Now, for your NBA awards consideration

The ballots for annual NBA awards are in the hands of media members now. They are due to the league offices by Thursday. With that in mind, here's how my ballots would look:

COACH OF THE YEAR — Certainly Jerry Sloan should have already been given this honor at some point during his distinguished 19-year career with the Utah Jazz, but he hasn't. Leading Utah to a 12-1 start, a playoff berth and a Northwest Division championship aid his campaign this season. The Jazz's late swoon hurts his chances. If it were a lifetime achievement award, Sloan would be a shoo-in, but it is for the 2006-07 season alone.

Dallas' Avery Johnson could be the first to ever win it back-to-back. His Mavericks have been the best team in the league. But the two coaches that have helped their teams improve the most from last season to this one are Houston's Jeff Van Gundy and Toronto's Sam Mitchell. Van Gundy's team already has 50 wins after just 34 last season, while Mitchell's club has 46 wins and the Raptors' first-ever division title after winning just 27 games in in '05-06. Very impressive, indeed.

The picks: 1. Mitchell; 2. Sloan; 3. Van Gundy

MOST VALUABLE PLAYER — Voters get to choose their top five in this category. A month ago my list was, in order, Dallas' Dirk Nowitzki, the Lakers Kobe Bryant, Phoenix's Steve Nash, Cleveland's LeBron James and Washington's Gilbert Arenas.

Since then, however, Arenas suffered a season-ending injury and the Lakers have been losing at an alarming rate. That has changed things a bit.

Nowitzki is the best player on the best team, so he stays. Nash, the two-time defending MVP, is playing even better this season. King James is still the top player in the East, while the Spurs' Tim Duncan is having another fine season for one of the NBA's elite teams.

The picks: 1. Nowitzki; 2. Nash; 3. James; 4. Bryant; 5. Duncan

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR — Brandon Roy went off for 29 points, five assists, four rebounds and three blocked shots against the Jazz last week. He's averaging five more points per game than any other rookie. The only reason he may not be the unanimous choice is that he missed more than 20 games.

No. 1 overall pick Andrea Bargnani has also missed considerable playing time due to injury, but he's been a solid all-around performer for the surprising Raptors. Charlotte's Adam Morrison is the second-leading scorer among rookies (11.9 ppg), but he hasn't been as strong in all aspects of the game as Memphis' Rudy Gay.

The picks: 1. Roy; 2. Bargnani; 3. Gay.