Kevin Durant leads the NBA in usage rate and PER. (Twitter/@okcthunder)

Rookie of the Year

This award has been firmly in the grip of Philadelphia’s Michael Carter-Williams since the first week of the season. He’s averaging roughly 17 points and 6 assists per game to lead all rookies in both categories. Though Orlando’s Victor Oladipo (14-4) and Utah’s Trey Burke (12-5) have both come on strong in recent weeks, MCW would win easily if the season ended today. The emergence of the lanky point guard has been one of the few bright spots for 76ers fans this year.

Defensive Player of the Year

The Indiana Pacers are the best defensive team in the NBA. It should come as no surprise then that both of the leading candidates for DPOY come from the East’s leading squad. While Paul George gets more hype (and deservedly so) for his all-around play, the most valuable commodity on defense this season has been Roy Hibbert. George, one of the best perimeter defenders in the NBA, arguably makes more exciting defensive plays. But the advanced metrics stat-heads argue that the top interior defenders are more important to a team’s overall ability to thwart an opposing offense. Hibbert doesn’t only block shots – he’s incredibly agile and perceptive when it comes to timing his rotations for help-defense. His ability to deter interior shots from occurring is the main reason why so many proponents of advanced statistics consider Hibbert the best defender in the NBA today. Though, if New Orleans’ Anthony Davis could just stay healthy, this might be a different conversation.

Coach of the Year

This is typically one of the most subjective awards in the field. Other than a team’s overall record, there are no stats to really quantify a coach’s performance. Additionally, coaches in the NBA do most of their work behind the scenes, in the film room and during practice. These factors make it very difficult to find a singular coach in a class above the rest. Portland’s Terry Stotts and Indiana’s Frank Vogel are the likely frontrunners at this point in the season, but I’ll make the case for Phoenix’s Jeff Hornacek. The Suns (30-21) have exceeded expectations and transcended preseason assumptions that they might be ‘tanking’ for a high draft pick. This is even more impressive when you consider that Phoenix has been without Eric Bledsoe for much of the first half. Hornacek has turned the Suns into one of the most fun-to-watch teams in the NBA, promoting an up-and-down, fast-paced style which channels the Steve Nash Suns of old.

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Most Improved Player

Lance Stephenson has become one of the best all-around players in the NBA. Those who watched him struggle to find his place with the Pacers in his rookie year are amazed by the productive player he’s turned into. Stephenson is an efficient defender and playmaker, and is constantly improving his outside shooting. He also makes some of the most exciting plays around, such as last week’s ridiculous no-looker from an angle parallel to the floor. Other candidates include New Orleans’ Anthony Davis and Toronto’s DeMar DeRozan, but Stephenson seems to have essentially wrapped up this one.

Sixth Man of the Year

There appear to be three candidates for this one: San Antonio’s Manu Ginobili, Oklahoma City’s Reggie Jackson and the Clippers’ Jamal Crawford. None, however, have a particularly strong case. Ginobili has been his typical impressive self, but he’s not nearly the player he used to be, and he takes more nights off than the others in the field. Jackson has been perhaps the most surprising, developing into a reliable point guard in the absence of Russell Westbrook. But the tide that is Kevin Durant lifts all boats, which hurts Jackson’s case (in my opinion, at least). The fact that the zombie of Derek Fisher has been a statistically above-average point guard when playing with Durant this season takes a lot of the shine off Jackson’s performance. So, that leaves Jamal Crawford. He’s averaging nearly 19 points per contest, and has been invaluable to the Clips in Chris Paul’s absence. He may be an awful defender, but that crossover is still quite nasty, and he remains one of the NBA’s premier heat-check scorers.

Most Valuable Player

Obviously, this award comes down to Miami’s LeBron James (the two-time defending MVP) and Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant. Choosing one over the other is… difficult. They are both very good at playing basketball. LeBron is the better defender and rebounder, while KD has the slight edge in perimeter shooting. But everywhere else in the game, they are very similarly excellent. Both are incredibly clutch. Both are outstanding distributors. Both make those around them better. And they have very similar stats at this point in the season. James is averaging 26.5 points, 7 rebounds, and 6.6 assists per game, while shooting (incredibly) 57 percent from the field. Durant is averaging 31.5 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 5.8 assists per game, while shooting 51 percent from the field. So, who deserves the midseason hardware?

Kevin Durant is the MVP of the first half of the season. He’s playing with more inexperienced teammates, and his second banana has been out for longer than James’ has. Durant also has to carry a heavier load from night-to-night than James does: he leads the NBA in usage rate, an advanced metric that measures the percentage of possessions a player "uses" per game. He also leads the NBA in PER - player efficiency rating, measuring a player's all-around efficiency and contributions. And perhaps most importantly to voters, Durant is leading the best team in the tougher conference. Miami is 37-14 (.725 win percentage), but OKC is 43-12 (.782 win percentage). If he continues playing at the historic rate he's displayed since January, and the Thunder remain atop the West when the regular season concludes, Kevin Durant is going to win his first MVP.

But this race is far from over – LeBron’s not going to give up the trophy willingly.

Reach Staff Writer Ryan Bouziane here.