SI's Ian Thomson asked NBA scouts to pick several awards (MVP, ROY, etc.). Two places where Rondo showed up were Most Improved (3rd behind Harris and Granger) and 1st team All Defense.
Rondo was the surprise here. "Off the ball, he takes chances and he's not solid,'' a panelist said. "But I love his ability to get everybody on the team to defend. Garnett has the fanfare, and he deserves it, but when Garnett has been out, you notice that this guy [Rondo] is the guy who goes out to meet the ball. I love the way he gets over the screens, plays the 1 and 2 and at times he has even played Kobe Bryant on defense. When they have to have a major stop, it's Rondo. He sets the tone out front and gets them to be good defensive team.''
They also put Pierce on the general NBA first team and KG on the 2nd team.