The second week of the NBA has passed, and thus it’s time to look at the MVP race. A lot has changed since last week: Trae Young, who was ranked number 2, got injured and favorite Karl-Anthony Towns got suspended for 2 games. Let’s look at who made the cut.
Unranked: Damian Lillard (#4) and Kyrie Irving (Unranked)*
Both Dame and Kyrie have been amazing to begin the season, but their play hasn’t been replicated by their teammates. The Blazers and Nets currently hold a 3-4 record, and that might have been 0-7 for both if it wasn’t for the superstar point guards.
Jusuf Nurkic, Pau Gasol, Zach Collins and partly Hassan Whiteside were out for the Blazers, leaving them no big man in their lineup. They won a close one over the Oklahoma City Thunder, but blew a 21-point lead against the Sixers despite Damian Lillard having a marvelous game and lost to the Warriors without Curry, Thompson, Russell or Green. However, Dame is averaging 31 and 7 on 49% shooting and 40% from deep. If the Blazers can pick their game up, Dame will be right back in the MVP conversation.
Meanwhile, Kyrie Irving has to make do without Kevin Durant and the suspended Wilson Chandler. They went 2-2 over the last week, losing against the Pacers and in Detroit, but winning against the Rockets and the Pelicans. Kyrie has also been phenomenal to start the season, but the Nets are giving up way too many points, which cancels out Irving’s offense. He’s averaging almost 32, 6 and 8 on 47% shooting and 38% from deep. Same as for Lillard, if the Nets can pick up their play, there’s no reason that Kyrie can’t make the top of the MVP race.
4 – Kawhi Leonard (Los Angeles Clippers) (#3)
The Clippers went perfect last week when Kawhi played. They dropped one against the Jazz when Kawhi rested, but won their next 2 games at home against the Spurs and the Jazz, 2 tough teams. Leonard is averaging 29, 7 and 6 with over steals and a block. He’s shooting 47% from the field, 35% from deep and 86% at the charity stripe.
His +- per game is a stunning 11.7, good for second in the league, just behind Justice Winslow. His impact on winning can’t be underestimated as the Clippers are now ranked second in the West, behind the number one Lakers, who themselves have an MVP-candidate at number 3.
3 – LeBron James (Los Angeles Lakers) (Unranked)
Don’t look now, but the Lakers have the joint best record in the league. After dropping their first game to the Clippers, the Lakeshow has gone undefeated, good for a 5-1 record. Their win against the Dallas Mavericks may have come after OT after a buzzer-beating 3 by Danny Green (which shouldn’t have been allowed after Dwight held on to Seth Curry), but the rest of their wins were impressive.
LeBron is averaging 25.5 points, 8 rebounds and a league-best 11.2 assists. His shooting numbers are down a bit (47% and 28%), but he’s been impressive in his all-around game, now that his overall workload has diminished. Everyone that was saying that he’s washed is looking really bad now.
2 – Luka Doncic (Dallas Mavericks) (Unranked)
It’s crazy that we’re talking about a chubby European kid in his second season playing like an MVP. Luka Doncic is a legitimate MVP candidate and the Dallas Mavericks are for real. We already talked about their loss against the Lakers, which shouldn’t really have happened, and was just their second of the season. Dallas is 4-2 and their duo of Doncic and Porzingis is just starting to get to know each other.
Doncic is top 15 in points, rebounds and assists per game, averaging roughly 27/10/9.5. His shooting numbers can still go up, shooting around 46% from the floor and 35% from deep. He leads the league in triple-doubles and at just 20 years old is tearing the league apart with his impressive play.
1 – Giannis Antetokounmpo (Milwaukee Bucks) (#5)
Back-to-back MVP’s are starting to seem more likely for the Greek Freak, who has been unstoppable yet again. He leads the Bucks in points, rebounds, assists, steals, minutes and field goal %. He’s the definition of an MVP. His numbers (28/14/7/1.5/1/61%) are incredible and his +- per game of 10 is good for 6th in the league.
Even more impressive than Doncic, Giannis has been top 10 in points, rebounds, assists and FG%. If the Bucks wind up with the best record in the league again and Giannis sustains this incredible play, there is no reason (except voter fatigue) to not give him MVP again.
*Last week’s rank
Courtside 