MySports Today

Lebron James is your 2008-2009 NBA MVP!  James received 109 of 121 1st place votes to tally a total of 1,172 votes.  Kobe Bryant, the 2007-2008 NBA MVP, finished in 2nd place with 698 total votes (including 2 1st place votes).  Dwayne Wade, Dwight Howard and Chris Paul rounded out the Top 5.

James had a phenomenal year on both sides of the ball.  He is the 1st Cavaliers player to win the Top MVP Award.  James averaged 28.4 points, 7.6 rebounds and 7.2 assists per game.  At 24 years old (and 106 days), he is the youngest player to win the award since Moses Malone did at the age of 24 (and 16  days) during the 1978-1979 NBA season.  James also set some personal career highs – 81 games player; 49% field goal percentage; 79% free-throw percentage; and 93 blocked shots.

The Cavaliers had the best record in the NBA () and lost only twice at home during the regular season.  The Cavaliers swept the Detroit Pistons 4-0 in the 1st round of the playoffs and will take on the Atlanta Hawks in the 2nd round of the playoffs starting on Tuesday night.

With the trading deadline fast approaching (next Wednesday, 2/18), the Miami Heat and Toronto Raptors completed the much-talked about trade of Shawn Marion and Jermaine O’Neal. The Raptors also get Marcus Banks and cash. The Heat will also receive Jamario Moon and a 1st round pick at some point in the future. The 1st round pick is lottery protected which means that the first time the Raptors make the playoffs following the 2009-2010 NBA season, the Heats gets the Raptors 1st round pick that spring. And if the Heat does not get the 1st round pick during the 2010 NBA draft, they get an additional 2nd round pick that year.

Marion has been one of the Heat’s best players all year long and has helped them get off to a solid 28-24 start right before the all-star break. He even won the Heat’s game against the Bulls last night with a monstrous dunk off a pretty feed from Dwayne Wade with only 1.1 seconds remaining in the game. Marion averages 12 points per game and 8.7 rebounds per game. Marion has expressed the desire to be rewarded with a long-term contract, however, and the Heat are not willing to do that. The Heat know that Wade, Lebron James, Kobe Bryant, Amare Stoudemire and Chris Bosh all become free agents in 2010, and they need to keep salary cap space to make sure they can sign Wade and maybe one other top player.

To that effort, the Heat get a true center in Jermain O’Neal. He has averaged 13.5 points and 7 rebounds this season, but has been hobbled by injuries of late. He is owed $23 million during the 2009-2010 NBA season, but that will not count against the Heat’s salary cap space for the 2010 free agent market.