot on the All-Rookie First Team.
3. Raymond Felton - CHA - 11.9 pts, 3.3 reb, 5.6 ast (4)
Felton was the poor man's version of Chris Paul, not quite measuring up to the top rookie in any category, but playing well enough to start for most of the season on a bad team. He has failed to progress very much since that season, however.
4. Andrew Bogut - MIL - 9.4 pts, 7.0 reb, 2.3 ast (3)
The #1 pick in the draft showed some real promise as a rookie, playing in every game and shooting over 53% from the field for Milwaukee. He has continued to improve as a rebounder and shot blocker over the course of his career for Milwaukee.
5. Deron Williams - UTA - 10.8 pts, 2.4 reb, 4.5 ast (6)
As a rookie Williams was not as impressive as fellow point guards Felton and Paul, but over the next several seasons he proved that he equal to or better than both of them, just not in his rookie year.
Sixth Man of the Year
1. Mike Miller - MEM - 13.7 pts, 5.4 reb, 2.7 ast (1)
Miller definitely deserved his sixth man award in 2006, when he had his best year for the Grizzlies up to that point despite coming off the bench for the majority of the season for the first time in his career. The next year he was put back into the starting lineup and had the best season of his career.
2. Josh Childress - ATL - 10.0 pts, 5.2 reb, 1.8 ast (NR)
Childress spent most of his second season coming off the bench for Atlanta, but his production in that role was nearly identical to that of his rookie season. Somehow, the voters failed to take notice of him that year, but he did pick up a little bit of recognition over the next two years.
3. Jamal Crawford - NYK - 14.3 pts, 3.1 reb, 3.8 ast (14)
Following two seasons as a starter in which he averaged over 17 points per game, Crawford spent most of 2006 on the bench, which caused a slight dropoff in overall production for the guard, but after a couple more seasons as a starter he decided that he preferred coming off the bench, which allowed him to win this award a few years later.
4. Charlie Villanueva - TOR - 13.0 pts, 6.4 reb, 1.1 ast (20)
Not only was Villanueva one of the top rookies in the league, he was one of the best bench players throughout the season also. The only time in his career that he's been able to improve upon his rookie year was 2009, the only season in which he started a majority of the games for his team.
5. Derek Fisher - GSW - 13.3 pts, 2.6 reb, 4.3 ast (16)
Even though he came off the bench for Golden State, Fisher had the best season of his entire career in 2006, and he played every game for the first time in 7 years, something that he has now done for 6 straight seasons.
Most Improved Player
1. Boris Diaw - PHX - +8.5 pts, +4.3 reb, +3.9 ast (1)
After two seasons as a reserve in Atlanta, Diaw came to Phoenix in a trade and became a starter quickly after Amare Stoudemire went down with a major knee injury, and he responded by showing his skill at filling up every category of the stat sheet, making him an easy choice for most improved player.
2. David West - NOK - +10.9 pts, +3.1 reb, +0.4 ast (2)
West's scoring averaged jumped more than Diaw's, but the Frenchman had him beat everywhere else. West became a full-time starter for the Hornets, and he showed the abilities that would eventually make him an All-Star.
3. Smush Parker - LAL - +8.5 pts, +2.5 reb, +2.8 ast (14)
Parker took over as the starting point guard for the Lakers and had what was easily his best season as a pro, helping the Lakers to make the playoffs and earning the job for a second year before leaving as a free agent and watching his career come to an abrupt end.
4. Kevin Martin - SAC - +4.2 pts, +0.3 reb, +0.1 ast (21)
It's kind of hard to tell why he's here by just looking at his averages, but his shooting percentages tell a different story. His field goal percentage improved by 10%, 3-point by 17%, and free throw by 19%, which made him a much better player when he was on the court, which was much more often in his second year.
5. Mike James - TOR - +8.5 pts, +0.5 reb, +2.2 ast (8)
James came from out of nowhere to average over 20 points per game for a Toronto team that was lacking a star after the Vince Carter trade. He never even averaged half that amount again as he went back to being just another role player on other teams for the rest of his career.
NBA Player of the Day
Dwyane Wade - MIA - 39 pts, 11 reb, 8 ast, 3 stl, 5 blk, 15-26 FG, 1-3 3P, 8-11 FT
Wade led Miami in all 5 major statistical categories last night as he Miami was able to beat the 76ers and keep pace with the Bulls in the race for the best record in the East. Wade's performance was quite possibly the best performance of any player this season, especially considering that he is a guard.
Predictions - 26 Mar
Upset picks are in italics.
Possible upsets are underlined.
NBA
Nets at Hawks - Hawks by 8
Knicks at Bobcats - Knicks by 1
Pacers at Pistons - Pistons by 1
Bulls at Bucks - Bulls by 5
Mavericks at Jazz - Mavericks by 3
Raptors at Clippers - Clippers by 7
NCAA Tournament
(8) Butler vs. (2) Florida - Florida by 3
(5) Arizona vs. (3) Connecticut - UConn by 1
Prediction Results - 25 Mar
NBA: 7-6 (.538) 636-261 overall (.709)
NCAA Tournament: 2-2 (.500) 40-20 overall (.667)
Upsets: 0-1 (.000) 163-114 overall (.588)
