This is the second edition of my brand new column. This week we will talk about Fraser’s athletics, the NBA MVP race, where Suh may land, and who the Pistons may grab in this year’s draft.

1. Pretenders and Contenders in the MVP Race

As the NBA season comes down to the last few months, the MVP race starts to heat up. Players will step their game up as they try to compete in the playoffs and win a championship, but some will look to capture the MVP as well. These are the pretenders and contenders for the 2015 MVP…

LeBron James: Contender  

After taking his talents back to Cleveland, The King has helped to bring the Cavaliers to a 39-24 record (4th in the East).  While there have been some rough patches with this Cavalier team, Lebron has been able to have another excellent year. James is averaging over 26 points, nearly 6 assists, and over 7 rebounds a game.  While those stats are some of the best in the league, if LeBron were to win the MVP, they would be worst stats in any of his four previous MVPs. Since LeBron came back on Jan 15, the Cavaliers are 20-4 and own the best record in the league for that 24 game stretch. While LeBron is having a down year, it would be foolish to count “The King” out. He should finish in the top 5 of MVP voting.

Chris Paul: Pretender

Chris Paul is having a tremendous season so far and will finish with one of his best season’s ever if he stays on this path. Paul has helped the Clippers to a 40-22 record, which is good for 5th in the Western Conference. Paul has had to play without star forward Blake Griffin since February 8th and has had to take on more of a scoring load. He’s averaging 18.5 points, 10.1 assists, and 4.8 rebounds a game. If this had been an average year in the MVP Race, I could see Paul being top 4 in voting, but with so many stars guiding their teams to great records and looking at where the Clippers sit in the playoff race, it seems as that Chris Paul will easily be left out.

Kevin Durant: Pretender

Yes I know, how can you count out the guy who won last year’s MVP, well because he hasn’t played enough to even make much of an impact on his team. It seems like every other week we are hearing about how Durant is hurt again or going through another injury. The 2014 MVP is averaging lows in points and rebounds, something we haven’t seen since his 2nd year in the league. He has only played in 27 games and is sidelined right now with another injury. Durant has no chance at winning this year’s MVP, but look for him to comeback next year as strong as ever.

Russell Westbrook: Contender 

Since Durant has been sidelined for much of the year, Westbrook has been able to show off why he is one of the league’s premiere point guards. He is currently on a streak of 4 consecutive triple doubles. We haven’t seen that in over 30 years and it was last done by the great Michael Jordan. While Westbrook hasn’t helped the Thunder to a great record, it definitely shows how valuable he is to his team right now. He has the Thunder sitting at the 8th seed in the West and looking to take over the 7th seed before season’s end. Westbrook is averaging career highs in every major category. He leads the league in points per game at 27.0 and has career highs in assists (8.2), rebounds (7.0), and steals (2.1). Russell has a small chance to win the MVP, but I think the record of the Thunder and what they do in the playoffs will be what matters to voters.

James Harden: Contender

The Rocket’s shooting guard has come into his own since taking over this team nearly 3 season’s ago. With Dwight Howard out, James Harden has been able to show why he may be the new #1 shooting guard in the NBA. James Harden has been able to go 19-9 without Dwight Howard, which is the 3rd best record in the West in that time period. He is having as good a year as anyone, and it shows as Harden averages 26.9 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 7 assists per game. With those stats and the Rockets at 41-20 for the season, it seems as though a run in the playoffs may help Harden capture his first MVP ever. He isn’t my pick to win the award, but I can see him being the runner-zip if he can play at this level for the rest of the year.

Anthony Davis: Pretender

As much as I’d like to say this kid is a contender, it’s obvious Davis is not. He is easily a top 5 big man in the league, but his stats and team record don’t back up either. The Pelicans are sitting just outside the playoffs in the West and I don’t see them beating out the Thunder for the last spot. The 3rd year center out of Kentucky is averaging 24.2 points, 10.3 rebounds, and 2.8 blocks per game. Those are astronomical numbers for a big man, but no player has ever missed the playoffs and won the MVP.

Stephen Curry: Contender

Stephen Curry is having one of the best seasons of any player and has the second best team record in the league. He has propelled himself to the title of “best point guard in the league” and is looking to dethrone LeBron James as the best player in the world. Curry has helped to bring the Warriors to a 47-12 record despite not having David Lee or Andrew Bogut for much of the season. And while his stats aren’t the best; 23.8 points, 7.8 assists, 4.5 rebounds, and 2.1 steals per game, he has helped Golden State look like a championship team and still put up good numbers. Personally I think the MVP race comes down to Steph Curry, James Harden, and LeBron James, with Curry stealing it because of how much he makes this team better and how good Golden State’s record will be at the end of the year.

2. Derrick Walton Still In Pain

Derrick Walton has been out for the Wolverines since late January, but has put on a jersey the last two games. While he may have suited up, John Beilein talked on his radio show about Derrick’s health. He said, ” We’re guaranteed at least two more games, but he has not been able to do anything close to going at full speed. When he pushes off in certain ways, it bothers him. His (practices) with us are usually very short — 10 or 15 minutes.” Even though Walton has suited up these past two games, I doubt we see him play this last game or the in BIG Ten Tournament. No reason for him to risk further injury on an already devastating season.

3. Suh Unlikely To Return To Detroit

Ndamukong Suh was one of the best defensive linemen this season and is looking to cash in on that this off season. The price tag for Suh seems to be no lower than $18 million dollars a year for 5 or more years. While it seemed as though the Lions had a chance to re sign Suh, almost every NFL executive thinks Suh was gone out of Detroit the day they lost to Dallas. The speculation has been going on for weeks as destinations such as Indianapolis, Miami, Oakland, and Seattle have been just a few of the teams people are talking about. But there are a couple of people who think Suh already has a deal done and that includes Omar Kelly of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel who said on Twitter Wednesday that teams believe Suh to the Dolphins is a “done” deal. Personally I don’t think it’s a done deal until he sees what Indianapolis and Oakland have to offer. Miami seems like a good destination and is a team who’s almost there as a playoff team, but with Oakland’s past history of over paying for free agents and the possibility of playing for a contender with a top tier quarterback in Andrew Luck, it’s hard to say this deal is already “done”. Look for Suh to sign by the end of next week.

4. NBA Mock Draft

Bleacher Report’s Jonathan Wasserman came out with his first NBA Mock Draft of the year on Wednesday. He writes one of the best mock drafts each year and definitely has some interesting picks. He has the New York Knicks picking Jahlil Okfaor with the first overall pick in the draft. Okafor looks to be a game-changer for the Knicks and should get them back on the right track. A guy I like that could possibly make the top 5 is Stanley Johnson out of Arizona. Wasserman has him going to Denver with the 6th overall pick. He’s a 6’7″ small forward who projects to be about 245lbs. He has similar physical attributes as LeBron James and has a knack for scoring as he’s averaging 14.1 points per game. Another noteable top 10 pick is Detroit taking Booker at 8, which I can’t see happening. While they do need some help at the shooting guard position, they have a log jam with Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Jodie Meeks. They will more than likely take a small forward or power forward since they have no forward for the future and Monroe might possibly be gone after this season.

5. Mercy’s Tournament Hopes Still Alive

 Horizon League Tournament play started Tuesday night as some teams played home games to start the first round. Detroit Mercy played Tuesday night at home against Youngstown State. They were down early, but that changed in the second half as the Titans out scored Youngstown 46-30. That helped Detroit rout the Penguins by a score of 77-67. They will try to capture another win Friday night as they travel to Cleveland State. The game can be found on Espn3 at 9:30pm eastern time. A win will bring them to the championship game and a shot at clinching an automatic NCAA Tournament bid.

6. Michigan Quarterback Job Wide Open

This will be the first year after the Brady Hoke era as well as the Devin Gardner Era. Personally I was a big fan of Gardner and I don’t see any of these quarterbacks replacing him in year 1. Later down the road is another story and with him gone the spot is open. So does offensive coordinator Tim Drevno. “I think the thing’s wide open,” Michigan offensive coordinator Tim Drevno said last week. “Jim and Jedd (Fisch) are really handling that, and (it depends on) how they’re feeling throughout the practice.” So at this point anyone could win the spot over. The race seems to be between Shane Morris and Wilton Speight, with Alex Malzone as the dark horse favorite. I think Shane wins the spot because Harbaugh has a preference of left handed quarterbacks over right handed ones. As well as Morris has a little more experience than the other too. This spot in all reality is Morris’ for the taking, but he must improve compared to last year’s play or else we will see Speight or Malzone.

7. Fraser Closes Out Regular Season On A High Note

The Fraser varsity basketball team closed out the last game of the regular season with an overtime win against Romeo. While it may have been a close game at the end, Fraser dominated the first half and was able to take a 36-23 lead going into halftime. Then the Ramblers fell apart in the third quarter: they allowed themselves to be out scored 17-7. They managed to keep the lead heading into the fourth, but would soon lose it. Down by 2 points with 10 seconds to go, Fraser needed Romeo to miss the free throw and needed a basket. They got both as Shawn Jackson got the rebound and drove coast to coast for an easy lay up with 3.2 seconds left in the game. The game was tied heading into overtime, but the momentum was too much for Romeo to handle. Fraser went on to win 73-66 for their 8th win of the year. Shawn Jackson led the team in points with 19 and junior Ken Pham Added 8 points off the bench. The Ramblers are now in Districts and will be facing L’Anse Creuse on Monday at Chippewa Valley High school. The game is at 7:00 pm and is a must win for the Ramblers.

8.  Lady Ramblers Upset in Districts

The Lady Ramblers came into Monday night’s contest against Lake Shore as huge favorites. After winning the MAC Blue title last week, it looked as though Fraser could make a deep run in the playoffs. That was cut short Monday as Lake Shore kept Fraser to a season low 21 points and their worst loss of the year. They were beat handedly, 31-21, and proved that it doesn’t matter what you do in the regular season. The Lady Ramblers are losing many of their key players and it will be tough to repeat as MAC Blue champs.

9. Fraser Gymnastics Makes Regionals

The Fraser gymnastics team doesn’t get much credit as they are often overlooked, but they are one of the best teams Fraser has to offer. The team reached Regionals last week and will be competing Saturday at Walled Lake Central. Many of the members qualified for individuals as well. Elizabeth Avila and Emily Carson qualified for all 4 events: vault, beam, bars, and floor. Freshmen sensation McKinzie Davey qualified for vault, beam, and floor, but may not be able to compete with her injured ankle. A few other noteables are Becky Carson, Alyssa Delliss, and Veronica Gonzales: they all qualified for floor. Along with senior Maddie Winbigler, who qualified for beam. Fraser gymnastics is having one of the best years in recent memory and could possibly have a state champion by the season’s end.

10. New Haven Ends Season With Perfection

The New Haven Rockets are one of a few of teams who are undefeated at the division 1 level in high school basketball. They won Thursday night’s contest 61-52 to finish a perfect 20-0 on the season. Led by the former Fraser student Josh Harris and his double double, the Rockets were able to beat Madison Heights for the second time this year. Josh Harris has been a spark of the bench this season for New Haven and led the way by scoring 17 points Thursday night. New Haven is the favorite to win their District and for good reason; they haven’t lost all year and at this point, I can’t see them losing for a while.