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The NBA MVP landscape may favor small players less due to the evolving emphasis on versatile big men.

In today's game, centers and power forwards are expected to contribute beyond traditional roles, showcasing skills in ball-handling, three-point shooting, and playmaking.

The rise of unicorns, big men with guard-like abilities, has shifted attention toward their impact on both ends of the court.

As a result, smaller players might face challenges in standing out, as the league increasingly values the unique skill sets and dominance exhibited by agile and multifaceted bigs, potentially eliminating the chances of smaller players winning MVP honors.

I don't think we're going to find a "little" player who can be MVP in the future.

SGA is probably 4th in MVP voting, this seems wildly overly aggressive of a take.

Guards or small players? The title says guards, but reading your post it sounds like you mean small guys. Luka is a guard at 6'7 and I don't see why he shouldn't win an MVP at some point. SGA is also a big dude.

All NBA votings are strongly narrative driven. Just a few years ago it was unlikely that a guard will ever win DPOY again. Then Smart won it. I disagreed and still disagree with that decision, but he won it. People started saying things like "we can't always give it to big men" and all of a sudden the guard = DPOY narrative was pushed in the media. I think the same thing will happen with MVP in 3-4 years.

I think you're wrong

M2J wrote:I think you're wrong

M2J is right.
1) guards still shoot 3PTs the most.
2) guards make assists the most.
3) guards dribble the ball more quickly.
4) guards are less likely to get joint damages as centers or power forwards.

I mean, a big capable of playmaking is obviously more valuable than the same player with 6'0".

theoilslick wrote:

M2J wrote:I think you're wrong

M2J is right.
1) guards still shoot 3PTs the most.
2) guards make assists the most.
3) guards dribble the ball more quickly.
4) guards are less likely to get joint damages as centers or power forwards.

Guards are going to get the ball the most, and guards are now encouraged to score even more than set the table. There's going to be more players like Harden, Curry, and Westbrook than ever now... All 3 are different showing different ways to get there. Old ass Chris Paul was a candidate a few years ago, as was Booker. All different

Plus the fact that a guard was literally DPOY 2 years ago for the first time in life 25 years, shows they can impact the game on that end too.


Now... is a small player capable of being the best player in the league?, I'm not sure one ever has. But a big guard could be.

Yes because bigs stole guards’ offense.. they’re shooting, scoring and passing but guards can’t steal bigs’ defense

I think it’s fair to say the current landscape skews it so bigs have an advantage over guards.

But to say guards will never win again is simply unrealistic. Steph, Westbrook, and Rose have all done it within the past decade or so, Luka and SGA are currently in the running, Maxey and Hali look like they are capable of future consideration…

Each year, there is still a significantly non-zero chance a guard can win it, which makes the outcome of “never again” extremely improbable.

That’s like suggesting a little feller like Nate Robinson can’t win the dunk contest… and then saying it again… and then again.

Nope, it's just that it's rare to see "bigs" like Giannis, Jokic and Embiid playing at the same time. There will be a time when three or so dominant guards in their prime around RS Harden talent will be there and you'll see the "bigs will never win MVP again" convo out there.

Small guards probably no, but someone like Luka etc. could win easily

DC_Melo wrote:I think it’s fair to say the current landscape skews it so bigs have an advantage over guards.

But to say guards will never win again is simply unrealistic. Steph, Westbrook, and Rose have all done it within the past decade or so, Luka and SGA are currently in the running, Maxey and Hali look like they are capable of future consideration…

Each year, there is still a significantly non-zero chance a guard can win it, which makes the outcome of “never again” extremely improbable.

You can throw harden on that list too in 2018. Currently the 3 best players in the game happen to be at the 4 and 5 spot. Luka, Shai, Tatum and Booker all have a shot at taking a mvp or two in the next few years.

Guards are dominating the West. Ant Edwards, Jokic, SGA, Luka, Booker, Fox. These are the best players on the top 6 teams right now. 5 of them are guards.

76ciology wrote:Yes because bigs stole guards’ offense.. they’re shooting, scoring and passing but guards can’t steal bigs’ defense

Tell that to Kyle Lowry

There was a time when the All-NBA centers were guys like DeAndre Jordan, Marc Gasol, Andre Drummond, Al Horford, Andrew Bogut, Al Jefferson, and Joakim Noah. People kinda swore the Center position was dead. Then there was a time when we all thought like Towns and Porzingis were going to be the unicorns that dominated the league, then turns out it's Jokic who was the absolute best of the bunch.

Of course the big guys are getting more and more skilled - a lot of top point guard prospects coming in these days are like 6'5-6'6.

I agree that physically dominant players (centers, Giannis) have the greatest impact in basketball with all things being equal. It just happened to be that the crop of centers in the 2010’s hadn’t adapted offensively to the new era of ball. Many would say Shaq dominated the era between mj and Lebron. MJ’s era just had such a large talent gap between mj and the best rest of the league that it didn’t matter.

There's gonna be a guard with almost Steph's shooting and Fox type speed. A guy like that will absolutely win MVP if they come into the league

This makes no sense. Guards, smalls, bigs, forwards, centers, wings will all continue to win MVP’s. You can’t see 10 years out or 20 years out. Centers were done winning MVP’s for 2 decades, but here they are again.

Wait Wardell Stephen Curry didn’t win the only unanimous MVP while playing guard?

WestBrook and Harden didn’t both win the MVP?

We have 3 big men that are MVP candidates but only one of them is a a true center- Jokic and Giannis are big men that initiate the offense like guards...