2021-22 NBA MVP Discussion (Pt. 1)

[GeorgeSears]

Giannis has clearly taken the no.1 spot. I feel as though Jokic could take that spot back if the Nuggets go on a meaningful run and string together some wins. KD and Steph should be distant 3rd and 4th. The only reason they're at the top in these straw polls is because the NBA media is infatuated with them. It's becoming harder to make a case for them when you see what Giannis and Jokic are doing.

Two dark horses, who likely won't win but deserve attention: LeBron and Embiid. Both have probably missed too many games to be in contention but don't overlook what they're doing, it's pretty great.

[_NoMas]

Neither Derozan or Lavine should win it unless the wheels fall off in Golden State, but they both deserve to be in the conversation.

All the "experts" predicted the Bulls to win 30ish games and finish 9th in the east. These are 2 guys who have been underrated and underappreciated their whole careers. Several sports writers called the Derozan signing one of the worst of the offseason. Lavine was given all types of terrible labels just because he couldn't carry a team all by himself.

I'm happy somebody is finally putting respect on their names.

bulls fans should be really happy. they probably don't have strong MVP cases but having 2 All-NBA wings is damn great. primed for a good playoff run too, health granted. team chemistry is great, the defense looks good. if only the PAW were healthy. I feel like he's the missing roleplayer piece.

Interested to know why you don’t think either has a strong MVP case? Both seem to fit the criteria pretty well to me? (DeRozan more so)…

[AussieBuck]

I've got Giannis here, for now.

He came into tonight with a 31.0 PER and the 3rd-best RAPTOR (adjusted plus minus) in the league (behind Jokic and Curry). The only other player in the league who can match his (box score + advanced) stats is Jokic, and Denver is too hurt this year, IMO, to put Jokic into position to repeat as MVP.

Giannis is the defending FMVP and NBA Champion. The Bucks are starting to round into form/get healthy and, IMO, are better than last year.

He's my pick at the moment.

Most of the team has had Covid now and if Donte is ok (rolled ankle in warmups) we're really healthy now outside of Lopez. also:

[The Lazy Potato]

Giannis averages really close to the points KD averages and the same with Curry on lesser usage and better defensive rating. How is it possible that KD or Curry would become MVP. NBA is a bîtch if Giannis doesnt win MVP and maybe even DPOY this season.

[turnaroundJ]

Neither Derozan or Lavine should win it unless the wheels fall off in Golden State, but they both deserve to be in the conversation.

All the "experts" predicted the Bulls to win 30ish games and finish 9th in the east. These are 2 guys who have been underrated and underappreciated their whole careers. Several sports writers called the Derozan signing one of the worst of the offseason. Lavine was given all types of terrible labels just because he couldn't carry a team all by himself.

I'm happy somebody is finally putting respect on their names.

bulls fans should be really happy. they probably don't have strong MVP cases but having 2 All-NBA wings is damn great. primed for a good playoff run too, health granted. team chemistry is great, the defense looks good. if only the PAW were healthy. I feel like he's the missing roleplayer piece.

Interested to know why you don’t think either has a strong MVP case? Both seem to fit the criteria pretty well to me? (DeRozan more so)…

I'm just thinking that the the fact that two of them have a case makes it weaker for both. Compared to the other candidates who are the clearcut best players on their team.

[Big J]

Curry has beat down the Nets, the Suns and the Jazz on their own home courts. This one he did without Draymond out there. It’s over folks.

Yet another subpar shooting game by Curry where he was bailed out by his supporting cast.

What supporting cast? He is playing with a bunch of cast offs and G-Leaguers. He didn’t even have Draymond in this game.

[WhatTheBuck]

Curry has beat down the Nets, the Suns and the Jazz on their own home courts. This one he did without Draymond out there. It’s over folks.

Yet another subpar shooting game by Curry where he was bailed out by his supporting cast.

What supporting cast? He is playing with a bunch of cast offs and G-Leaguers. He didn’t even have Draymond in this game.

Ok, if it makes you feel better, he was propped up by a bunch of cast-offs and G-Leaguers.

[_NoMas]

bulls fans should be really happy. they probably don't have strong MVP cases but having 2 All-NBA wings is damn great. primed for a good playoff run too, health granted. team chemistry is great, the defense looks good. if only the PAW were healthy. I feel like he's the missing roleplayer piece.

Interested to know why you don’t think either has a strong MVP case? Both seem to fit the criteria pretty well to me? (DeRozan more so)…

I'm just thinking that the the fact that two of them have a case makes it weaker for both. Compared to the other candidates who are the clearcut best players on their team.

Yeah I agree with you there, although I do think the 4th quarter DeRozan stats (now coupled with those back to back buzzer beaters) is starting to build a narrative for him as the clutch closer. But you’re right, it would almost need Lavine to miss a stretch of 8-10 games and have DeRozan keep the Bulls in the 1-2 seed in his absence for him to be seen as a legitimate threat to the big 4 in the race

[Dutchball97]

DeMar is definitely deserving of an All-Star selection and probably even All-NBA but he's nowhere near MVP level at the moment. He's at the very least behind Curry, Jokic, Giannis, Gobert, KD and LeBron. Probably behind a couple others like CP3, Butler and Embiid as well.

[yannisk]

Giannis had the greatest PER ever in 2019/20 with 31.86

At the moment Jokic has a PER 0f 32.78 and Giannis 32.00 so both are statistically great

[Big J]

Yet another subpar shooting game by Curry where he was bailed out by his supporting cast.

What supporting cast? He is playing with a bunch of cast offs and G-Leaguers. He didn’t even have Draymond in this game.

Ok, if it makes you feel better, he was propped up by a bunch of cast-offs and G-Leaguers.

Ok buddy.

[CBS7]

Bulls fans with their DeRozan mvp case powerpoint presentations freshly updated with a couple of ruthless buzzerbeaters

I'm a Bulls fan but I don't think he has a real case. His counting stats are still way behind the other major candidates and he has Lavine putting up close to identical stats on his team.

Agreed, DD's probably not going to get it...but the way he has been playing, it isn't homerism to have his name in the discussion.

Agreed, I think he's going to get a bunch of votes and probably finish top 5-6 the way things are going. But he's definitely not in serious running.

[Freighttrain]

Giannis averages really close to the points KD averages and the same with Curry on lesser usage and better defensive rating. How is it possible that KD or Curry would become MVP. NBA is a bîtch if Giannis doesnt win MVP and maybe even DPOY this season.

There's this thing called narrative. As a LeBron fan, you learn you just gotta live with it. The same goes for Jordan fans. Both players could've won more MVP's but the narrative is a big factor in MVP, whether you like it or not.

[mademan]

Ya objectively Giannis is easily number 1. Best combination of play/stats/impact/wins of everyone. ATM he seems like the no brainer pick

[dribble1614]

giannis is the best player in basketball. he deserves the mvp, however it is a media narrative driven award and they will give it to curry due to the superior team record even if giannis is the most dominant 2-way player in the sport (and has been for the last few years).

[Doctor MJ]

Ya objectively Giannis is easily number 1. Best combination of play/stats/impact/wins of everyone. ATM he seems like the no brainer pick

I think it's interesting the way you think of play/stats/impact/wins as different categories of things.

To me "valuable" is about value, which is either a synonym for impact, or something built-from impact.

Your play is about achieving impact.
Your stats are relevant to the extent they cause impact.
Wins are a team thing, but your job as a player is to add to team wins through impact.

In my analysis, which certainly takes way more "brain" than the vast majority of opinions out there, Curry's an easy choice over Giannis so far. For me, Jokic is the only other guy at the moment that offers a serious debate at the moment.

None of that is meant as a general criticism for Giannis, who has been my MVP twice and my POY twice, nor as a prediction against Giannis going forward. But to this point, I think Curry's been the more valuable player.

[Doctor MJ]

Yet another subpar shooting game by Curry where he was bailed out by his supporting cast.

What supporting cast? He is playing with a bunch of cast offs and G-Leaguers. He didn’t even have Draymond in this game.

Ok, if it makes you feel better, he was propped up by a bunch of cast-offs and G-Leaguers.

Strange to me that you can type this sentence and not question your assumptions.

[Doctor MJ]

Giannis averages really close to the points KD averages and the same with Curry on lesser usage and better defensive rating. How is it possible that KD or Curry would become MVP. NBA is a bîtch if Giannis doesnt win MVP and maybe even DPOY this season.

You're focused on what you can glean from the box score, but the box score doesn't capture anywhere near the entirety of the game.

Do you see the way defenses contort themselves around Curry and then other guys get easy buckets? I'd encourage you to really think through what that says about what is valuable in basketball.

[Madhouse]

Giannis has clearly taken the no.1 spot. I feel as though Jokic could take that spot back if the Nuggets go on a meaningful run and string together some wins. KD and Steph should be distant 3rd and 4th. The only reason they're at the top in these straw polls is because the NBA media is infatuated with them. It's becoming harder to make a case for them when you see what Giannis and Jokic are doing.

Two dark horses, who likely won't win but deserve attention: LeBron and Embiid. Both have probably missed too many games to be in contention but don't overlook what they're doing, it's pretty great.

The 2 best players in the world are Jokic and Giannis, this should be pretty clear.

I actually would vote Jokic here if the record was better because he is playing as well as anyone in history right now. Jokic is better than he was last year when he won MVP.

My pick is Giannis who is well, playing as well as he was when he won MVP in 2019. The record just projects to be top 2 in his conference.

KD and Curry are playing on regular MVP level but are far behind Jokic and Giannis.

Lebron and Embiid are playing close to KD/Curry levels but won't have the record.

Demar is not playing as well as any of those 6 but could be in front of Lebron and Embiid due to the record.


Giannis should be the frontrunner for MVP right now because he checks all boxes right now.

[DutchManDanFan]

You're focused on what you can glean from the box score, but the box score doesn't capture anywhere near the entirety of the game.

Do you see the way defenses contort themselves around Curry and then other guys get easy buckets? I'd encourage you to really think through what that says about what is valuable in basketball.

I'm sorry to say but this is pretty ignorant. Don't you know what defenses have to do to have a chance of stopping Giannis? Building a wall of 2 or 3 players means they have to leave 1 or 2 others (wide) open. You might use the same kind of argument for Steph but not against Giannis.