Yahoo Sports NBA writers Dan Devine and Jake Fischer connect to take a look at the top favorites for this season’s Most Valuable Player award and name which player could make a push to finish in the top-5 spots on the ballot. Hear the full conversation on “No Cap Room” – part of the “Ball Don’t Lie” podcast – and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen.
Video Transcript
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JAKE FISCHER: Yeah, last year, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander finished fifth in MVP voting after not appearing high up in the preseason MVP odds at all.
DAN DEVINE: Right.
JAKE FISCHER: This year, he’s eighth. The top nine are Nikola Jokic, Luka Doncic, Giannis, Embiid, Tatum, KD, Steph Curry, Shai, Devin Booker. So who is a player that you believe will finish top five that isn’t part of the current odds?
DAN DEVINE: OK, so I looked at it a little bit less as, like, this guy is going to do it as more as, like, what’s the bet that I would want to make in this context. And give me Zion Williamson going off at 40 to 1.
JAKE FISCHER: I thought you were going to say that.
DAN DEVINE: So here’s my argument. He was an absolute monster for the first half of last season. It was 26, seven, and a little under five on 61% shooting. The Pelicans were top five in net rating. They were a game behind Denver for the number one seed at the beginning of January. Then he gets hurt. He misses the last 45 games of the season.
All of the stuff coming out of Pelicans camp, all the reporting about, like, he brought in medical experts to evaluate his body, David Griffin saying it’s the first summer where we’ve seen him take his profession seriously, and his commentary to reporters at media day was, quote, “There’s a lot of greatness within this organization. But I’m not going to sit up here and talk about it too much. We just have to show y’all.”
Now, if you are getting a motivated Zion who can produce like an MVP candidate like he did last– at the beginning of last season, and they actually make progress in keeping him on the floor, that’s the only thing separating him from top five as far as I’m concerned, is if– just him getting on the floor. So if I’m getting 40 to 1, I think that’s– that’s a worthwhile gamble to me.
JAKE FISCHER: I don’t know what his odds are. I’m not a degenerate like you. But what about Damian Lillard? What if the change of scenery sparks him into season-leading scoring averages, and the Bucks march back to the one seed? And he’s got a lot of narrative sails for wind to just flow into, of new chapter, a little bit burnt by how things went down with Portland. Miami didn’t step up to the plate and make something happen.
Giannis is the best teammate he’s ever been on– this is the best team he’s ever been on, the greatest chance to win a title. What if all that is a perfect storm, and this guy goes out and scores, like, 36 a game and looks like he’s tapping into the fountain of youth that he got a couple of drinks from last season, when he had a career best season? I don’t know, that’s the type of stuff that I think gets into the voters’ hearts and minds, that maybe could get some momentum going. We’ll find out. We’ll find out.
DAN DEVINE: Yeah, I have a hard time imagining it’s going to get– lodge deep enough in our hearts to make us forget that Giannis is on his team. But it’s possible.