2024-25 NBA MVP Discussion Thread

[Exp0sed]

I hope Donovan gets some love… hope the Cavs win 60 games and then see if he has a shot.

Mitchell has been good but not great (even by his own standard). he's a great volume scorer and that's nice but he's not MVP material, Cavs are doing great as a team, not because of DM specifically

[dhsilv2]

Crazy , SGA isn’t A better player than Jokic or Luca, but he’s getting propped up as the MVP

His team should win 65-70 games. That's the reason.

[dhsilv2]

I think shai is still too "new" in people's minds compared to luka and jokic

The tanking okc roster after 2020 made people forget about him as a star prospect and his amazing 2023 came in a team that missed the playoffs.

Last year was the first time we saw shai in the "big leagues/spotlight"

Sure, but it's weird to be surprised by, or take offense with, SGA being in the MVP conversation after he finished 2nd last year, plays on the team favored to be the #1 seed, and had a great start to the season.

I could understand someone being hesitant to have SGA in the ‘best player in the league’ conversation unless and until he has more playoff success. That's a fair conservative mindset. But not having him on as a shortlisted candidate for MVP? That's just silly.

obviously SGA has been a prime candidate for MVP coming into the season and OKC being 4-0 adds alot of fuel to that fire but if we're being honest - he hasn't played at an MVP level (yet) this season. he will shoot better no doubt, it's been just 4 games but he's been off in terms of scoring efficiency after being the 2nd most consistent in terms of efficiency he's only at about 53 TS% and shouldn't be in the convo this season (yet). that's not to say he won't, but as of now he hasn't been quite himself in the first couple of games.

27.7 PER
9.8 BPM
.280 WS/48

Yeah that's MVP stats. He's playing only 32.3 minutes per game largely because...they're winning easy.

[ITYSL]

I hope Donovan gets some love… hope the Cavs win 60 games and then see if he has a shot.

Mitchell has been good but not great (even by his own standard). he's a great volume scorer and that's nice but he's not MVP material, Cavs are doing great as a team, not because of DM specifically

I think Mitchell deserves credit thus far for buying more into the team game, taking fewer shots and not being as ball-dominant, which has led to the emergence of Mobley as a scorer and Garland as a playmaker. Those things have helped to make the Cavs a much more well-rounded team thus far this season. They're a fun team to watch right now.

His potential for winning the MVP is limited because of his role as a pure shooting guard. He'd really have to be scoring 30+ to be more in contention, but it's probably a good thing for the team that he's not shooting that much to get there. He isn't dominant enough in other aspects of the game to warrant the MVP over the others, but he should be one of those that get honorable mention, imo.

[ITYSL]

obviously SGA has been a prime candidate for MVP coming into the season and OKC being 4-0 adds alot of fuel to that fire but if we're being honest - he hasn't played at an MVP level (yet) this season. he will shoot better no doubt, it's been just 4 games but he's been off in terms of scoring efficiency after being the 2nd most consistent in terms of efficiency he's only at about 53 TS% and shouldn't be in the convo this season (yet). that's not to say he won't, but as of now he hasn't been quite himself in the first couple of games.

SGA's offensive game relies a lot on getting to the line. His FTr is way, way down thus far this season. One of the questions I had going into the season is if the refs were going to keep calling the game tighter, like they were the 2nd half of last season. That goes especially for calls that SGA sometimes gets, which are those where the ball carrier diverts from their normal path to the basket in order to initiate contact. He does that a lot and then throws the head fake. Maybe it's not working as well as it used to.

SGA is also shooting a ton more 3Ps this season thus far and has not been shooting them well. If he can get that 3P% up into the mid-30s while maintaining the increased volume, his overall efficiency is going to get back up there.

[Exp0sed]

I hope Donovan gets some love… hope the Cavs win 60 games and then see if he has a shot.

Mitchell has been good but not great (even by his own standard). he's a great volume scorer and that's nice but he's not MVP material, Cavs are doing great as a team, not because of DM specifically

I think Mitchell deserves credit thus far for buying more into the team game, taking fewer shots and not being as ball-dominant, which has led to the emergence of Mobley as a scorer and Garland as a playmaker. Those things have helped to make the Cavs a much more well-rounded team thus far this season. They're a fun team to watch right now.

His potential for winning the MVP is limited because of his role as a pure shooting guard. He'd really have to be scoring 30+ to be more in contention, but it's probably a good thing for the team that he's not shooting that much to get there. He isn't dominant enough in other aspects of the game to warrant the MVP over the others, but he should be one of those that get honorable mention, imo.

I agree with everything you said, he signed that extention which surprised alot of ppl and is clearly very committed to trying to win, that's great for the Cavs and good on him but MVP...that's a different animal

[MMyhre]

I don`t understand all the talk about SGA? His case is going to be weaker this year, because 1 people are starting to notice that Chet Holmgren is really good 2 Chet Holmgren is also really good and improving. I don`t see Chet falling off, I think he could just go higher if his shot flows continuously. He was playing injured and banged up at the end of last season, I think that`s part of why he looks so much better coming out. Just a fresh body. OKC will have the best or 2nd best record, but SGA needs to up his efficiency big time to be a legit MVP candidate with such a good 2nd option/DPOY contender/floor spacing 5 (hello big impact!) besides him. Also J-Dub has started slower than expected, he could definitely start cooking big time later on.

[Exp0sed]

27.7 PER
9.8 BPM
.280 WS/48

Yeah that's MVP stats. He's playing only 32.3 minutes per game largely because...they're winning easy.

Fwiw, thru 4 games Chet has:

27.8 PER
8.3 BPM
0.303 WS /48

oh and he's doing it on 66 TS%, with SGA at 52.9% and on only 26.3 Usage rate as opposed to SGA's 33.1.

are Chet's numbers "MVP numbers" as well?

edit: I think it's a relevant question seeing as they both play for the same team and have very similar numbers in the 3 categories u listed.

[BigGargamel]

If Denver gets to 50+ wins this year, just rename the award after Jokic.

[BigGargamel]

Crazy , SGA isn’t A better player than Jokic or Luca, but he’s getting propped up as the MVP

His team should win 65-70 games. That's the reason.

They aren't winning that many games. The West is too tough. They won't play the Bulls, Hawks and Spurs every night. They aren't one of the 10 best teams in NBA history.

[dhsilv2]

27.7 PER
9.8 BPM
.280 WS/48

Yeah that's MVP stats. He's playing only 32.3 minutes per game largely because...they're winning easy.

Fwiw, thru 4 games Chet has:

27.8 PER
8.3 BPM
0.303 WS /48

oh and he's doing it on 66 TS%, with SGA at 52.9% and on only 26.3 Usage rate as opposed to SGA's 33.1.

are Chet's numbers "MVP numbers" as well?

edit: I think it's a relevant question seeing as they both play for the same team and have very similar numbers in the 3 categories u listed.

I can see that, but voters are always going to focus on the scorer who's SGA.

[dhsilv2]

Crazy , SGA isn’t A better player than Jokic or Luca, but he’s getting propped up as the MVP

His team should win 65-70 games. That's the reason.

They aren't winning that many games. The West is too tough. They won't play the Bulls, Hawks and Spurs every night. They aren't one of the 10 best teams in NBA history.

65 games isn't top 10 all time stuff. It would make them a top 25ish type regular season team. Which is completely possible.

[falcolombardi]

Crazy , SGA isn’t A better player than Jokic or Luca, but he’s getting propped up as the MVP

His team should win 65-70 games. That's the reason.

They aren't winning that many games. The West is too tough. They won't play the Bulls, Hawks and Spurs every night. They aren't one of the 10 best teams in NBA history.

Winning 65+ games instead of low 60's is very circunstantial/luck related for most teams

[Woodsanity]

27.7 PER
9.8 BPM
.280 WS/48

Yeah that's MVP stats. He's playing only 32.3 minutes per game largely because...they're winning easy.

Fwiw, thru 4 games Chet has:

27.8 PER
8.3 BPM
0.303 WS /48

oh and he's doing it on 66 TS%, with SGA at 52.9% and on only 26.3 Usage rate as opposed to SGA's 33.1.

are Chet's numbers "MVP numbers" as well?

edit: I think it's a relevant question seeing as they both play for the same team and have very similar numbers in the 3 categories u listed.

SGA has been playing at an mvp level no doubt but he also has a lot of help and a pretty stacked team. Chet is an insanely good number 2 option.

[KazuoOda]

I hope Donovan gets some love… hope the Cavs win 60 games and then see if he has a shot.

Mitchell has been good but not great (even by his own standard). he's a great volume scorer and that's nice but he's not MVP material, Cavs are doing great as a team, not because of DM specifically

Spida is definitely MVP material in any other year.
Spida won't put up the big numbers if the Cavs keep playing like this because the Cavs starters have been sitting in the 4th QT. Plus the cavs don't need Don to be the hero. They have too many ways they could kill you. Allen, Mobley, Garland. All have had games where they were the man this year. That most likely will continue

[OverAndOut]

Jokic is clearly the best player in the game and will remain that until Wemby makes that massive single season leap which is likely 2-3 years away. But there's no way they give him the MVP again. It's someone else's "turn." Likely one of Doncic, SGA, Tatum.

[RB34]

Crazy how some players get penalised for having good teammates and some don’t.

[BigGargamel]

Jokic - 1st in NBA in PPG, 1st in NBA in made field goals, shooting .573, 5th in the NBA in rebounds, 4th in assists. 2.6 stocks. The guy just continues to produce at an unheard of level.

"no way they give him MVP again". People say that every year. Thankfully, for the most part, voters are past that fatigue nonsense.

Tatum winning MVP over this guy would be worse than Embiid.

[CobraCommander]

Crazy , SGA isn’t A better player than Jokic or Luca, but he’s getting propped up as the MVP

His team should win 65-70 games. That's the reason.

He isn’t a better player says who- sga has beat Luka in MVP voting the last 2 years - jokic is best in world but - I guess 30-6 and 6 stout defense last year and the best record in the west with the youngest team ever to do so was a fluke - plus currently undefeated- but yeah he isn’t a worthy mvp..: When jokic team is struggling and Luka has been kinda awful this year.

If the mvp is about this year and they use last year to determine who to look at seriously- then SGA is definitely a front runner - right now it’s SGA, AD, Tatum after like 6% of the year has completed lol.

We should check back in at 10% or 8-9 games

[MavsDirk41]

Jokic - 1st in NBA in PPG, 1st in NBA in made field goals, shooting .573, 5th in the NBA in rebounds, 4th in assists. 2.6 stocks. The guy just continues to produce at an unheard of level.

"no way they give him MVP again". People say that every year. Thankfully, for the most part, voters are past that fatigue nonsense.

Tatum winning MVP over this guy would be worse than Embiid.

Not sure if Denver will win enough games for the Joker to get another mvp. Even if he plays all 82 they will struggle to win 50 plus games. No doubt he does more for his team than any other superstar in the league. Without Jokic Denver doesnt win 20 games.