iggymcfrack wrote:MMyhre wrote:Exp0sed wrote:Yeah, Nuggets wins came against weak and injury depleted opponents and they have also played 6/9 at home
They are 1-2 away from home, with losses to the Dubs and Blazers
With that said, Jokic has played an avg of three quarters and 30 mpg in those wins
In theory, his efficiency might go down vs. Better competition but his raw stats should go up, playing 36 mpg and not 30 or 28
Jokic was a slightly better than SGA individually last season but the Thunder were much better than the Nuggets and SGA was rightfully and by tradition rewarded for that
Jokic also missed more games than usual, mostly because of a 4 game stretch he missed due to the birth of his child, while SGA played more games
We'll have to see if the Nuggets can keep winning when they play better competition. If they end up close with the Thunder, Jokic will probably be the front runner
Giannis will have a hard time winning it from a lower seed, even tho it's def not on him that his suppoting cast is significantly weaker than his competitors but that's how it goes..realistically he'll need to do something spectecular AND play enough games, to have a real shot
Jokic and SGA are usually very durable and Giannis in recent years, hasn't been as durable
Yeah, but all 6 of these guys has a shot at the MVP in my opinion, even if I am not sold on the Pistons being a top seed, yet. I forgot to mention Maxey, but I think Cade will be better than him, but that makes it seven. And we still have Edwards to consider if the Wolves start rolling, so those eight total players, and then the next in line would be Sengun, which I don't think is a consistent enough scorer to be in the race.
So eight guys can win MVP this year, but it might be the boring old Shai vs Jokic debate if Luka and Wemby keep cooling off offensively & the Bucks fall.
8 guys having a chance to win the MVP is bonkers. Jokic has won 3 of the last 5 MVPs, finishing 2nd to an all-time robbery and an all-time guard season. How he has his best team ever and the best 9 game start in NBA history. SGA, coming off a historic season has probably the best team in NBA history and is off to a 9-1 start despite his team being wracked by injuries. Giannis and Luka are both putting up the best numbers of their careers. Wemby’s a young wellspring of potential who’s taken a huge leap.
How the **** are Cade, Maxey, or Edwards gonna catch up to that? They’re just gonna magically come up with all-time seasons when they’ve never been close? I feel like you’d have an easier time finding 15 teams that can win the NBA title than you can 8 guys that can win the MVP unless you’re just counting on all the top candidates failing to play 65 games.
Pistons are 7-2 with Cade averaging around 30 pts and 10 assists with solid numbers all around the last 5 games, good defense and the highest rim assisted shots in the league for point guards. The Pistons offense drops by -10.4 points per 100 possessions when he sits.
Edwards has averaged 36.3 pts/69.3 ts %, 2.3 ast/3.3 to, 5.3 reb, 0.3 stl, 1 blk, +8 in just 33.3 minutes in the three games he has not been injured/just came back from injury this season. With Randle and McDaniels making leaps, and an improved bench, the Wolves could make a higher seed push eventually.
Maxey is averaging 33.2 pts on 62.6 ts % with 8.3 ast/2.7 turnovers, and he and Cade plays in the weaker east... I am not going to bother arguing further if you think those numbers are impossible to win MVP with.
It's not like they are miles behind, Wolves are 2 games behind the Nuggets, Pistons are even with the Nuggets & the Sixers are 1 win behind with guys returning from injury.
Did I say it was very likely? No, but that doesn't mean it's impossible if they take out their potential and improve their teams record with a good narrative, new narrative around them.
The way you talk about Jokic being "historic" by beating some of the worst teams in the league or teams missing their stars, is just way overdramatic and an exaggeration. If he keeps averaging 35 14 14, smashing the Rockets, Spurs & OKC, sure, he is the MVP. He is not going to do that though, because these teams are much better than some of the teams he has faced, and we have seen him struggle against the Wolves, OKC, Blazers & even the finnish national team for some reason.
I don't think you understand how good some of these players are, it's not 24-25 anymore, players can improve, and all these three are entering that early peak/prime years at 24-25 years of age and need to be respected. All three of them are probably better offensive players than Wemby as well.