The best of each division
My pick for MVP is the big man in Dallas. Here's my picks for each of the NBA's six divisions . . .
ATLANTIC
• Raptors forward Chris Bosh -- The most complete player in the entire division. His versatility is extraordinary, a new wave power forward who can create offense and block shots, too. Simply put, a winner and a leader. This is a guy people forget, but he's every bit as talented as the other bigger name players from the 2003 draft.
Runners-up: Knicks guard Jamal Crawford and Nets guard Jason Kidd.
CENTRAL
• Pistons guard Chauncey Billups -- I don't think people appreciate just how good he is. Extremely talented, he takes and makes most of the big shots. He offers great poise, great leadership and a durability matched by very few. Look at his numbers (17.7 ppg, 7.5 apg) and he's very solid.
I take him over LeBron -- as great as LBJ is, the game is about the business of winning. Everybody talks about the loss of Ben Wallace, but the Pistons are still doing it the most in the East, and Billups is a big reason why.
Runners-up: Cavs forward LeBron James and Bulls guard Ben Gordon.
SOUTHEAST
• Heat guard Dwyane Wade -- For a team which has had so many guys play horrifically, his impact is not completely quantifiable. He brings it every night. So long as there's no risk of longterm injury, I don't think he should have his shoulder surgery until the offseason. He should try and play because he's probably got one or two more chances to win it all with Shaq.
Runners-up: Gilbert Arenas, Magic center Dwight Howard.
PACIFIC
Suns guard Steve Nash -- Even if he was only good enough to be your 12th man, you would want him on your team because of his attitude. Continues to play phenomenal basketball, a coach on the floor who would make anybody better.
As for his recent shoulder problems, when you get to be 33, when you get injured that's always a concern. He's played as well now as he had been -- in the second half against the Lakers on Sunday, he looked particularly good with his playmaking.
Runners-up: Lakers guard Kobe Bryant, Suns forward Shawn Marion.
NORTHWEST
• Jazz guard Deron Williams -- As a point guard, he's been incredible -- very durable and consistent in his second year. His 20 points and six assists helped Utah to a 108-94 win over the Hornets on Sunday. He has a huge impact on the game without taking away from Mehmet Okur and Carlos Boozer.
Runners-up: Kevin Garnett, Okur and Boozer.
SOUTHWEST
• Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki -- Continues to reinvent himself as a player. He's having a bigger impact in the interior and not shooting the 3 as much. When he took his team to San Antonio last year and won that seventh game of the Western Conference semifinals on the road, that was the big convincer for me about just how good he is.
Runners-up: Tim Duncan and Tracy McGrady.
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However my friend thinks the bet should not count because it was a picture I was in and not a comment of mine that was on the Dime. It would be great of you guys that write up the Dime could post this comment on the next Dime so I can make my friend shut up and pay me.
-- Russell (Dallas)
You have to look hard for silver linings in the land of the purple and gold these days.
I might have one, though:
If the Lakers needed any more convincing that they were smart to keep Andrew Bynum off limits in the Jason Kidd trade talks, they've got it now.
Giving up an agile, imposing 19-year-old who's progressing at a promising rate and also happens to be a 7-footer -- in a swap for a point guard who's still churning out the triple-doubles but who's also soon to be 34 -- is a move that screams Win Now.
Yet with Lamar Odom sidelined indefinitely with a shoulder injury and Luke Walton still out as well, Kidd wouldn't have been able to help the Lakers win anything significant now even if he is "an assassin like Kobe," as one L.A. insider puts it.
