2024-25 NBA MVP Discussion Thread (Pt. 4: Who is the MVP?)

[Special_Puppy]

Special Puppy bro just the other day you said Jokic fans weren't overreacting to one game samples, but here we have them acting like beating the G League Sixers is something impressive.

Think its pretty obviously true that overreacting to the a one game sample is dumb and also that Shai pretty obviously has one of the best supporting casts in the entire league (note that SGA having one of the best supporting casts in the league and SGA winning MVP if he elevates them to ATG status which he has). FWIW because many noted that the Warriors game was due to some extent an unusually poor overall showing by the Warriors, Lakers are shooting 58% from 3 right now

[AmIWrongDude]

Shai and Jokic both out and Thunder gain another game on the Nuggets. How many games do Thunder have to finish ahead of the Nugs for Shai as MVP to be a no brainer?

[DrModesty]

Any game Jokic doesn't play hurts him inherently because he is the one that has to make up significant ground (if we assume the odds are at all accurate in assessing the MVP race)

[AleksandarN]

Shai and Jokic both out and Thunder gain another game on the Nuggets. How many games do Thunder have to finish ahead of the Nugs for Shai as MVP to be a no brainer?

I don’t understand the logic how the thunder gaining another game on Nuggets without Shai helps his case more. Anyways as it is going Shai will end up winning but it is certainly not because of these set of games.

[AmIWrongDude]

Shai and Jokic both out and Thunder gain another game on the Nuggets. How many games do Thunder have to finish ahead of the Nugs for Shai as MVP to be a no brainer?

I don’t understand the logic how the thunder gaining another game on Nuggets without Shai helps his case more. Anyways as it is going Shai will end up winning but it is certainly not because of these set of games.

It’s simple. Shai is leading the MVP race and has a large record advantage. The more the Nuggets lose and Thunder win, the larger the gap grows whether either play or not. It’s not really about these individual games, it’s about the grand scheme of things.

[Special_Puppy]

Just like MJ and Kobe, with a combination of being tough in practice and leadership SGA has been able to build a solid supporting cast.

[SpurNani]

Shai and Jokic both out and Thunder gain another game on the Nuggets. How many games do Thunder have to finish ahead of the Nugs for Shai as MVP to be a no brainer?

I don’t understand the logic how the thunder gaining another game on Nuggets without Shai helps his case more. Anyways as it is going Shai will end up winning but it is certainly not because of these set of games.

It’s simple. Shai is leading the MVP race and has a large record advantage. The more the Nuggets lose and Thunder win, the larger the gap grows whether either play or not. It’s not really about these individual games, it’s about the grand scheme of things.

Yup. if there are any undecided voters left out there, a 15+ game win gap will be hard to ignore and should be the cherry ontop of Shai’s mvp cake.

[BigGargamel]

Yeah, as long as the win gap was around 10 or less than Jokic had a chance. But the Thunder will never slow down, and Jokic being out and Denver losing (I thought they were better without him, according to this board after a fluke win against GSW) sealed it.

Denver needs to get into the top three to avoid having to play OKC in the second round. I want these two guys going at it in the WCF.

[lethalizer]

OKC will probably clinch the 1st seed Friday night.

Let's see how the Thunder manages Shai going forward, he looked exhausted at the end of the Eastern Conference road trip against Milwaukee.

Thankfully, there is only one back to back left for the Thunder, and it's towards the end of the season, so it'll be easier to manage Shai's games moving forward.

[RB34]

So now SGA doesn’t even have to play to extend his lead over Jokic? Wild.

[AmIWrongDude]

So now SGA doesn’t even have to play to extend his lead over Jokic? Wild.

Jokic and Shai are close enough statistically that the Win/loss gap just can’t be ignored. Jokic really can’t afford more losses.

[Jurassic_Park]

So now SGA doesn’t even have to play to extend his lead over Jokic? Wild.

No… sga is ahead. Each game jokic misses hurts his chance of catching up. Especially a marquee game vs the lakers.

[Jurassic_Park]

Yeah, as long as the win gap was around 10 or less than Jokic had a chance. But the Thunder will never slow down, and Jokic being out and Denver losing (I thought they were better without him, according to this board after a fluke win against GSW) sealed it.

Denver needs to get into the top three to avoid having to play OKC in the second round. I want these two guys going at it in the WCF.

While it will be important to avoid okc in round 2. You wont play them in the wcf because you won’t beat the lakers. The silver lining… hopefully denver makes some changes for next season

[Exp0sed]

Shai and Jokic both out and Thunder gain another game on the Nuggets. How many games do Thunder have to finish ahead of the Nugs for Shai as MVP to be a no brainer?

I don’t understand the logic how the thunder gaining another game on Nuggets without Shai helps his case more. Anyways as it is going Shai will end up winning but it is certainly not because of these set of games.

I don't understand that logic either...
we've been hearing earlier that Jokic isn't the MVP because of gap in defense. meanwhile, his team (without him and in their best theorethical defensive lineup at that), get dropped 46 pts in the first quarter by Luka single handedly and on the flip side, the Thunder without SGA AND some of their best defenders (Dort, J-Dub, etc.) are still holding teams to 100 and blowing them out

SGA is the MVP

I think the deciding moment ended up being IHarte slamming Jokic to the floor causing him to injure his shooting elbow. the Nuggets were even with OKC in that game until that moment, after which Jokic missed like 10 straight jumpers (6 or 7 of those being 3's) and they were blown out. Jokic's shooting hasn't been all there since that injury and now he's missed two straight games with it and he needed to make up some ground to be MVP again. can't do that on the bench...

[-Luke-]

Two historically great seasons. But at this point it feels to me like the MVP race is pretty much over.

[Mrakar]

Enough said. Im not mad that SGA will win it, he has far better case then Embiid in 23, hut at this point we are just looking for reasons not to give it to Jok....

[kazyv]

Enough said. Im not mad that SGA will win it, he has far better case then Embiid in 23, hut at this point we are just looking for reasons not to give it to Jok....

? were you trying to make a point there? because I get the feeling you aren't making the point you wanted to make. getting a 55 win team to 72 wins is a lot more valuable than getting a 17 wins team to 55 wins. 55 win teams are dime a dozen, nobody cares.

[AmIWrongDude]

Enough said. Im not mad that SGA will win it, he has far better case then Embiid in 23, hut at this point we are just looking for reasons not to give it to Jok....

? were you trying to make a point there? because I get the feeling you aren't making the point you wanted to make. getting a 55 win team to 72 wins is a lot more valuable than getting a 17 wins team to 55 wins. 55 win teams are dime a dozen, nobody cares.

Yeah Shai makes Thunder a clear cut contender while Jokic makes the nuggets a solid playoff team.

[RRR3]

Anyone who thinks the Nuggets would win 17 games without Jokic is not worth taking seriously. Of course they wouldn’t be good without him but 17 win team is like Wizards level. Using on/off data recklessly without considering context is silly as someone else already detailed.

[Mrakar]

Enough said. Im not mad that SGA will win it, he has far better case then Embiid in 23, hut at this point we are just looking for reasons not to give it to Jok....

? were you trying to make a point there? because I get the feeling you aren't making the point you wanted to make. getting a 55 win team to 72 wins is a lot more valuable than getting a 17 wins team to 55 wins. 55 win teams are dime a dozen, nobody cares.