NBA First Half Player Awards – The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

As the NBA basketball betting season moves towards its halfway point, BetOnline Sportsbook hands out its player awards for the good, the bad, and the ugly…

Most Important Player: Steve Nash, Phoenix Suns… After missing the playoffs a year ago, the Suns look to be back and just as good as ever in a very, very strong Western Conference. Though they won’t win the Pacific Division, they’re comfortably three games inside of the playoff picture, and it’s really all thanks to G Steve Nash. The Canadian is the engine that makes the Suns go, as he’s averaging 19.2 points and an NBA-best 11.3 assists per game so far in the NBA betting season. Now Phoenix is averaging the most points per game in the league (109.8), and its up-tempo style couldn’t be managed with anyone else running the point.

Most Underrated Player: Brandon Roy, Portland Trailblazers… "The Natural" takes down this award with ease. How else can you explain the fact that Portland is still one of the top teams in the Western Conference even though C Greg Oden has been injured for the majority of the year? Roy comes into Wednesday ranking ninth in the NBA in scoring (23.5 points per game), and he’s also tops on the team in assists (5.1 per game), and third in rebounding (4.7 per game).

Most PO’d Player: Dwyane Wade, Miami Heat… Wade just isn’t getting any help in Miami, and when it’s all said and done, the end result will probably see him leaving South Beach in free agency in the offseason. Miami’s start is accountable for 26.6 of the team’s 96.7 points per game, and he also leads the squad in assists at 6.2 per game. But more importantly, you can see the disgust in his face about being on a .500 squad. Yes, the Heat would be in the #5 seed in the Eastern Conference if the playoffs started today, but it’s just as believable to think that this team could be left out of the postseason if things don’t start to improve.

Player Most Likely to be Traded: Chris Bosh, Toronto Raptors… The Raptors know that they are probably going to be a playoff team this year, but they also know that they aren’t going to do anything once they get there. Bosh is surely to walk from Toronto at the end of this season, and rumors are already swirling that he is going to be dealt at the trade deadline. The rumors of a Bosh-for-Bynum swap with the Lakers have been circulating, and knowing that LA has had a history of pulling off deals like this right at the deadline (we’re looking at you, Pau Gasol), nothing would be surprising.

Biggest Idiot Award: Gilbert Arenas, Washington Wizards… This pretty much goes without saying. "Agent 0" may never step foot on an NBA court again after this whole gun incident in our nation’s capitol. But to make matters worse, he had to antagonize everyone involved with the situation by throwing up the guns symbol with his fingers in his first game off of this whole problem. Way to get your $100M contract voided, Arenas. We don’t think you should be worried about the money though. You should probably worry about keeping yourself out of jail. There’s probably a real nice cell next to Plaxico Burress for you.

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