2020-2021 NBA Regular Season thread

I'd probably go Jokic, because he's played every game so far, and it seems like every other significant contender (LeBron, Embiid, Harden, Durant) have missed significant amounts of time. I think Curry is #2, slightly ahead of Lillard and Doncic, but they're all at the same kind of tier to me. I think the "Curry for MVP!" movement was peaking last week, after he had back-to-back 47 and 49 point games, and in a 10-game stretch, his low for points was 33. Since then, he's had four more "normal" games - 18, 27, 32, 37.

 

Chris Paul has elevated Phoenix from a below-.500 squad to the second-place team in the West, one with a legitimate chance at grabbing the 1 seed. I agree that Jokic is the frontrunner, but there's no way CP3 should not be No. 2. The switch from Rubio to Paul was worth 20+ wins for the Suns.

Yes, he has Booker and Ayton, but so did Rubio. And I say this not to trash Rubio--he's a fine playmaker but he's not anywhere close to an elite player. You see what happens when you put an elite playmaker with those two. He's elevated everyone around him.

 

Chris Paul is a nice player, and if you want to put him in tier with Curry, Lillard and others, I wouldn't fight you. His win shares and PER are both solid. However, I don't think he should get "extra credit" because Rubio and others weren't great at PG in previous years. Ayton and Booker's PER, DRTG and ORTG are all roughly in the same range year-to-year, so it's hard to make the argument that he's really elevating them either.

 

I guess I consider the award as most valuable player. I'm not sure the Suns take the leap they take this year without him. You can argue they'd be a fringe playoff team without him. They're one of the best in the West with him. Is Paul as good as those guys? Of course not. But if you're arguing who is the most valuable to his team in the league for teams around the top of the standings, then Paul fits that bill.

 

The thing that keeps me from taking Curry seriously as an MVP candidate: that team is a 10 seed. And you can make the argument that he doesn't have much around him, but they're behind the Spurs, and the Spurs lineup is almost perfectly anonymous.

 

I think everyone is kind of different when it comes to how they think about the MVP award, which always seems to make it such a cluster in every sport, haha. But for me, my criteria is usually - Who's the best player in the league during the *regular season*, who has contributed the most value to his team?

For the first clause, "best player" for the past decade has probably been LeBron, Durant and Curry... but all of them have missed significant time in various seasons, which is why I have the second portion. I don't have a hard and fast rule about it - i.e. "If you miss 15 games, fuck off!" - but I think players should get credit for being durable. I want a combination of peak value and contributed value.

And, well, value is value. Chris Paul doesn't get extra credit for me because he's replacing a below-average starting PG, and as a result, his team gained a bunch of wins. I don't think a guy can be a serious MVP candidate if he's basically a compiler on a non-playoff team, but Curry isn't getting a bunch of stats in garbage time.

 

That Warriors lineup is nearly irredeemable without Curry.

 

The Suns have missed the playoffs for a decade. This year they're a 2 seed. The only significant difference is Chris Paul.

 

You swapped 65 games of Rubio for 65 games of Paul - meaning, you replaced a below average starter with an All-NBA player. I would also note that the Suns have gotten a (mostly) full season of Ayton, and they dumped Kelly Oubre, who provided them with 56 games of "meh" production the previous year. His minutes seemingly got absorbed by Bridges (better!) and Crowder (push). Paul for Rubio is the big thing, but why does that matter when it comes to Paul's MVP case? It's more support for James Jones' Executive of the Year award. Paul is pretty much the same awesome player he was in OKC last year, when he dragged them to the playoffs somehow, and when he got zero MVP support.

 

You're saying this like they were hampered by Rubio's terrible play.

Ricky Rubio was the best point guard they'd had in 10 years.

OKC squeaked into the playoffs. The Suns are a two seed.

 

For the record, I still believe it should be Jokic and it's not particularly close. Just saying CP deserves legit consideration.

 

Yeah, I think the only guy who should have been in the conversation with Jokic was Embiid and he's missed a lot of time.