There's a really easy way to determine the Most Valuable Player in the NBA each season.

Take a great player from his team and determine where that team would finish in the standings without him.

For example, if you take Kobe Bryant away from the Lakers, Los Angeles would still make the playoffs. But if you take LeBron James from the Cavaliers, Cleveland's roster is as strong as Michelle Pfeiffer's eggs in "Scarface."

The Cavs would be awful without LeBron. That's why he's my 2010 NBA MVP. Too bad he won't be around to challenge for Finals MVP, though.

2010 NBA Award Winners

MVP
LeBron James - Averaged a 28, 8, 8 for the past three seasons
2. Kevin Durant
3. Dwight Howard

Rookie of the Year
Tyreke Evans - Fourth rookie in history to put up a 20, 5, 5. The others? Oscar Robertson, Michale Jordan, James
2. Stephen Curry
3. Brandon Jennings

Defensive Player of the Year
Dwight Howard - Led the league in rebounds and blocks for the second straight season.
2. LeBron James
3. Thabo Sefolosha

Sixth Man of the Year
Jamal Crawford - Finally found the role he was made to play: gunner off the bench. Put in 18 points/game in 31 minutes/night for the Hawks.
Carl Landry
Manu Ginobili

Most Improved Player
Aaron Brooks - Became Houston's go-to guy in the absence of Yao Ming. Improved his scoring average by more than 8 points/game, too (11.2 to 19.6). Also shot nearly 40 percent from 3.
2. Joakim Noah
3. Andrew Bogut

Coach of the Year
Scott Brooks (OKC) - took one of the two youngest teams in the league to the playoffs a season after it won just 23 games. Oklahoma City won its 50th game of the year last night.
Scott Skiles
Rick Carlisle

All-NBA First Team
Kobe Bryant
Dwyane Wade
LeBron James
Kevin Durant
Dwight Howard

All-NBA Second Team
Deron Williams
Steve Nash
Carmelo Anthony
Chris Bosh
Dirk Nowitzki

All-NBA Third Team
Chauncey Billups
Joe Johnson
Manu Ginobili
Carlos Boozer
Amar'e Stoudemire

All-Defensive Team
Rajon Rondo
Dwyane Wade
Thabo Sefolosha
LeBron James
Dwight Howard

All-Rookie Team
Tyreke Evans
Stephen Curry
Brandon Jennings
Darren Collison
Marcus Thornton

Least Valuable Player
Eddy Curry - made $10 million-plus this season to play in 7 games and average 8.9 minutes/game

Least Valuable Player on a really good team
Derek Fisher - routinely gets torched by quicker guards...and slower ones

Remember how the Heisman vote went down to the last two weeks of the regular season?

Everyone was waiting for that one guy to pull away from a pack of four or five and take the award.

Alabama sophomore running back Mark Ingram did that with his performance in the SEC Championship game against Florida, snatching the award from Florida's Tim Tebow among others.

This NBA season has been weird. In the first month of the season, you could make a case for five or six guys who should win MVP. Milwaukee point guard Brandon "Young Money" Jennings was a shoe-in for Rookie of the Year after he went off for 55 points in just his seventh game in the League.

Now, both of those are one-horse races in my opinion. So are the races for Sixth Man of the Year and Most Improved Player.

So unless some guys step up the last 40 games of the season, there won't be any shock when award winners are announced in May.

As for who is leading in the chase for those awards...

Most Valuable Player
LeBron James, Forward, Cleveland Cavaliers
You know how Pistons' fans used to treat Michael Jordan? They hated his guts but respected the hell out of his game. That's the way fans are with James now. He might be too silly for anybody to hate, though, with his pre-game antics and sideline dances. So far this season, LeBron is averaging 29 points, with 8 assists ( a career high at this point) and 7 boards a night. He's also posting career highs in field goal, free throw and three-point percentage. James is doing all this, and has his team in the race for the League's best record, without much else around him.

Also considered: Kobe Bryant (L.A. Lakers), Dirk Nowitzki (Dallas)

Rookie of the Year
Tyreke Evans, Guard, Sacramento Kings
The same way James saved the Cavs when he was drafted in 2003, Evans has been reviving the Kings so far this season. Sacramento was widely thought of as one of the three or four worst teams in the League at the start of the season, but the Kings have been surprisingly competitive. While Jennings started hot and hit the Rookie Wall, Evans has been steady all season to the tune of 20.8 points, 5 boards and 5 assists a night. At 6'6," 220 pounds, Evans can play any of the perimeter positions. He may be best suited to play off the ball, but his play at the point has been solid. Evans has also scored in double figures in all but two games he's played in so far this season.

Also considered: Brandon Jennings (Milwaukee), Stephen Curry (Golden State)

Most Improved Player
Kevin Durant, Forward, Oklahoma City Thunder
In his third year in the League, Durant has made "The Leap." His scoring average has gone up exponentially each season (from 20 (year one) to 25 ppg (year two) to 29.1 this season. Durant is also averaging a career-high 7 boards a night. He's a threat to go for 40 every night and he's also mastered the art of manufacturing points. When he has an off night from the field, Durant is awesome at getting to the line. In Oklahoma City's 94-91 win over Atlanta Monday afternoon, Durant went 7-19 from the field, but shot 14-15 from the free throw line. He's getting to the line nearly 10 times a game and in flirting with shooting 50 percent from the field, 40 percent from three-point range and 90 percent from the free-throw line. Above all of that, he's leading his young Thunder squad to Ws. Oklahoma City currently sits at 23-18, good for 8th in the tough Western Conference. OKC didn't win its 23rd game until the last game of the 2008-09 season. Look for Durant to be in the MVP discussion until he retires.

Also considered: Aaron Brooks (Houston), Channing Frye (Phoenix)

Sixth Man of the Year
Jamal Crawford, Guard, Atlanta Hawks
Crawford has always been known as a gunner. But you can't win with guys like that in your starting lineup unless their name is Kobe. Crawford is in the perfect role in Atlanta. He's been a major reason why the Hawks are atop the Southeast Division. He's the Hawks' version of Vinnie Johnson and he's flourishing in his new role. So far this season, in 30 minutes a night, Crawford is netting 17 points and shooting 45 percent from the field. That number doesn't look that great until you consider that's the best he's shot from the field since shooting .476 from the field in 23 games in 2001-02.

Also considered: Carl Landry (Houston), Jason Terry (Dallas)

Defensive Player of the Year
Dwight Howard, Center, Orlando Magic
Although Howard's offensive numbers have trailed off from last season and his post game is almost nonexistent, his defensive play always remains at a high level. Howard once again leads the League in rebounds (13.1) and blocks (2.49). He also ranks in the top 50 in steals - a category dominated by wing players.

Also considered: LeBron James (Cleveland), Gerald Wallace (Charlotte)

Coach of the Year
Rick Adelman, Houston Rockets
No Yao. No Tracy McGrady, yet, at 23-18, Adelman has the Rockets in the seven spot out West. Prior to the start of the season, I picked Houston to finish with one of the worst records in the League, since the team's roster is made up of no-name players. Houston has been able to stay afloat despite switching from a team that thrived on good defense to a team that likes to run on offense. During his career, Adelman has coached some supremely talented teams in Portland and Sacramento, but this may be his best work.

Also considered: Lionel Hollins (Memphis), Scott Brooks (Oklahoma City)

That story about the kid who was supposedly stuck in a hot air balloon all day yesterday was insane.

We came to find out a lot about him and his family. The family - from Colorado - has appeared on the reality TV show "Wife Swap." They believe in aliens and named the kid Falcon. During an interview with CNN, the boy said "you told me to do this for the show." The parents home school their kids. And, from the looks of that balloon, they loved Jiffy Pop when they were younger.

I wouldn't trust that thing enough to step foot inside it even if there was a briefcase inside it with a million dollars in it.

I also wouldn't trust these teams to go very far this season.

The Hot N Ready Division

25. Indiana Pacers
I feel for Danny Granger. Granger is a fabulous player who's gotten better (scoring averages of 7.5, 13.9, 19.6 and 25.8 in each of his four years in the league) in each of his four seasons in the NBA. Granger has earned his $10,130,500 salary. But the rest of the team is junk. Three other highest-paid players on the squad are Troy Murphy ($11,047,619 in 2009-10), T.J. Ford ($8,500,000) and Mike Dunleavy ($9,780,992). Those three guys have played in a combined total of 16 playoff games - all by Ford in his time in Milwaukee and Toronto. Their starting center (7'2" Roy Hibbert) has shown signs of life this preseason, but things aren't looking up for the Pacers. As an aside, this team has more white guys who will play major roles than an episode of "Entourage."

24. New York Knicks
Hmmm...Derrick Rose, or Chris Duhon and Nate Robinson? I bet Mike D'Antoni wishes he took the Bulls job now. He probably cries every time Eddy Curry walks into practice. As a basketball coach, your prospects don't look so hot when you're starting center's butt is wider than the back of a '74 Eldorado.

23. Charlotte Bobcats
For the last couple years, I've had this idea of how the league could be better if six teams were contracted. The Bobcats are always at the top of that list. Charlotte isn't a good place for pro basketball. If it was, the Hornets would still be there. The Bobcats have some nice pieces (D.J. Augustin, Gerald Wallace, Gerald Henderson) and Tyson Chandler will add more of a defensive presence than Emeka Okafor (traded to New Orleans for Chandler) ever did. But those pieces don't mesh well. When you constantly have high draft picks, you get guys who don't necessarily know how to play a role. They just wanna "get theirs." Could you see three movies being made in the "Ocean's 11" series if Matt Damon and Don Cheadle walked on the set and turned into the Dudley Boyz on George Clooney and Brad Pitt.

The Sonic/Chik-Fil-A Division

22. Oklahoma City Thunder
OKC is a team on the come up. They have one of the five best scorers in the NBA in Kevin Durant (25.3 ppg, .476 field goals, .422 3-pt field goals in 2008-09). The Thunder also has a dynamic point guard in Russell Westbrook and a solid all-around player in Jeff Green. If things break right, Oklahoma City could sneak into the playoffs and serve as a sacrificial lamb for the Lakers or Spurs. Realistically, they'll be more fun to watch than those cop chase shows and miss the playoffs.

21. Los Angeles Clippers
Look at how scary good the Clips starting five is: Baron Davis, Eric Gordon, Al Thornton, Blake Griffin, Chris Kaman. That's easily one of those most talented starting fives in the league. Want to see something even scarier? MIKE DUNLEAVY is their coach!!!! Dunleavy routinely does less with more with the greatest of ease. In 16 years as a coach, he's 592-688, good for a .463 winning percentage. In those 16 years, he's made seven playoff appearances. In six years in L.A., he's 194-298, with one playoff appearance. How he's still employed is beyond me. He must have pictures of Clippers owner Donald Sterling with a Jonas Brother or something.

Part III coming Monday