The Top 10 NBA MVP Candidates: Week 1

The first week of December has come back around, which means it’s time for us to begin our weekly Race to the MVP Ladder. At the beginning of November, we gave you our opinion on the top ten candidates for the Maurice Podoloff trophy. A lot can change in a matter of a month, and over the course of a full season, there’s no telling what could happen. Although it’s early, this season has been a competitive one so far. No team has really separated themselves from the pack just yet. Everyone has looked imperfect. Some teams have lived up to expectations, and others have exceeded them. A few guys have surprised us so far, and others have just simply done what’s expected of them.

LeBron James took home his third MVP award in four years last year and is the favorite to win it again. But at the same time it seems that Kevin Durant has been long overdue to win the award. He’s had MVP-worthy seasons, but just hasn’t done quite enough to edge the competition. The stars of the NBA all have different things to offer. It’s how they can translate that into wins for their team that makes them worthy of this award. There are plenty of players capable of winning the award, but for now the rest of the pack have a ways to go to catch up with KD and LeBron.

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10. RAJON RONDO (12.9 ppg, 12.9 apg, 4.6 rpg – Nov. 2 rank: 2)
The Celtics haven’t been looking great – they’re only 9-8 on the season so far. But there’s no question Rondo deserves to be in the MVP race after his streak of 37 straight games with double-digit assists. He fell nine games short of Magic Johnson‘s record at 46 straight games with at least ten dimes. Had he not gotten thrown out for his altercation with Kris Humphries, there’s no telling how long his streak could’ve lasted. Although Rondo is great at creating for his teammates, it hasn’t necessarily proven to be the winning formula for Boston anymore. The truth is, they’re at their best when he’s a scoring threat, but he just doesn’t have that type of game. Whenever Rondo has those hot games, the Celts are almost unbeatable, but they just don’t have enough scoring firepower around him to win without a significant contribution from Rondo himself. For him to stay relevant in the MVP race he’ll have to start picking up his scoring numbers.

9. RUSSELL WESTBROOK (20.7 ppg, 8.7 apg, 5.1rpg – Nov. 2 rank: NR)
Russell Westbrook must be the most overly criticized player in the League. After James Harden got traded, many questioned if the Thunder made a mistake and traded the wrong player. Well there’s no question that so far he’s put the haters to sleep, especially after last week’s convincing victory over Houston. No matter what people say about how Westbrook isn’t a true point guard or how he doesn’t fit in on the Thunder, he continues to prove otherwise. He already has five double-doubles this season, so there’s no question he’s shown improvement distributing the basketball. The reality is, Russell Westbrook is a great player and has a lot to do with what makes the Thunder such a great team. As long as he’s playing well and the Thunder are winning games, he’ll be in the MVP race.

8. TONY PARKER (18.1 ppg, 7.1 apg, 3.0 rpg – Nov. 2 rank: NR)
Tony Parker has been playing consistently well this year. Coming into the season nobody expected the Spurs to jump out to a 14-4 start, but they always seem to catch us by surprise. We left him out of our top ten MVP candidates back in November, but there’s no question that he’s earned a spot after this past month. He’s taken full control of the team now and you can see it in his play. Tony Parker is what makes the Spurs go; Manu and Tim Duncan follow his lead now. If the Spurs keep winning like this, it’s pretty obvious that Tony Parker has to be in the MVP discussion.

7. KOBE BRYANT (27.9 ppg, 5.1 apg, 5.1 rpg – Nov. 2 rank: 9)
It’s no secret that the Lakers have gotten off to a rough start. Although they’ve had their issues, Kobe Bryant can still single handedly get a W for his team on any given night. That’s what puts him in the MVP discussion right now. Through all the Lakers struggles, Kobe’s still tearing it up this year, and he’s keeping his field goal percentage up. You have to imagine that eventually he’ll start playing like his age, but for now he almost looks as good as he ever has. For Kobe to make a real run at winning the MVP this year, the Lakers will have to finish as the best team in the West and he’ll have to lead the way. Dwight Howard hasn’t really found his rhythm in a Laker uniform just yet, but when he does, Kobe could fall down the ladder a little and Dwight will begin to make a case for himself.

6. DERON WILLIAMS (15.4 ppg, 8.9 apg, 3.0 rpg – Nov. 2 rank: 6)
The Brooklyn Nets are 11-5, which isn’t much of a surprise considering they have a very impressive roster. Many would call D-Will the number one scoring option on the team, but it doesn’t always look that way. Brook Lopez has been leading the team in scoring, and Joe Johnson averages just about the same amount of points as D-Will. What Williams is really doing a good job of is sharing the wealth. His 8.9 assists per game is good enough for fourth-best in the league right now. So don’t be so quick to call Deron a “scoring point guard” anymore.

5. CHRIS PAUL (16.4 ppg, 9.3 apg, 3.7 rpg – Nov. 2 rank: 4)
At times, Chris Paul can be a bit too unselfish. Right now, he has all the pieces he ever wanted. He has wings that can shoot, big men that are athletic, and a sixth man that can help him with the scoring load. Now that he has all that it’s almost like he doesn’t know what to do with it all. The bottom line is Chris Paul is a much better player than his stats show at this point of the season. Right now he’s trying to get everyone into a groove. He can get his whenever he wants, so you have to imagine he’ll be a familiar face on the MVP ladder this year.

4. ZACH RANDOLPH (16.3 ppg, 12.7 rpg, 0.5 bpg – Nov. 2 rank: NR)
There’s no question Z-Bo has been the best power forward in the league this year. He’s been relentless this season, averaging almost 13 rebounds a game, behind only Anderson Varejao. He’s still the number one go-to option for Memphis, and he’s made it pretty clear that he can get a bucket on anybody at any time. He’s on pace to have an All-Star season, and if he keeps it up and Memphis continues to win he’ll stick around on the MVP ladder. At 12-3, Memphis has the best record in the league right now. If they can keep this up, Z-Bo will keep his name in the conversation.

3. CARMELO ANTHONY (26.1 ppg, 2.1 apg, 7.0 rpg – Nov. 2 rank: 7)
Carmelo Anthony has been playing refreshed basketball. He looks like he’s ready to finally take that next step in New York. He has the Knicks playing winning basketball and he’s playing unselfishly. There are still question marks about if Amar’e Stoudemire and Iman Shumpert will interrupt the Knicks chemistry. Frankly, they could. Both players are too good not to play, yet Carmelo just looks naturally comfortable in that four position. This season, ‘Melo will be in the running for the scoring title, and if the Knicks end up as one of the top teams in the East, he’ll be in the running for the MVP as well.

2. KEVIN DURANT (26.2 ppg, 4.3 apg, 8.7 rpg – Nov. 2 rank: 3)
Picking between LeBron James and Kevin Durant is becoming harder and harder. There’s no question that these two guys have separated themselves from the rest of the pack, but neither of them can really separate themselves from the other. They get criticized for having such a close relationship with each other, but the fact of the matter is they both learn from each other. Last season, LeBron took a page out of Kevin Durant’s book and became more humble. This season, Kevin Durant is taking a page out of LeBron’s book with his play. His rebound and assist numbers are up and he’s looking like more of an all-around player than he ever has. It’s going to be neck and neck between KD and LeBron in terms of whose going to have the better season, but I don’t expect anyone else to challenge these two for the trophy. There are plenty of guys who will make it interesting along the way though.

1. LeBRON JAMES (24.7 ppg, 6.5 apg, 8.9 rpg – Nov. 2 rank: 1)
LeBron is the favorite for MVP right now, simply because he just hasn’t let up. Since the season started, he hasn’t shown anything besides consistency. He delivers night in and night out, and you know what to expect from him. On top of that, Miami is the league’s best three-point shooting team, and that has a lot to do with LeBron creating open shots for his teammates. LeBron’s been doing exactly what’s been asked of him: he’s getting everyone involved and he’s shooting 53 percent from the field (43 percent from three-point range). It still seems like there’s nothing LeBron can’t do. Until he regresses a little bit, it’s hard to see anyone knocking him from the top spot.

Who are your top candidates for the MVP?

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