Not far into December, we have plenty of NBA basketball left, but we examine the MVP candidates in the early going.
It may be too early to crown an MVP, but it is far enough into the season to talk about the standout players for their teams. Some of the early MVP candidates have been here before, but some are new to the scene as well.
Giannis Antetokounmpo is the league’s reigning MVP. He is also likely the front-runner in the race to claim the award again this year. Antetokounmpo is scoring and rebounding at elite levels, but that isn’t what sets him apart. He is a two-way star, meaning he gets it done on the defensive end as well. The icing on the cake is that his Milwaukee Bucks are tied for the NBA’s best record, 20-3.
Perhaps next in line for the prize is a player that was not in the discussion last year. Luka Doncic just missed an All-Star bid last season, his rookie year. This year, he is accelerating what was supposed to be a Dallas Mavericks rebuild, propelling his squad to 16-6, the second-best record in the Western Conference. He is nearly averaging a 30 point triple-double and has become one of the most electric players in all of basketball.
Not surprisingly, James Harden is in the MVP mix once again. He had a good argument to take the honor last year and is doing his best to contend again. His squad is a good, if slightly underachieving, 15-7 so far as they continue to bring Russell Westbrook up to speed.
Harden is averaging an absurd 39 points per contest, on the back of his also absurd 14.6 free throw attempts per game (per basketballreference.com). The fact that this historic scoring alone doesn’t vault him to the top of the MVP ladder speaks the wealth of individual brilliance on display in today’s NBA game.
We mentioned the Bucks being tied for the NBA’s best record; they are tied with the Los Angeles Lakers out west, who have looked strong all season (short as it may be to this point). The Lakers have two stars, but so far, LeBron James has shone the brightest.
In his 17th NBA season, James is leading the NBA in assists (10.7 per basketballreference.com) and still scoring efficiently while being the on-and-off-court leader for one of the league’s most visible markets.
Another new name in the MVP race is the league’s reigning Most Improved Player, Pascal Siakam of the Toronto Raptors. The Raps are the reigning champions from last season, but that was undeniably Kawhi Leonard’s team. This year, Toronto is back in contention in the Eastern Conference after Siakam taking another giant step forward, with career-high numbers across the board.
Joining Siakam in the top-heavy Eastern Conference are players with similar success, if not quite as eye-popping numbers. Jimmy Butler has turned Miami into an ECF contender again, along with Joel Embiid for the Sixers, Kemba Walker of the Celtics, and Domantas Sabonis of the Indiana Pacers. Look up Sabonis if you aren’t familiar. Dude can ball.
In the Western Conference, you can’t talk about LeBron and the Lakers without mentioning Anthony Davis. While LeBron leads in many ways, the offense still runs through Davis, who remains as dominant as anyone when healthy.
The Nuggets team success propels Nikola Jokic into the conversation, even though he is having a relatively down year to this point. Karl-Anthony Towns’ individual brilliance is shining as always, though Minnesota’s win total will exclude him from serious MVP talks, same with Devin Booker of the surprising-but-still-not-good Phoenix Suns. Paul George has been brilliant in his small sample size. The Clippers are good and will likely only get better, but games played will likely hamper any shot at the MVP award for him or the restful Kawhi Leonard.
That is quite a few names to mention, but it is so early in the season that the MVP award is still anyone’s to claim. These are your leaders so far, but things are certainly subject to change. For more coverage Around the NBA as well as the whole world of basketball, keep it locked to The Basketball Movement.