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Coldiron’s Preseason NBA Awards

Photo Credit: Fernando Medina - Getty Images

Photo Credit: Fernando Medina – Getty Images

Opinions are like farts: everyone has them and most of them stink. That said, it’s the start of a new NBA season which means it’s time for predictions. From the obvious to the obscure and back, here are my predictions for the 2014-15 NBA Season.

MVP: LeBron James – Cleveland Cavaliers

Yes I know, I am going out on such a limb here. I’d love to go for a sexy sleeper here, but the reality is that the best player in the world just got a much younger, much better supporting cast. Over the course of this season Kyrie Irving, Dion Waiters, Tristan Thompson and the rest of the gang will improve by leaps and bounds… and LeBron will get all the credit and another MVP trophy.

Rookie of the Year: Nerlens Noel, Philadelphia 76ers

He got to spend last year with the team, which puts his learning curve a year ahead of all the other rookies in this class. I think he’ll take that advantage along with the playing time in Philadelphia and have a tremendous rookie season.

Most likely to make ‘the leap.’: Klay Thompson, Golden State Warriors

He’s already a ‘splash brother’ and the Warriors valued him highly enough to not give him up for Kevin Love. In the first game of the season, new Head Coach Steve Kerr showed off some offensive sets that come straight from the triangle offense. I expect they will continue to develop it throughout the season. By the time the playoffs come around I expect them to be running sophisticated offensive schemes that will get Thompson and Curry open a lot more. Curry has already made ‘the leap’. This year will be Thompson’s turn (and if Thompson doesn’t make the leap, someone in Golden State needs to be fired for not getting Kevin Love).

Worst teammate: Nick Young, Los Angeles Lakers

There are so many worthy candidates for this award that it’s hard to chose one. ‘Swaggy P’ gets my vote for his incredible combination of selfish attitude, atrocious defense, and fame-seeking behavior. I can’t think of anyone who cares less about his team and his teammates. Young is happy to live in L.A, shoot a lot of shots and lose a lot of games. Nice guy, bad teammate.

Worst defender: J.R. Smith, New York Knicks

Smith was recently asked about playing defense and had this to say: “That’s really not my area of expertise. I’m more of a scoring-type player. I’ll leave that to those guys. Whatever they want to do, it’s OK with me. Just let me know.’’ Enough said.

Saddest person of the year: Coach Brett Brown, Philadelphia 76ers

The coach for the laughing stock of the league. Let’s face it, if you knew you had to watch all 82 Philadelphia 76ers games this season, you’d be sad too.

Most likely to start a riot: Steven Adams, Oklahoma City Thunder

Formerly known as the ‘Ron Artest Award’, Steven Adams has a deathgrip on this category. Not since Bruce Bowen and John Stockton has there been a player that angers and infuriates opponents more than Adams. Adams, in just his third year, appears to already know every dirty trick in the book. He is already personally writing the second volume of the book. He is the ultimate instigator. Adams trips, elbows, steps into people and runs his mouth at opposing centers constantly. To some he is a plain dirty player. I give him credit because (like Bowen and Stockton before him) he does it within the rules. If the referee doesn’t blow his whistle, it’s legal. With Durant (and now also Westbrook) out with injuries, some will tune out OKC for a while. Not me! As long as Adams is on the floor these guys are still must-see TV. Even in a lopsided blowout I won’t be able to turn away because in the back of my mind I’ll always be thinking, “the second I change the channel, someone is going to punch Steven Adams in the face and I can’t miss it.”

Coach most likely to get fired: Jaque Vaughn, Orlando Magic

With seven coaches fired during the offseason, Vaughn becomes the tenured coach with the worst record. Orlando is going to be terrible. This is the third year of the Vaughn era and his team still runs no set plays and has no identity on defense. This one is just a matter of time.

Team Awards:

I’ll keep this simple. I have San Antonio finally getting their ‘back-to-back’ championships, beating LeBron in the Finals once again, this time with his young Cavs team.

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Photo Credit: Fernando Medina - Getty Images