The third edition of the blogger MVP/RoY rankings was just posted at 3 Shades of Blue. In case you missed the first two editions, here are the links:
MVP/RoY rankings, Part I
MVP/RoY rankings, Part II
Here is my complete ballot exactly as I submitted it (MVP and RoY votes are scored on a 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 and 5-4-3-2-1 basis respectively, so Bryant is my top MVP pick and Durant is my top RoY pick):
10-Kobe Bryant: Widely acknowledged as the "best" player in the NBA, supposedly the only reason that he has not won the MVP the past two years is his team's record. The Lakers have beaten Phoenix twice and are on pace for more than 50 wins, so if the Lakers keep this up then that excuse will no longer be valid.
9-LeBron James: He is having another great season but even LeBron insists that Kobe is the league's best player, so who are we to argue?
8-Dwight Howard: He's had 21 rebounds in back to back games and the Magic have won three straight after losing seven of their previous nine.
7-Kevin Garnett: He's actually putting up his worst numbers in a decade in most categories but as long as the Celtics keep winning he will always be in the MVP discussion.
6-Tim Duncan: Like Garnett, he is putting up lower numbers than usual but the Spurs were just 2-2 during the four games that he missed due to injury. His performance has been up and down since returning to action.
5-Chris Paul: Hornets have won five straight and six of seven; he has averaged 24.6 ppg and 10.0 apg in December.
4-Steve Nash: Is he finally wearing down? Nash has shot less than .500 from the field in six of his last seven games and the Suns only went 4-3 in those games.
3-Dirk Nowitzki: Mavericks have won six of eight as Nowitzki's numbers move toward their '07 levels.
2-Amare Stoudemire: 24.1 ppg, .629 field goal percentage in December.
1-Tracy McGrady: This year Houston may not be winning much with him but the Rockets literally can't win at all without him. If winning is the ultimate "value," then the Rockets' record with him the past four years versus the Rockets' record without him suggests that his value is very high.
Dropped from the list since last time: Yao Ming
Added to the list since last time: Amare Stoudemire
ROY
5-Kevin Durant: In December, he had two 30 point games--and three 6 point games. He leads rookies in minutes played and shots attempted, so the raw numbers alone basically assure him of winning the RoY award but that does not mean that he has lived up to all of the overblown hype surrounding him. Any other player barely averaging 20 ppg while shooting .400 from the field would not garner as much praise as Durant does.
4-Al Horford: Nearly averaging a double double while shooting better than .500 from the field.
3-Sean Williams: Playing time went back up recently. Shoots well (.551 from the field), blocks shots and gets rebounds.
2-Yi Jianlian: Like all of these rookies, he has had some ups and downs but he has been more consistent than most of the first year players.
1-Luis Scola: Getting steady minutes recently and putting up solid numbers.
Dropped from the list since last time: Glen Davis (played 12 minutes in the last four games), Juan Carlos Navarro (played horribly as Memphis lost four straight)
Added to the list since last time: Sean Williams, Luis Scola
MVP/RoY Rankings, Part III
