NBA: MVP Ladder Pt. 2
The NBA MVP is one of the most sought after awards in all of sports, and it's certainly the most well recognized trophy in The Association. There are always a lot of players vying for the title of Most Valuable Player, and that's the case for the 2017-18 season as well. I will break down the top five players in the league right now, including analysis, statistics, and more. After that, I'll give a handful of honorable mentions that are next up, if any of the guys ahead start to slip in the near future.
READ: MVP Ladder Pt. 1.
1. James Harden (Houston Rockets, +0): Harden helped lead the Rockets to a 14-game winning streak, alongside Chris Paul but in the last week, Houston has lost four games in a row. However, in two of those four losses, Harden scored 51 points (!) so the losing streak hasn't done much to his MVP candidacy. He is still averaging 32.5 points, which has increased by +1.4 in the last month. He is also dishing out 9.2 assists and 5.2 rebounds per game. It seems like this is still The Beard's award to lose at the moment.
2. Lebron James (Cleveland Cavaliers, +0): James is going to be at - or near - the top of these rankings for the entire season. That's just how he plays. It's miraculous to think that he is having arguably his best season of his career, in his 15th season! He is averaging more points (+0.6), assists (+2.2), and rebounds (+0.9) than his career averages. His PER is 30.52, which is second best in the league. We're seeing arguably the best player in NBA history dominate the league at 32-years-old. He could win another MVP this year.
3. Kevin Durant (Golden State Warriors, +8): Durant has made a big jump because of how well he has been playing on both ends of the floor, all while playing some point guard because Stephen Curry has been out with an injured ankle. He has never been great at passing the ball or racking up the assists, but his 5.1 assists per game is +1.3 higher than his career average. Durant is still scoring efficiently as well, dropping 26.1 points, while adding 7.1 rebounds a night. He also has the 12th highest PER with a 25.02 rating.
4. Giannis Antetokounmpo (Milwaukee Bucks, +0): Antetokounmpo is in the midst of a career year and when looking at his statline, it's amazing to see his progression. We have known how talented he is for a few years now, but this year has seen a huge jump in production. He is second in the NBA with 29.3 points per game, and is grabbing 10.4 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game. Antetokounmpo is the second best player in the league right now and has the Milwaukee Bucks playing well, especially since trading for Eric Bledsoe.
5. DeMar Derozan (Toronto Raptors, +5): Derozan could be ever higher on this list if it wasn't for two bad games in a row against the Dallas Mavericks and Oklahoma City Thunder. The three prior games, he scored 28-45-29. In each of those games he shot at least 45.0 percent from the field, including over 60.0 percent twice. The main reason Derozan has seen such a jump in productivity is because of how well he is shooting from three-point range. He shot 13-20 from downtown in those three games, all Raptors victories.
Honorable Mentions:
6. Kyrie Irving (Boston Celtics, -2)
7. Russell Westbrook (Oklahoma City Thunder, +5)
8. Victor Oladipo (Indiana Pacers, +5)
9. DeMarcus Cousins (New Orleans Pelicans, +5)
10. Stephen Curry (Golden State Warriors, -5)
Photo Credit: Sporting News.
