Next American to win NBA MVP will be.. who?

[UcanUwill]

Let start offseason threads, what do you think? This is cliche question by now since last 7 MVPs were won by international players. I just always liked this topic, do not take as nationality matters, I ask only for fun.

[EmpireFalls]

I genuinely believe they are not yet in the NBA.

I think it’ll be someone like Dybantsa or Cam Boozer.

None of Brunson, Ant, Tatum, etc are good enough to topple the Jokic/SGA supremacy in the short term, and I also think Wembanyama and Luka will be way too good in the long term for them.

[Ssj16]

Voted other: TJ McConnell.

In all seriousness, I voted not in the league yet because it's hard for me to see any of the current players being MVP but who knows.

[UcanUwill]

I genuinely believe they are not yet in the NBA.

I think it’ll be someone like Dybantsa or Cam Boozer.

None of Paolo, Ant, Tatum, etc are good enough.

For me it is hard to believe they are not in the NBA yet, because I feel someone who we now as NBA guy, we do not yet know how good he will be, kinda like SGA on a Clippers. But maybe we won't have to wait this long and maybe Knicks have incredible season and Brunson wins it, or CAVs and Mitchell, I think thats possible. It will hard to beat Jokic, SGA, Luka, Wemby, Giannis, but we will see.

[Saints14]

I have no idea. Voted Ant because he's the most logical at this point, he'd still need a pretty big jump to get to MVP level but you could see it happening where he totally dominates one of the next 2 seasons and the Wolves finish top 2 in the west. Banchero isn't a bad option, he'll be the man on what should be a good Orlando team. Like Edwards he needs a developmental leap for it to happen but it's plausible. I might have voted for Haliburton if he hadn't torn his achilles, but he'll miss what would be a great opportunity next year and who knows how he/the Pacers will look when he comes back.

Is Jalen Williams a plausible candidate? He's another young player that could take another leap developmentally, the Thunder are still stacked so if SGA has a serious injury over the next few seasons maybe J Dub steps up as the top option and OKC still finishes first

[mg]

Flagg or Dybantsa

[chilluminati]

Who truly knows the next MVP, but Cade Cunningham probably has to be in the running. He's the closest thing we have to an American Luka. 3 level scoring PG distributor with a wings size. He is one of the only young American players who is a true triple double threat every night. The only American that had more this past season was Bron, and Cade Tied with Josh Hart for 2nd most American Triple Doubles. He's also only 23 and has an All star appearance and 3rd team selection already. Right now he's not there yet, but if he continues trending upwards it's more than possible.

Plenty of others could as well, but much like Cade they all aren't quite there yet. We all know players like Ant have the ability to be MVP, but have just enough flaws to keep them below the standard. We just have to see how these players grow/mature/develop.

[UcanUwill]

I have no idea. Voted Ant because he's the most logical at this point, he'd still need a pretty big jump to get to MVP level but you could see it happening where he totally dominates one of the next 2 seasons and the Wolves finish top 2 in the west. Banchero isn't a bad option, he'll be the man on what should be a good Orlando team. Like Edwards he needs a developmental leap for it to happen but it's plausible. I might have voted for Haliburton if he hadn't torn his achilles, but he'll miss what would be a great opportunity next year and who knows how he/the Pacers will look when he comes back.

Is Jalen Williams a plausible candidate? He's another young player that could take another leap developmentally, the Thunder are still stacked so if SGA has a serious injury over the next few seasons maybe J Dub steps up as the top option and OKC still finishes first

I thought of putting J-Dubb on a poll, I think he is in a mix, tho a long shot. There are only 10 options and at the end I went with these 8 names, but yeah, I myself had J-dubb in mind.

[dhsilv2]

I genuinely believe they are not yet in the NBA.

I think it’ll be someone like Dybantsa or Cam Boozer.

None of Paolo, Ant, Tatum, etc are good enough.

For me it is hard to believe they are not in the NBA yet, because I feel someone who we now as NBA guy, we do not yet know how good he will be, kinda like SGA on a Clippers. But maybe we won't have to wait this long and maybe Knicks have incredible season and Brunson wins it, or CAVs and Mitchell, I think thats possible. It will hard to beat Jokic, SGA, Luka, Wemby, Giannis, but we will see.

It's a good point that someone under say 24 could certainly jump. The counter is this.

Jokic might have 3 more MVP seasons.
Giannis might have 1-2 left.
SGA might have 4-5 (I'm a bit iffy on his longevity due to lack of strength)
Luka - if he gets his ass into even decent shape has that up side.
Wemby - GG no RE....he might win 5

So it isn't so much that it'll be hard to make the jump but you gotta pass this list of guys and that's just gonna be ROUGH!

[EmpireFalls]

I genuinely believe they are not yet in the NBA.

I think it’ll be someone like Dybantsa or Cam Boozer.

None of Paolo, Ant, Tatum, etc are good enough.

For me it is hard to believe they are not in the NBA yet, because I feel someone who we now as NBA guy, we do not yet know how good he will be, kinda like SGA on a Clippers. But maybe we won't have to wait this long and maybe Knicks have incredible season and Brunson wins it, or CAVs and Mitchell, I think thats possible. It will hard to beat Jokic, SGA, Luka, Wemby, Giannis, but we will see.

It's a good point that someone under say 24 could certainly jump. The counter is this.

Jokic might have 3 more MVP seasons.
Giannis might have 1-2 left.
SGA might have 4-5 (I'm a bit iffy on his longevity due to lack of strength)
Luka - if he gets his ass into even decent shape has that up side.
Wemby - GG no RE....he might win 5

So it isn't so much that it'll be hard to make the jump but you gotta pass this list of guys and that's just gonna be ROUGH!

It’s not impossible of course, especially if Wemby’s bloodclots are real and limit his career.

Just generally mapping it out though, I don’t see a path for any American players in the poll to get to a 2024-25 Nikola Jokic playing level. It just isn’t happening. None of them will ever be that good.

[rand]

Ant is the obvious candidate. Still only 23 and coming off B2B seasons finishing in the top-7 in MVP voting. His age 23 season compares favorably to SGA's. Wouldn't be surprised at all to see him make a big jump at some point in the next three seasons.

Flagg is getting overlooked. He would be my second choice. Somehow his talent has become underrated but when he becomes a bonafide top-5 player four or five years from now it will seem like everyone expected it all along.

[UcanUwill]

Who truly knows the next MVP, but Cade Cunningham probably has to be in the running. He's the closest thing we have to an American Luka. 3 level scoring PG distributor with a wings size. He is one of the only young American players who is a true triple double threat every night. The only American that had more this past season was Bron, and Cade Tied with Josh Hart for 2nd more American Triple Doubles. He's also only 23 and has an All star appearance and 3rd team selection already. Right now he's not there yet, but if he continues trending upwards it's more than possible.

Plenty of others could as well, but much like Cade they all aren't quite there yet. We all know players like Ant have the ability to be MVP, but have just enough flaws to keep them below the standard. We just have to see how these players grow/mature/develop.

Unforgivably, I just forgot Cade, I probably should have put him instead of Booker or AD. Yeah, Cade is a strong candidate.

It's a good point that someone under say 24 could certainly jump. The counter is this.

Jokic might have 3 more MVP seasons.
Giannis might have 1-2 left.
SGA might have 4-5 (I'm a bit iffy on his longevity due to lack of strength)
Luka - if he gets his ass into even decent shape has that up side.
Wemby - GG no RE....he might win 5

So it isn't so much that it'll be hard to make the jump but you gotta pass this list of guys and that's just gonna be ROUGH!

I think it should be hard for American to be best player in Basketball, but MVP is not always about that, its about many other factors, team success, team fit and all. So despite me believing that best guys on face value will be international, I doubt they could win every MVP for the next several years. I kinda dislike how some media voters think that best guy = MVP, I do not think that is the same.

[Chuck Everett]

Jalen Brunson can absolutely win an MVP. Depends on how the Knicks regular season goes. Leading his squad to a 55-60+ win season and he will receive legitimate consideration. Same for Paolo Banchero. Will they be able to do that? We have to see the season play out first.

You don't have to average Jokic numbers to win an MVP. Winning a lot of games is a more important (to me) than raw counting stats.

[AStark1991]

I think Evan Mobley at the very least deserves to be an option in the poll. From this point going forward he's way more likely to be a legitimate MVP candidate than both Steph and AD who are past their primes and not really MVP level players anymore. Mainly out of personal bias I'm probably higher on Mobley than most people simply because in certain aspects of his game (mainly as a defender) I see a lot of Bill Russell in him (who is my all-time favorite player) Very similar body types, both supremely athletic with the necessary speed, agility and lateral quickness to guard smaller players on the perimeter, and they both keep their blocked shots in play to start fast breaks instead of showboating and swatting it into the stands. We’ll have to see how the rest of his career plays out, but as of right now I think it’s safe to predict that Mobley has the potential to be a top 10 all-time defensive player when it’s all said and done. He has all the tools to make that happen. Legitimately guards all 5 positions and provides elite rim protection without being overly foul prone. If he can stay healthy and also become a consistent 22-25 PPG scorer while keeping up his current level of production on the defensive end of the floor I think he will be a consistent top 5 MVP candidate for many years to come. He only just turned 24 so his best days are still ahead of him.

[Mr.Raptorsingh]

Dybantsa

[dhsilv2]

Jalen Brunson can absolutely win an MVP. Depends on how the Knicks regular season goes. Leading his squad to a 55-60+ win season and he will receive legitimate consideration. Same for Paolo Banchero. Will they be able to do that? We have to see the season play out first.

You don't have to average Jokic numbers to win an MVP. Winning a lot of games is a more important (to me) than raw counting stats.

I think you'd need 65 or so and perhaps then. Unless you think Brunson is getting them to 55-60 has a pretty sharp spike in his stats. Agree or not with the voters, it's pretty clear they still bias winning, but not as much as they used to. And they really want to see at least some level of objective statistical argument. Even if it's weak, they want something to go there.

[TravisScott55]

Ant man

[UcanUwill]

I think Evan Mobley at the very least deserves to be an option in the poll. From this point going forward he's way more likely to be a legitimate MVP candidate than both Steph and AD who are past their primes and not really MVP level players anymore. Mainly out of personal bias I'm probably higher on Mobley than most people simply because in certain aspects of his game (mainly as a defender) I see a lot of Bill Russell in him (who is my all-time favorite player) Very similar body types, both supremely athletic with the necessary speed, agility and lateral quickness to guard smaller players on the perimeter, and they both keep their blocked shots in play to start fast breaks instead of showboating and swatting it into the stands. We’ll have to see how the rest of his career plays out, but as of right now I think it’s safe to predict that Mobley has the potential to be a top 10 all-time defensive player when it’s all said and done. He has all the tools to make that happen. Legitimately guards all 5 positions and provides elite rim protection without being overly foul prone. If he can stay healthy and also become a consistent 22-25 PPG scorer while keeping up his current level of production on the defensive end of the floor I think he will be a consistent top 5 MVP candidate for many years to come.

Boggles my mind how team USA still haven't locked Mobley in, because he was actually considering representing Bahamas, and I am not saying that makes him not American, I am just saying, team USA already had trouble with center rotation, just lock that guy in and have him as option for years to come (you can only represent one country in FIBA usually). Maybe he is not NIKE guy, because apparently, that is a real thing on team USA, hard to not believe those shoe politics don't exist at this point.

[itrsteve]

Honestly? Probably Flagg and I fully recognize that's putting the cart far before the horse.

[Wingy]

First instinct was man, none of these guys seem likely, so maybe not in the league…maybe Flagg?

Second, I thought Ant…but will MN team success be great enough? Perhaps.

I voted less conventional taking an in the moment guess on next year, and if it doesn’t happen next year I don’t think it happens. If Cleveland is healthy and can keep their team together, they can run roughshod over the XX-LEast next year so I voted for Donovan Mitchell.

Team success is always a huge factor, and he was 5th this year. 4th Tatum is gone. 3rd Giannis, I expect the Bucks to be bad w/o Lillard for just about if not the entire year. I can’t guess Joker or SGA, and they’ll obviously be there. I’m guessing Joker may be due for some health blips playing highest ever mpg this past season and needing to continue to carry the paper thin Nuggets. Maybe there will be immediate SGA voter fatigue?

So this confluence of events gives Mitchell his potential one-off shot.