Best Player / Most Valuable Player: Kevin Garnett (Individual +58, Net +36). Given the general lack of true centers in the NBA, moving Garnett to the 5 has worked out really well. There just aren't many centers in the league that he'd have trouble guarding (Howard, Bynum, maybe Marc Gasol), and he may not see any of them the rest of the way. Meanwhile, the defense overall doesn't suffer, and the lineup options become way more varied. This concludes the section where I give the Celtics credit for anything.
Worst Player: Marvin Williams (Individual -9). What is there to say? For a 6-8 small forward with no reasonable defender across from him (in terms of height or athleticism), he has officially descended from "maybe a change of scenery will unleash his real talent" to "oh yeah, I forgot he existed."
Least Valuable Player: Brandon Bass (Net -23). A truly confusing outcome, to say the least. Four Celtics played 93% of the minutes in this series for the bigs. And while Garnett really produced, the other three (Bass, Stiemsma, Hollins) not only couldn't keep up, two of them were really negative contributors. Either the other bigs simply gave up a big run every time Garnett sat down, or Boston played a really small lineup to great success. Either way, a team with legit size could present a large problem down the road... if it existed.
Reverse Jerome James Award: Josh Smith. Sometimes it's hard to figure out what isn't Josh Smith's fault when it comes to the Hawks. Maybe he's the secret GM that picked Marvin over CP3 and Deron, and I'm the only one who doesn't know that. Regardless, despite his forgettable last shot of the season, he had a pretty good series. In terms of net plus/minus, his hobbled production was the same as Al Horford, who can do absolutely no wrong (apparently nobody saw those last two free throws). I'm not saying J-Smoove is a perfect player, but maybe like Horford, his true talents might be better enjoyed by everyone if he could get away from the Hawks.
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