Best Player / Most Valuable Player: Tony Parker (Individual +56, Net +21). He's officially a 2nd team All-NBA player this year, so it's a little harder to say he's under-rated. But why is it that players like Paul Pierce and Chauncy Billups get so much more credit than TP? He's got as many Finals MVP's (one) as they do, and he's got more overall rings (3) than they do combined. In the discussion of best point guards in the league, everyone agrees on some order of Rose, CP3, and Deron Williams at the top... I think, based on resume, Tony deserves to be on that level.
Worst Player: Chris Paul (Individual -37). He's arguably the best pure point guard in the league, and most would say that he belongs on the short list of fiercest competitors in the NBA: Kevin Garnett, Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade, Chris Paul. Well, the true test of competitive fire should be postseason success, right? Both Carmelo Anthony and Deron Williams (supposedly me-first, coach-killing, stat-hunting players) have led teams to the Western Conference finals, losing only to the eventual NBA champions. Chris Paul has never played in the conference finals. It's likely that he gets there soon, but at this point, perception might be bigger than production.
Least Valuable Player (Net -24): Tiago Splitter. Last year, I was so confident in the evolution of Tiago Splitter, that I was willing to take the Spurs as preseason sleepers to win the NBA title. While that team did manage to grab the West's best record, Splitter wasn't a huge reason why. It'll be interesting to see if he's more productive against forwards and centers that pose less of an offensive threat in OKC.
Jerome James Award: Kawhi Leonard / Danny Green. Both these guys have played well for the Spurs in this postseason. As far as Kawhi goes, some may remember my enthusiasm for him in last year's draft:
"I see shades of Gerald Wallace (great rebounder, energy and versatility on defense), with a little sprinkle of Andre Iguodala (underrated passer handling the ball, particularly in the open court, potential lockdown defender). Is he the best player on a title contending team? No. But the last 6 champions needed a glue guy wing defender like this on their team (Prince, Bowen, Posey, Bowen, Posey, Ariza, Artest)."
They've both been important cogs in the San Antonio machine. But the Spurs organization is just that - a machine. A machine that can run smoothly with parts that other people have discarded or devalued. Part of that is freeing players to do what they do best, and hiding their weaknesses. A bigger part is getting to play next to 3 All-Star caliber players, one of whom is the greatest power forward of all time. Everyone sees the wonderful abilities of Stephen Jackson and Boris Diaw on display now, but any Bobcat fan can tell you that those guys either couldn't or wouldn't produce like this for a lesser team. Let's remember that when assessing these players: this could be hint of things to come for both Leonard and Green, or it could be a perfect marriage of player and circumstance.
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