Rudy has fallen off enough to not be in the RoY conversation at all. In fact, given the guard-heavy nature of the rookies, he’s very likely not going to be in the rookie-sophomore game. Westbrook, Mayo, Rose, Gordon all look to be ahead of him, and if a 5th guard is picked for the 9-person squad, then it’s going to be a battle between Rudy, DJ, and Chalmers. Add in Beasley, Lopez, and Gasol to the 4 guards, and that leaves 2 spots to fill. Since there are really no deserving SFs, I could see a 5th guard and another big rounding out the squad. Oden might have a chance, at least in part due to being the #1 pick. What might be interesting to see is how many sophomores we get on the team next year. Gotta figure Greg will be a lock, and if Rudy’s numbers are up, he should be too. Now what if Bayless is getting 25 minutes a game next season? Could all 3 make it?

Back to the awards, Nate is not the front runner, but mentioning him is right. If the MVP list was expanded by a name or two, Roy would be right there – he’s easily a top 7 or 8 candidate. He’s also clearly 2nd team all NBA in my opinion, and it would be a shock if he doesn’t at least make 3rd team a year’s end.