Where Steph, LeBron stack up in NBA MVP rankings so far
We’ve officially put the first third of the truncated 2020-21 NBA season behind us for most teams, and the league’s top talent has begun to rise above the rest.After two consecutive years winning the NBA MVP, Giannis Antetokounmpo is putting together another outstanding season for the Milwaukee Bucks. Luka Doncic, who many experts predicted would be the league’s most valuable player, has seen his Dallas Mavericks slide to the bottom of the Western Conference standings, ostensibly eliminating the 21-year-old phenom from contention.Let’s dive into who Steph Curry’s top competitors are for the NBA MVP as the first third of the season glides to the rearview mirror.
Editor's note: All odds are provided by our partner, PointsBet. PointsBet is our Official Sports Betting Partner and we may receive compensation if you place a bet on PointsBet for the first time after clicking our links.
Odds: +800 (fourth - see complete odds here)
To say Durant’s first season back since tearing his Achilles with the Warriors in the 2019 NBA Finals has been up-and-down would be an understatement.
He missed three games earlier this season due to contract tracing protocols, and faced a bizarre situation last week when he wasn’t allowed to start a game after an inconclusive test for a Brooklyn Nets team employee he had been in close contact with, but he was allowed to come in as a reserve. He eventually was pulled in the third quarter after the test was deemed to be positive, and he also was forced to miss the Nets’ next game, forced to quarantine until Friday.
Nevertheless, he is averaging 29.5 points per game on a career-high 44.9 percent shooting from 3-point range, spearheading the NBA’s newest Big 3 with James Harden and Kyrie Irving in Brooklyn. Given that KD already has missed a third of his team’s games this season, he’ll have to be among the league leaders in a number of categories in order to be among the finalists for MVP. Durant still has the fourth-best odds for bringing home the hardware (provided by our partner, PointsBet.)
Durant also has earned the second-most All-Star fan votes and clearly hasn’t lost much of his uncanny ability to score and take over a game at any time on both ends of the floor. He’ll likely see a lighter workload down the stretch of the regular season, as Brooklyn eyes a deep playoff run.
Odds: +1200 (sixth)
The reigning two-time NBA MVP is the leader of the NBA’s top offense, averaging 28.1 points, 11.1 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game. Antetokounmpo remains arguably the game’s most unstoppable force inside the paint, and has the NBA’s third-best player efficiency rating (PER) at 28.0.
But Giannis still hasn’t refined his ability to shoot from range or at the foul line, as he is connecting on just 27.6 percent of his attempts from downtown. Teams have begun treating the star like vintage Shaquille O’Neal, as he leads the NBA in free-throw attempts while making just 63.3 percent.
We haven’t seen a three-peat MVP winner since Larry Bird, and outside of a herculean second half of the season from Antetokounmpo, including improvement at both the charity stripe and from behind the arc, it seems unlikely we get another victory speech from Giannis.
Odds: +3300 (ninth)
The Los Angeles Clippers are shooting the lights out from 3-point range, pacing the NBA by 20 percentage points. Kawhi, who holds the NBA’s top individual offensive rating per NBA.com, has been a major part of that in his first season playing within new head coach Ty Lue’s system.
Leonard is averaging a career-high in assists (5.1) and has his best mark shooting from three since his days in San Antonio. The swingman remains arguably the game’s top two-way player, and if he ends up load managing less down the stretch of this season than he has in past years, Leonard unquestionably should be among the top candidates for his first MVP honor..
Odds: +1400 (seventh)
After playing in just five games before the coronavirus suspension cut the 2019-20 season short, the Warriors’ star has roared back with a vengeance this year. Putting together two of the three highest-scoring individual games of the season so far, Curry is putting the Warriors on his back and raining down 3’s from all over the court.
Over his last eight games, Curry is averaging 35.3 points, 5.4 assists and 5.5 rebounds, while shooting 56.8 percent overall, 52.5 percent from deep and 94.9 percent from the free-throw line.
The Warriors are lowest in the standings (14-12, eighth in the West) of any of the teams featuring a player on this list, and team success has played a major role in determining the league MVP in past years. But if the Warriors climb into the top four of the West table, and Steph maintains a pace similar to what he’s done in the past few games, he could end up being a dark horse candidate.
Only four of the NBA’s 65 MVP winners have been on a team below third place in their conference’s standings.
Odds: +400 (second)
The dynamic center has the NBA’s top PER according to Basketball-Reference and is averaging a career-high in points (29.4) and 3-point percentage (38.1) for the top team in the Eastern Conference standings.
Embiid also is the focal point of one of the NBA’s best defenses, nearly doubling his career average for steals while averaging a full foul fewer per game than in any of his first four seasons.
While the league has shifted away from center-dominated systems in recent years, Embiid is having a career renaissance, and almost certainly will be among the three finalists come the end of the season.
Odds: +500 (third)
Speaking of dominant centers, no one is stuffing the stat sheet in 2020-21 like the Denver Nuggets big man. Jokic is averaging 26.9 points, 11.3 rebounds and 8.6 assists while knocking down 40 percent of his 3-point attempts, all of which are career-bests.
Jokic finds himself in a similar situation to Curry, as despite all the advanced metrics love, Denver is seventh in what has become a logjam in the West standings.
His numbers overall outpace many of the names on this list, but with so much of the MVP tied to “narrative,” Jokic might have a tough time drumming up enough votes to bring home his first MVP trophy.
Odds: +250 (first)
The current betting favorite per PointsBet, LeBron is looking to add to his trophy case with his fifth regular-season MVP honor, his first since 2013.
James is the best player on (arguably) the NBA’s best team, and at 36, is the leader of the NBA’s top-rated defense. LeBron is putting up 25.5 points, 7.9 rebounds and 7.9 assists per game, which would be outstanding for just about every other NBA player but feels standard for James.
He’s shooting 39.4 percent from behind the arc, his best mark since that last MVP season in 2013. Add in all of his clutch play over the past few weeks to help the Los Angeles Lakers close out some tight wins, and James looks primed for another addition to his sprawling trophy case.
