2016-17 MVP Discussion Thread

[The_Hater]

I don't really get how someone keeps repeating that lebron's name should not even be throw in the argument. The bbref tracker has him as 4th, very close to the third (westbrook) and far from harden and durant. And i guess the tracker doesn't consider that he is lebron. And actually, he is lebron, you should at least take it in consideration. And moreover, right now cleveland record (.762) okc (.602) houston (.696) aren't too far from one another, i think that at the end of the season the distance will grow up. So, for those who say that lebron's name should not me mentioned: stop it.

Umm because his advanced metrics aren't near the other top players. 11th in PER, 11th in WS, 10th in WS/48, 6th in BPM, 7th in VORP.

This is one of his worst seasons from an advanced metrics perspective

While this is all true, historically MVP voters still lean towards the top players from the top regular season teams. And the Cavs are the odds on favourite to finish first in their conference. Add in the part where Bron is considered the best player in the world when it really counts and I find it hard to imagine that he gets completely ignored.

[In SVG We Trust]

If LeBron increases a bit his PPG and the Cavs keep their winning percentage, he's legit as f**k, but I think if Westbrook or Harden put his numbers until the season ends and they achieve more than 50W, the MVP is going to one of those two.

[rich316]

In the middle of December, Harden is the front-runner by a small but real margin for me. The massive improvement both from the team and from him individually are really hard to overlook. They only have 2 more losses than the Spurs, Clips, and Cavs, for chrissakes. A few more big wins like they had over the Warriors, and the media drumbeat will start up in earnest.

If Harden's improvement maintains, and I don't see why it wouldn't, it will be interesting to see how D'Antoni's reputation is impacted. Before this he was often viewed as a product of Nash - now it looks more like the other way around. A coach who can pretty much take a single talented perimeter star and build an elite offense around him in a replicable way is no joke.

[dreamshake]

LeBron just put up 44/10/9 on 17-24 FG on the 2nd night of a B2B. Not bad for someone who's just "coasting" through the season.

[PCProductions]

So I think it's time to start considering Marc Gasol. There is no way these Grizzlies should be this good considering the circumstances.

[zimpy27]

Chris Paul with a casual 20-20 game

[rich316]

So I think it's time to start considering Marc Gasol. There is no way these Grizzlies should be this good considering the circumstances.

We will have to see how they handle Conley's absence long-term, because he probably won't be back soon. Obviously this streak without him is super impressive, but it could come crashing back to earth very quickly. If they keep winning, it would be the story of the season.

[PCProductions]

Chris Paul with a casual 20-20 game

Zero turnovers...

[PCProductions]

So I think it's time to start considering Marc Gasol. There is no way these Grizzlies should be this good considering the circumstances.

We will have to see how they handle Conley's absence long-term, because he probably won't be back soon. Obviously this streak without him is super impressive, but it could come crashing back to earth very quickly. If they keep winning, it would be the story of the season.

Yeah I mean this whole thread is game-to-game, and right what Gasol is doing is unthinkable. Totally deserves top 5 recognition at the moment.

[baldur]

harden is definitely one of the strongest candidates. they will keep climbing up in the standings as they have lots of home games upcoming. ranking at 3 would increase the chances of harden significantly.

[Wraps_fan]

Is it biased/homer of me to say Lowry should be considered?

He has great stats, but there's so much more to it. His stats are not wasted, he scores when he needs to save us, he puts teams away for us on a nightly basis and is clearly the heart and soul of the team. Without him we're a lottery team

[dreamshake]

Is it biased/homer of me to say Lowry should be considered?

He has great stats, but there's so much more to it. His stats are not wasted, he scores when he needs to save us, he puts teams away for us on a nightly basis and is clearly the heart and soul of the team. Without him we're a lottery team

I don't see how he has a case over Harden/Westbrook from an individual production/team lift standpoint or a case over LeBron/Kawhi/Durant from a best player on top team standpoint. I couldn't see putting him ahead of guys like CP3 or Butler either.

You say he has great stats, which is true from a league-wide perspective but they're not really in the same league as the guys I just mentioned. The actual voters tend to look heavily into traditional stats like PPG or the most widely-known advanced stats like PER, and he's not even in the top 20 of either of those.

[Shock Defeat]

The Rockets are becoming too good. Harden will not have as gaudy stats anymore because the other guys are picking up the slack. Westbrook will continue to put up numbers because he has to.

[ken6199]

It's definitely encouraging to see Beverly gave us such a huge boost since his return, as a result the 10-2 record. We did trashed Blazers, Kings, Nuggets, Lakers, Mavs etc as we were supposed to, however we also barely escaped against Piston and Boston (thanks you Horford), and had a little meltdown against OKC after Harden hit a couple of big shots. We still have some distance to go in terms of finding ways to score basket while all of Ariza/Anderson/Gordon were getting cold. We looked very bad in Toronto and got owned in Utah by an injury depleted squad.

Westbrook, stats padding or not, surely has a chip on his back with records in the horizons and names like Oscar, Wilt, MJ were brought up with those records. I seriously doubt he can keep this insane energy level up as the season goes on without picking up an injury or hitting some form of slump. I am really happy to see Harden sitting out of 4th quarters in recent games, couldn't care less about if he is one rebound short of a triple double - and I hope OKC can find a way to rest Westbrook for some of those 4th quarters too.

That's how you make this MVP race interesting throughout the whole season. Curry running away with it is not fun.

[Homer38]

My top 3 right now.

1.Westbrook
2.Harden
3.LeBron

[Patches Perry]

If team success takes absolute precedence, then I think it's either LeBron or Kawhi. Durant and Curry have kind of fallen out of the discussion with recent play, and would take votes from each other anyways.

If individual play takes precedence, then I think Harden and Westbrook are the guys.

Chris Paul is kind of in the middle of the mix but not a serious threat in any criteria.

[Slava]

I still have Harden over Wesbtrook but it will probably come down to who finishes with the better record.

[Ballerhogger]

I still have Harden over Wesbtrook but it will probably come down to who finishes with the better record.

Agreed. It will be harden as of now since he has head to head advantage as of now

[Gibson22]

Now:
1) Clearly Harden.
2) Lebron
3) RW
4) KD

[Bergmaniac]

Agreed. It will be harden as of now since he has head to head advantage as of now

Huh? Rockets and the Thunder have played twice this season and each time won one game.