The Bulls had the best record in the NBA this season because they have about five guys who could fill this slot. Omer Asik and Taj Gibson are the best bench frontcourt in the league, Joakim Noah is great at doing the dirty work, Ronnie Brewer is a great defender, Kyle Korver is a great shooter. But Luol Deng is, in many ways, the embodiment of Tom Thibodeau's team. He defends against the opponent's best wing night in and night out. He spreads the floor and is one of the only Bulls other than Rose who can create his own offense. He's smart and rarely makes mistakes. And he almost never comes off the floor; Deng played almost 40 minutes per game during the regular season, and that number has actually increased during the playoffs, up to an absurd 43.3.
Adjusted plus minus has it flaws. At times it appears to fluctuate too much from year to year, leaving you to wonder how much can be discerned from a number that doesn't provide consistent results. But when a player has great adj. +/- numbers season after season, it's a very favorable indicator. Well, Nick Collison has the best unadjusted plus minus numbers on the Thunder during the post-season. He lead the team (by a fairly wide margin) in adjusted plus minus during the regular year. He had the second best rating last season, behind only Kevin Durant. Beginning to see a pattern? Collison simply does everything well. Remember when Danny Ainge lied about Jeff Green, saying he was an efficient offensive player (Green's not) and a very good defender (Green's not)? Well, he should have been describing Nick Collison.
When healthy, Chandler was one of my favorite players on the Hornets. He gives you wonderful post-defense; he used to defend Tim Duncan one-on-one even before Tim Duncan ceased being Tim Duncan. He patrols the paint. He's one of the best in the NBA at hanging around the hoop and throwing down an alley-oop, and therefore (especially with an improved jumper) is good enough on offense that he can't be ignored like Kendrick Perkins and Joel Anthony. He hits the boards, and is the master at the tip-out offensive rebound. And, in what appeared extremely unlikely at the beginning of the season, he has perhaps become Dallas' second best player.
This is a tough one. The Heat have two superstars, one all-star, and... not much else. So my choice for Miami's unsung hero is speculative, as opposed to based on a season of work. Udonis Haslem was supposed to be a key cog for the Heat this year. He would crash the boards, play post defense, and hit open jumpers. Then he got injured and has been out for most of the year. He has come back to play limited minutes during the playoffs, beginning with a horrid stretch of minutes against the Celtics after which he was glued to the bench for a few games. However, after the Heat were unable to keep Chicago off the offensive glass on Sunday night, I expect Haslem to get another chance. No one else on the Heat's other-than-Chris-Bosh front-line can (a) defend, (b) rebound, (c) hit open shots. Joel Anthony can kind of do (a), isn't very good at (b), and sure can't do (c). Ilgaukas can do (c), but neither of the other two. And Jamal Magloire and Juwan Howard shouldn't get off the bench. If Haslem can give the Heat productive minutes, he could give LeBron and Wade more room to operate, as he requires at least an iota of defensive attention, unlike Anthony. And on defense, he will always get a body on someone when the balls goes up, which is something that many Heat players struggled with in their Game One loss. So yeah, going forward, I expect Haslem to get some run, and (maybe) make the most of it.
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