NBA awards given out during the season include player of the week (one from each conference), player of the month, coach of the month, rookie of the month. NBA awards announced at season's end (usually early on during the playoffs, though only regular season play is taken into consideration) include the league MVP, the Rookie of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Sixth Man of the Year, Most Improved Player, coach of the year, and executive of the year.

INSIDEHOOPS.COM NBA AWARDS WATCH
Updated October 25, 2008

Rookies: We have a separate page for our NBA Rookie of the Year Watch.

MVP: We have a separate page for our NBA Most Valuable Player Watch.

NBA DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF YEAR WATCH

1) Kevin Garnett PF Boston Celtics: The Celtics last season shockingly transformed into a defensive machine, and KG is their leader in that department, though this no.1 spot must be shared at least partially with Paul Pierce. In the regular season we'll list these guys separately if they both deserve to be mentioned in our ranking, but for now we'll name KG, with Pierce getting an honorable mention.

2) Ron Artest F Houston Rockets: Now with Houston, it appears Artest will play both forward positions pretty regularly, though he'll typically guard the other team's most offensively-potent shooting guard, small or power forward. This is a great opportunity for Artest to be a key part of a winning team.

3) Tim Duncan PF San Antonio Spurs: The Spurs are still a championship contender, and they're always a great defensive team, mostly due to Duncan's greatness.

4) Dwight Howard C Orlando Magic: The Magic were successful last season, winning 52 games, and while InsideHoops.com isn't positive they'll match or exceed that total in 2008-09, they should be close. Howard isn't a great defender yet, but wants to be, and has stated he'll improve in this department. We believe him.

5) Marcus Camby PF/C Los Angeles Clippers: Camby is always a candidate for this award, he's up there in age, and will now be playing alongside center Chris Kaman. Playing out of position at power forward, Camby should still have a big defensive impact.

6) Kobe Bryant SG Los Angeles Lakers: While most offensive superstars aren't particularly impressive defenders, Bryant is an exception to the rule. He isn't a favorite to win this award but will definitely receive consideration.

7) Tyson Chandler C New Orleans Hornets: Chandler isn't a great defender yet but keeps improving and could get attention here. Honorable mention goes to David West, a better defender than people realize.

8) Greg Oden C Portland Trail Blazers: Coming off major surgery, InsideHoops.com can't guarantee he'll be a great defensive stopper in 2008-09. But it's possible, and there's reason to think he will be in the future. He should be a regular candidate on this list for years, so we'll stick him on here now and quickly remove him if he doesn't deserve to be here a few weeks into the regular season.

9) Josh Smith F Atlanta Hawks: It's a reach to predict Smith will be one of the finalists in this category, but he already fills the stat-sheet with blocks and steals. His ability to shut down other players when he fails to get a block or steal is still in development, however.


NBA SIXTH MAN OF YEAR WATCH

This unusual award names the league's best bench player, who is often a player worthy of starting but is used as a substitute for chemistry reasons.

1) Lamar Odom F Los Angeles Lakers: Clearly a starter in this league but on the Lakers, for chemistry reasons, it appears he'll be coming off the bench this season.

2) Ben Gordon G Chicago Bulls: Will probably continue to lead Bulls in scoring (or come very close) despite coming off the bench.

3) Leandro Barbosa G Phoenix Suns: A scoring machine off the bench for Phoenix. Steve Nash may play fewer minutes this season, which will open things up for Barbosa even more.

4) Manu Ginobili SG San Antonio Spurs: often gets used as a 6th man even though he's clearly starting material. But he's injured to start the season and it's not clear exactly when he'll be fully healthy. If he was at 100 percent health we'd have him #1 on this list.

5) Jason Terry G Dallas Mavericks: With aging Jason Kidd possibly set to slow down this season, JT could be even more important for Dallas than ever.

6) Shane Battier SF Houston Rockets: It's not clear yet how Battier will be used in Houston but it'll probably be as the first player off the bench, either playing next to Artest (who slides to PF) or next to Luis Scola (who stays at PF).

7) James Posey SF New Orleans Hornets: Does a lot of things that don't show up on the stat-sheet, so not likely to win the award, but should play a big role off the bench on his new team.

8) Rodney Stuckey PG Detroit Pistons: Proved last last season and in much of the playoffs that he's very likely a future starter in this year. But as long as Chauncey Billups is in Detroit and still good, Rodney will play lots of minutes off the bench.


NBA COACH OF THE YEAR WATCH

1) Phil Jackson Los Angeles Lakers: Poised to rock the West once again, Jackson will get plenty of credit should he successfully manage a healthy Andrew Bynum and an off-the-bench Lamar Odom along with Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol.

2) Doc Rivers Boston Celtics: Did as good as job as possible for Boston last season and though the team's bench is thinner he should keep succeeding.

3) Nate McMillan Portland Trail Blazers: Portland is loaded with impressive young talent and are poised to rise up this season. McMillan actually has a tough job managing all bench talent, but it's a great problem to have.

4) Rick Adelman Houston Rockets: The Adelman affect kicked in nicely last season, even as star center Yao Ming missed a ton of games due to injury. Now Yao is healthy and Ron Artest is on board.

5) Jerry Sloan Utah Jazz: The longest-running coach in the NBA has never won the award. Utah is a rising team and if they overachieve, Sloan will get coaching credit.

6) Maurice Cheeks Philadelphia 76ers: Mo did a very good job molding the Sixers into a real unit last season, and now they add Elton Brand, who fills the hole at power forward in a big way.


NBA MOST IMPROVED PLAYER WATCH

1) Andrew Bynum C Los Angeles Lakers: is the league-wide favorite to have a breakout season.

Other candidates:

Amir Johnson (Pistons) has a shot at it because he'll be starting now, with Antonio McDyess moving to the bench.

Nate Robinson (Knicks) looked fantastic in preseason playing the faster Mike D'Antoni offense. If Stephon Marbury continues to get limited minutes it appears Nasty Nate will benefit the most in New York.

Lou Williams (76ers) is a terrific young player and the best guard off Philly's bench.


NBA EXECUTIVE OF THE YEAR WATCH

Here, we'll just list the teams who improved themselves the most this off-season. The executive running the following teams are who we feel are the legit super-early possible candidates for the award:

The Philadelphia 76ers were OK last season, winning 40 games, which was actually more than expected. This summer they managed to sign free agent star power forward Elton Brand, a fantastic addition, on paper at least. They paid big money for Brand so although it's no steal, the signing was the biggest of the summer.

The Houston Rockets were already very good last season and added Ron Artest virtually for free. If the move pays off, their GM gets the credit.

The Portland Trail Blazers came away from the NBA Draft with Jerryd Bayless, Rudy Fernandez and Nicolas Batum, all three of whom appear to be extremely talented players with a bright future in the NBA. Great drafting work here.

The Milwaukee Bucks were a major disappointment last season, winning under 30 games despite having Michael Redd, Mo Williams and a breakout season from Andrew Bogut. They traded for Richard Jefferson this summer, and parted ways with Mo Williams, getting Luke Ridnour.


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