NBA 2024-25 midseason MVP: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander

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We’ve reached the midpoint of an NBA season that has been filled with injuries to top players — Luka Doncic and Joel Embiid already have missed too many games to qualify for end-of-season awards — and plenty of surprises, like the Cleveland Cavaliers atop the East and the fast rise of the Houston Rockets in the West. The midpoint also means it’s time to take stock of the NBA postseason awards. All week long, I will make my picks for some of the NBA’s top awards at this point in the season. Today: MVP.

NBA MVP: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander

2. Nikola Jokic
3. Jayson Tatum
4. Giannis Antetokounmpo
5. Victor Wembanyama

This is a virtual dead heat right now between Gilgeous-Alexander and Jokic for the top spot — if this were the end of the season, I would have lost a lot of sleep trying to pick between them. I ultimately leaned toward SGA because of his defense on Oklahoma City’s stifling best defense in the league (which is 3.8 points per 100 possessions better than second-place Orlando). But this is an even race with half a season to go.

Gilgeous Alexander is averaging 31.4 points, 5.9 assists, 5.5 rebounds and 2 steals a game, while Jokic is averaging 31.2 points, 13.2 rebounds and 9.8 assists (plus 1.8 steals). The argument for Jokic is he has a heavier lift — Denver does not have the depth of talent around Joikic that OKC does around SGA. There’s some truth to that, but Gilgeous-Alexander is leading a team running away with a deep Western Conference (6.5 games ahead of second-place Houston). Again, this is a coin flip.

I think two other players — Jayson Tatum and Giannis Antetokounmpo — could rise to the top spot by the end of the season.

Tatum remains incredibly efficient averaging 28.1 points, 9.4 rebounds and 5.3 assists for the champion Celtics, having taken a step forward this season into a slightly larger role on a team battling injuries the first part of the year. Antetokounmpo is putting up video game numbers — 31.4 points, 11.9 rebounds and 6 assists a game — and the intensity and focus of his play helped the Bucks turn around their slow start and win the NBA Cup. A strong enough second half from…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/nba-2024-25-midseason-mvp-202432377.html

Author : NBC Sports

Publish date : 2025-01-13 20:24:00

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