Who is the MVP of the young 2014-2015 season so far?
It’s only mid-December, so it’s easy to say that this particular topic deserves a discussion further down the road. That said, the narrative of an MVP is a progressive thing. The league pays attention to how deserving players are by watching their performance on a month-to-month basis, so evaluating them a quarter of the way into the season is only natural.
Having said that, there are only two true candidates for the award thus far: Stephen Curry and James Harden, with Chris Paul and LeBron James on the bubble.
Yes, in that order. Unless something drastically changes, it’s time to take Anthony Davis and Marc Gasol out of the conversation, at least for now. No one is going to vote for a player playing on a .500 team, and that’s exactly where Davis is right now despite the ridiculous statistics he sports. Gasol has led his team to the second-best record in the NBA, but lets be real: when is the last time a big man averaging 19.5 points, eight rebounds and 3.8 assists and 1.5 blocks won an MVP award? Those are terrific numbers – one anyone would be proud to own on a fantasy team – but those are not the numbers of an MVP. The exclusive award is saved for a player who not only is on one of the best teams in the league, but also has spectacular numbers to back it up. 20 points and eight rebounds – the big numbers that stand out to voters – ain’t really cutting it.
So lets talk about Curry and Harden.
The popular answer to the MVP debate should be Curry. His team has won a franchise-record 14 consecutive games and has the best record in the NBA. He has the best plus/minus rating in the league (Harden and Paul are second and third, respectively), is tied with Harden for best value over replacement rate, is third in PER (behind Davis and DeMarcus Cousins) and is averaging 23.1 points on a career-high 62.9 true shooting percentage, 5.1 rebounds, 7.7 assists, 3.2 turnovers and two steals in just under 33 minutes per game. He’s also on the cusp of joining the exclusive 50/40/90 club, shooting 48.8 percent from the field, 39.6 percent from the arc, and 92.2 percent from the stripe. Team success and individually-dominant numbers are both on the point guard’s side.
You can also make a strong case for Harden at this point: he has helped lead the Houston Rockets to the third best record in the league (1/2 game behind Memphis) despite missing starters Dwight Howard, Terrence Jones and Patrick Beverley for big stretches of the season. Simply put, you look at some of the lineups the Rockets have trotted out there this season and can’t help but wonder how in the world this team keeps winning. It starts with Harden, who is averaging 26.4 points (leads the NBA), 6.3 rebounds, 6.5 assists, two steals and a whopping 1.1 blocks this season. The only downside is that he is shooting just 42 percent from the field and averaging 4.3 turnovers – second worst in the league – but this is understandable when you’re asked to carry so much of the load. To stay atop such a monstrous conference with so many lineup inconsistencies is a testament to how important and good Harden has been.
Harden was big again on Thursday in a 113-109 overtime victory over the Sacramento Kings, filling up the stat sheet with 44 points, four rebounds, eight assists, three steals, one block and two turnovers in 48 minutes of action. Avery Johnson, who picked the shooting guard to be this season’s MVP before the start of the season, couldn’t be prouder:
I Love @AntDavis23 but my 2014-15 MVP preseason pick @JHarden13 is putting on a show! @dmorey @bull50 @ESPNNBA #MustSeeTV @JalenRose @heydb
— Avery Johnson (@CoachAvery6) December 12, 2014
Nothing wrong with a little humblebragging. The only surprising thing about the tweet is that he chose to mention Davis, as if he’s the frontrunner for the award, instead of Curry.
Tweet of the Day: Warriors Owner Peter Guber Honors Congratulates Johnson
Tweet of the Night: Mark Price congratulates LeBron James for milestone, James shows appreciation
James Park is a blogger and editor of Sheridan Hoops. Follow him on twitter @SheridanBlog.