We’re one week into the NBA season so it’s time to take our first look at who is in contention for the NBA awards, even though the sample size is small, and it is way too early to tell. Today we’ll look at the MVP race, tomorrow we’ll cover the rest.
5 – Giannis Antetokounmpo (Milwaukee Bucks)
Last year’s MVP got off to a great start this year as well. He dominated the second half of the Houston game as he rallied his squad back from down 16 as he ended with 30 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists. He fouled out against Miami, just like in Houston, after hitting the game-tying tip-in that would send the game to overtime, as the Bucks dropped their first game of the season. The Bucks bounced back against the Cavs, But Giannis had a disappointing showing, dropping only 14 points on 5/15 shooting.
4 – Damian Lillard (Portland Trail Blazers)
If his game-tying 3-pointer against the Spurs would not have rimmed out in an unbelievable way, we would have been talking about a comeback for the ages. Dame scored the last 18 points for the Blazers as they came back from down 19 in the 4th, just to lose after getting 4 good looks at the rim to tie it up. Nevertheless, Dame has been impressive this season. 32, 35, 28 and 28 against Denver and on the road against the Kings, in Dallas and then on the second night of a back-to-back in San Antonio.
What is even more impressive is Lillard’s second half scoring. 23, 21, 26 and 25 points in the second half. His defense has also improved, getting a clean strip on Dorian Finney-Smith which was vital to win the game (first called as a foul, coaches challenge used to overturn the call). Once Dame’s shot starts falling (he’s shooting only 29% from deep), he could really be in contention for MVP.
3 – Kawhi Leonard (Los Angeles Clippers)
Board man has quietly been killing teams this season. Apart from a surprise loss to the Suns (who don’t look as terrible as they have over the past few years), the Clippers have impressed and Kawhi with it. Dropped 30 on LeBron while keeping him at 18 (they took the same amount of shots), 21 and 9 assists on Golden State in 21 minutes, 27/8/10 against the Suns and yesterday he blew out the Hornets with 30/7/6.
He’s shooting 57% from the floor, 37% from deep, has been incredible defensively and has improved his passing a lot. The Clippers are a force to be reckoned with and Kawhi wants to add a regular season MVP award to his 2 finals MVP trophies.
2 – Trae Young
The Hawks are legit and look like a playoff team right now, and that is all thanks to their sophomore Trae Young. 34 points a game with 6 boards and 9 dimes while shooting 52% from both deep and the field. They took care of business in Detroit and against the Magic, and suffered a heartbreak loss against the Sixers after 2 Joel Embiid free-throws cost them the game.
Trae quietly put in the work this summer and hit a few dagger shots already, showing that he has ice in his veins. The chip he carries on his shoulder after not winning the ROTY award last year, with the season he had, is immense and Trae might make up for it with an MVP-award (probably not this season though).
1 – Karl-Anthony Towns
He told you not to sleep on the Wolves this season, and yet we all did. KAT has been a monster as Minnesota went undefeated against the Nets, Hornets and Heat. 32/13.3/5 with 2.7 steals and 2 blocks on 52% shooting from both the field and 3-point range. Towns has been doing it all and looks very engaged on the defensive end as well, a big weakness for him these past few years.
He has a chance to prove himself tonight against the Sixers and Joel Embiid, one of those other big dominant centers. Both teams are undefeated and Embiid is coming off of a monster performance against the Hawks. If KAT can keep his impressive play up, there’s no reason why he shouldn’t be in the conversation to win the MVP-award.
Courtside 