Though none of us have a ballot for the NBA’s official awards, we’ll be presenting our choices and making our cases this week for each major honor.
Kurt Helin
First team
- G: Stephen Curry, Golden State Warriors
- G: James Harden, Houston Rockets
- F: LeBron James, Cleveland Cavaliers
- F: Anthony Davis, New Orleans Pelicans
- C: Marc Gasol, Memphis Grizzlies
Second team
- G: Chris Paul, Los Angeles Clippers
- G: Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City Thunder
- F: LaMarcus Aldridge, Portland Trail Blazers
- F: Tim Duncan, San Antonio Spurs
- C: DeMarcus Cousins, Sacramento Kings
Third team
- G: Kyrie Irving, Cleveland Cavaliers
- G: Damian Lillard, Portland Trail Blazers
- F: Pau Gasol, Chicago Bulls
- F: Blake Griffin, Los Angeles Clippers
- C: Al Horford, Hawks
There are just so many good forwards, you can’t mention them all. Apologies to DeAndre Jordan, who easily could have been that third center.
Brett Pollakoff
First team
- G: James Harden, Houston Rockets
- G: Stephen Curry, Golden State Warriors
- F: LeBron James, Cleveland Cavaliers
- F: Anthony Davis, New Orleans Pelicans
- C: Marc Gasol, Memphis Grizzlies
Second team
- G: Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City Thunder
- G: Chris Paul, Los Angeles Clippers
- F: LaMarcus Aldridge, Portland Trail Blazers
- F: Pau Gasol, Chicago Bulls
- C: Tim Duncan, San Antonio Spurs
Third team
- G: Kyrie Irving, Cleveland Cavaliers
- G: Jimmy Butler, Chicago Bulls
- F: Kawhi Leonard, San Antonio Spurs
- F: Blake Griffin, Los Angeles Clippers
- C: Al Horford, Hawks
Sean Highkin
First team
- G: Stephen Curry, Golden State Warriors
- G: James Harden, Houston Rockets
- F: LeBron James, Cleveland Cavaliers
- F: Anthony Davis, New Orleans Pelicans
- C: Tim Duncan, San Antonio Spurs
Second team
- G: Chris Paul, Los Angeles Clippers
- G: Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City Thunder
- F: LaMarcus Aldridge, Portland Trail Blazers
- F: Paul Millsap, Atlanta Hawks
- C: Marc Gasol, Memphis Grizzlies
Third team
- G: Kyrie Irving, Cleveland Cavaliers
- G: John Wall, Washington Wizards
- F: Draymond Green, Golden State Warriors
- F: Kawhi Leonard, San Antonio Spurs
- C: Pau Gasol, Chicago Bulls
The first team is self-explanatory. The positional logjam forces Paul and Westbrook onto the second team — it’s a little ridiculous that they can’t be on the first team, but there are only two guard spots and it would be hard to justify not giving them to the top two MVP candidates. Aldridge carried the Blazers through several injuries and even put off thumb surgery until the summer, without falling off at all. The Gasol brothers were great for different reasons. Marc has a legit case for First Team honors, and Pau was the Bulls’ most consistent player while Derrick Rose and Jimmy Butler missed time with injuries.
Dan Feldman
First team
- G: Stephen Curry, Golden State Warriors
- G: James Harden, Houston Rockets
- F: Anthony Davis, New Orleans Pelicans
- F: LeBron James, Cleveland Cavaliers
- C: Marc Gasol, Memphis Grizzlies
Second team
- G: Chris Paul, Los Angeles Clippers
- G: Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City Thunder
- F: LaMarcus Aldridge, Portland Trail Blazers
- F: Tim Duncan, San Antonio Spurs
- C: Al Horford, Atlanta Hawks
Third team
- G: Kyrie Irving, Cleveland Cavaliers
- G: Damian Lillard, Portland Trail Blazers
- F: Jimmy Butler, Chicago Bulls
- F: Kawhi Leonard, San Antonio Spurs
- C: DeAndre Jordan, Los Angeles Clippers
I could easily flip Horford and Jordan between the second and third teams, and DeMarcus Cousins isn’t far behind.
Putting Butler at forward might be cheating a bit, but he guarded small forwards often enough to qualify in my book. Apologies to Blake Griffin, who would have taken that spot if I hadn’t fudged Butler’s position.
John Wall was the toughest omission otherwise followed by Paul Millsap, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and Kevin Love (who regressed from last season, disappointed relative to expectations, didn’t play as well as he’s capable, was misused – and still had a pretty good year).