It's not as easy as usual this season because the MVP race is as wide open as it's been for many years but usually it's a simple exercise to say who's getting what.

Steph Curry's popularity will get him past James Harden for most valuable player with LeBron James, Russell Westbrook and Anthony Davis locks to round out the All-NBA first team.

Coach of the year will be Steve Kerr or Mike Budenholzer with "Coach Bud" probably getting it because the Hawks have exceeded expectations more than Golden State.

Rookie of the year will go, almost by default, to Minnesota's No.1 overall pick (even though he wasn't chosen by them) Andrew Wiggins, Isiaiah Thomas will edge out perennial candidate Jamal Crawford, most improved player will go to Chicago's Jimmy Butler ahead of Warriors forward Draymond Green, who is also in the mix for defensive player of the year along with Golden State teammate Andrew Bogut, Clippers centre DeAndre Jordan and the player who deserves it the most - Davis, for his efforts in making the Pelicans a half-decent side.

OK, so they are the easy awards to sort out.

It's time for the others. Unofficial gongs.

Forget the MVP, it's more fun to figure out who has been the least valuable player this season.

Disregarding the stars whose season was ruined by injury, the LVP race is a contest between two Brooklyn Nets - Joe Johnson, who the second-highest paid player in the league at $23.18 million behind Kobe Bryant, and playmaker Deron Williams, who's eighth on the salary list, pocketing $19.75m for 2014-15.

"Joe Cool" has been "Joe Cold", averaging 14.8 points per game - his lowest output since 2002-03 - plus 4.8 rebounds and 3.6 assists. Hardly superstar value.

D-Will has been D-Bilitating for his team, averaging 13 points - his lowest output since his rookie year in 2005-06 - as well as 3.3 boards and 6.4 assists. He gets my vote for LVP.

Dishonourable mentions also go to Cleveland's third wheel Kevin Love ($15.7m), Pelicans "shooting" guard Eric Gordon ($14.9m) and Nets big man Brook Lopez - apart from a late-season surge ($15.7m) for giving very little bang for a lot of buck.

Dud coach of the year is another two-horse race: Washington mentor Randy Whitman's predictable, one-dimensional fascination with low-percentage long-range two-pointers is just behind Monty Williams' eagerness in New Orleans to allow Gordon and Tyreke Evans to enjoy a green light on offence while Davis is mostly confined to finishing off alley-oops, collecting offensive rebounds or creating his own shots to score.

Like the rookie award, the veteran of the year for over 35s is also pretty easy to decide - it's got to be Tim Duncan. San Antonio's ageless power forward was an All Star this season, and not as a career achievement pat on the back, he's been a legitimate presence yet again for the Spurs. Most of his contemporaries are just hanging on (Paul Pierce, Jason Terry, Manu Ginobili) on their last legs (Kevin Garnett, Bryant, Vince Carter) or already gone (Steve Nash)

Least improved is a tough one - who has been expected to make a big leap in 2015 but has plateaued? Goran Dragic would have to be a contender after his breakout 2013-14 season with Phoenix was followed up with a mid-season trade to Miami but his flat spot is probably more to do with Phoenix's controversial six point guards on the floor at a time strategy.

Of the players expected to rise to superstar status who've stayed in the middle of the pack, the poster boy would have to be Kenneth Faried. He was a beast at the Olympics for Team USA and the Nuggets were tipped to at least be something of a contender in the loaded Western Conference. Faried has not dominated for Denver, he's produced the occasional statistically notably game, but he is still not even the standout player on their mediocre team.

Instead of a "sixth man" award, how about a trophy for player no longer an irrelevant 12th man. Atlanta's Kent Bazemore would get that for his efforts in becoming a key rotation piece at the Hawks after being better known for his towel-waving efforts at the Warriors and Lakers.

Continuing the opposites theme, how about an offensive player of the year? Not the scoring title but a reward for the player who has been the most crucial to their team's offence.

Curry has been bombing from three-point range, Westbrook has for the most part been playing a one-man band for the Thunder and Chris Paul has done a sterling (the good kind) job in making the Clippers one of the best teams on the offensive end, ensuring Jordan, Blake Griffin and JJ Redick have been in the right spots to get their shots.

However, Harden has been instrumental in lifting the Rockets to equal second spot in the West. A lot of people don't like his game because he deliberately draws a lot of fouls, getting a lot of his points at the charity stripe with his herky-jerky play,.

To paraphrase Wes Mantooth, you can at the bottom of your gut, with every inch of yourself, plain, straight hate Harden's methods but dammit, you have to respect the results he's been getting for Houston.