Who Really Deserves NBA MVP Right Now?!

We lay out our MVP framework and build a top 10 that challenges the popular trackers. SGA leads a tight field where Cade, Jalen Brown, Durant, Jokic, Maxey, and Wimby rise or fall on team rank, win shares, availability, and real value.

• regular season only, no playoff weight
• win shares as a key but not sole metric
• team standing target of three to six in the league
• storyline factor that separates similar stat lines
• Luka vs Ant decided by usage, defense, and wins
• Murray’s surge without Jokic and Gordon
• Wemby’s defensive gravity on a top-three team
• Maxey, Jokic, KD in a volatile middle tier
• Jaylen Brown’s first-option leap on a top-four team
• Cade’s leadership on a rising contender
• SGA hitting every metric on both ends

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Chapters

• 0:00 Setting The MVP Agenda
• 0:21 Comparing AI And Tracker Top Fives
• 1:15 Defining MVP Criteria
• 2:33 Honorable Mentions And Snubs
• 3:35 Luka vs Ant: Context Matters
• 5:18 Jamal Murray’s Case Without Jokic
• 6:38 Wimbenyama’s Rise And Impact
• 7:49 Maxey, Jokic, KD: The Tight Tier
• 9:15 JB At Three: Team-Driven Value
• 10:10 Cade vs SGA: The Final Cut
• 11:00 Your Turn: Share Your Top Three

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:01

What's up, everybody? It's your favorite show's favorite show get a bucket. I'm your host, Train as usual. Hope you're all having a wonderful, wonderful day. Today we're gonna talk about the NBA MVP rankings, or at least the tracker that we got to talk about. Because I've I've seen some things that I don't really know if I how I feel. Actually, I know how I feel. I don't like them. So let's talk about it. So I I I recently asked ChatGPT, right, to kick out some some names, top five being. I got Shea Gilders, Alexander, Nicola Jokic, Kate Cunningham, Victor Women Yama, and Luka Donchik as the top five MVP rankings. I didn't really like it. I didn't really like it. I said pineapples, right? I felt like there were some people that were actually missing. So I went to basketball reference. And I might let's see what they got. Because I usually like to see what other people are talking about before I come up with my own listing, right? I'm not make I'm I'm not using their listing. I just like to see what they're talking about. So basketball reference said Nicola Jokic, number one, Shea Gilders Alexander, number two, Cade Cunningham, number three, Luca Doncic at number four, and Victor Wimbayama at number five. Here was my gripe because they gave five more names. Jalen Duren, number six. Interesting. Jamal Murray, number seven. Okay. Tyrese Maxie, number eight. I do hear it. Donovan Mitchell, number nine. Huh. James Harden, number ten. Yeah, I got some gripes with both these listings, ladies and gentlemen. Now, you might be wondering what is an MVP, right? The most valuable player, but we got to remember you got to have your own metrics, okay? So let's let's follow with me. My metrics are as follows. One, you got to remember this is a regular season award. So I don't want to hear anything about playoffs or any type of playoff production talking about regular season award. So that might actually help out someone like James Harden. Not for me, but that might help out someone like James Harden to somebody else. They got to be a top four. I'd like for you to be a top four player win share wise. It's not the end all be all, but again, that does speak volumes, okay? Win shares matter. You gotta be top three to six NBA team ranking wise. And I'm generous on the number six, so I understand life happens, okay? But if you top three, you good with me. I'll I'll I'll I'll work with number four too, five and six could get a little tricky. But again, three to six is that sweet spot. Top three to see six, meaning, and then you got to have a wilder storyline, meaning that whatever your team or you are going through has to be wilder than everybody else, or you have to do something that's wilder than everybody else, like averaging a triple-double. That that ain't bad. But that was when Russell Westbrook did it because nowadays it's a little bit it's done a little bit more. It's done a little bit more. So, ladies and gentlemen, now that we got that listing situated, let's talk about here what I think who I think should be top 10. And I'm gonna give an honorable mention as well. So we got here Chet Holmger at number 11, because I could have put him in there at number 10. A couple of those players I could have thrown in there. Like, I understand why Jalen Duran was in the mix. Okay, I I understand that part. I don't put Donovan Mitchell or James Harden in there personally. No disrespect. James Harden just not MVP worthy to me this season. I thought we had other players to talk about. Like, for example, and I'm surprised he was this high to begin with, Luca Doncick. Listen, all right, when I talk about again regular season award, top four player win shares, team top three to six in the NBA's ranking and a wilder storyline. Remember that, right? Luca got the stats, but he also has the highest usage rate. Good stats, too, by the way. 33, 8, and 9, 1.5 steals, 0.5 blocks. It's not bad. The team's success. Yeah, we're number nine, and I say we because I'm a Lakers fan. Y'all know that. We're number nine in the league. Yeah, that's kind of outside that top three to six, right? So, you know, that does kind of hurt him. He's played 44 games, though. Win shares not bad at 6.7. I'm not too mad at it. He's just not in the top four. But the win shares I could excuse. Team success is eh. You know what I mean? Especially in comparison. Like, for example, the next person up for me is Anthony Edwards. Now, his win shares is 5.6, and his his team ranking is number 10. But you got to remember, though, he didn't have an all-star, not to my knowledge, unless I'm forgetting somebody. Meanwhile, Luca actually had LeBron James as an all-star. So let's think about that. They close in team comparison. And Ant's giving solid stats in production: 30 points, five rebounds, four assists, 1.4 steals, 1 block on 50-40, almost 80 splits. That's not bad. It's not bad at all. Like if we uptick them free throws, you might have talked about Ant La higher on the MVP award because now them win shares start getting a little tricky because the win because the timber was a little higher. I'm just saying, like, Ant, I have Ant higher than Luca, ladies and gentlemen. But Luca was top five on both Chat GPT and basketball reference NBA MVP's tracker. So, like I said, I had a couple of gripes with it, and I'm not biased because Luca on my team halfway won them off of it, but that's another discussion for another day. So let's go ahead and move on up from Anthony Edwards at number nine to Jamal Murray at number eight, which it gets tricky, ladies and gentlemen. He has solid win shares, okay? 6.7, which is the same as Luca, right? His team ranking is number eight currently. He's played 53 games. See, Ants played 48. Luca played 44 games. Jamal Murray's actually played more games than them, surprisingly. That's the first time that's happened in quite a bit. Not to mention Nicola Jokic actually got injured this season. So with Jamal Murray's win share rankings vaulting up to number five, it's not top four, but that's very close. That's as close as you're gonna get. And given good stats himself, 26 points, four rebounds, eight assists, one steal, one point, and.4 blocks on 48, 42, 88 splits. That's not bad. And again, he did have an all-star on his team, but his team was still in contention because Jamal Murray was hooping when Nikola Jokic was out. Not to mention, they also weren't playing with Aaron Gordon. So that's a double whammy right there. You gotta get I tip my cap off to Jamal Murray, even though he's at number eight for me. And that's no disrespect. He's had a great season thus far. First time all-star, showing his potential and promise. I do like him. All right. Number eight ain't bad. Because as we get a little higher, ladies and gentlemen, it gets a little tricky. Number seven, Victor Wimbenyama. Did you hear me? I got Wimby at seven. I might want to tier numbers four through seven. Just keep it a buck with you. You can possibly roll in Jamal Murray, possibly. But I'm gonna say seven right now. Only because, wait for it, right? Wimby has lower win shares. Okay. But his team number three in the league, and he's a key reason why that's occurred. Now he's played 50, 43 games. That's less than Jamal and Luca. But the team's success does help vault him upwards. Because again, it's a 10-game difference. But he's played the majority of the season. So I'm not gonna act like Wimby doesn't matter. Given 24 points, 11 rebounds, three assists, one steal, and three blocks on 51, 36, 81 splits. That's not bad. Let's also factor in the fact that, well, he has an all-star himself. So that does help out. But still, Wimby at number seven. The unicorn, or at least one of them, right? Defensively, he might be D boy. Offensively, he could win an MVP before long. But right now, I got him at number seven, especially when you hear me when I list out these other players coming up. Now, four through six, I genuinely do want to like it depends on the day. It genuinely depends on the day right now. Because these boys are hooping. And I'm gonna give you these tears just to just to just be honest. So I got Tyrese Maxie at number six, Nicola Jokic at number five, Kevin Durant at number four. And when I think about Tyrese, Tyrese is what number three in win shares? KD is number four in win shares, and Jokik is number two in win shares. The thing is, Tyrese has played 55 games, KD has played 53 games, and Jokik has played 42 games. That's why I start thinking, okay, can we switch these around some, which I genuinely do think so. Now Jokik is averaging a trip a triple double, okay? 29 points, 13 rebounds, 11 assists, 1.4 steals, 1 block. Tyrese giving me 29 points, 4 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 steals, 1 block. And let's not forget Tyrese Maxi is a 6'2 guard. Nikola Jokic is a 6'11 center. Both were on good splits. Jokic giving me 58, 42, and 84. And Tyrese is giving me 47, 38, 89. That's not bad. What tricks me up though, what trips me out is the fact that Tyrese did not have an all-star on his team, and Nikola Jokik did. Nikola Jokic's teammate is number eight on this list in Jamal Murray. Tyrese Maxie has been playing with MB in and out of lineups. Paul George got suspended recently. Like he's playing with a rookie, even though Vijay Edgecombe is solid. Starter, very good, very good player. Still a rookie. And that team, the ranking of the team hurts his case because they're number 13 right now. He's playing the most minutes, high usage rate, hooping his tail off. I can't quite put them definitively over yoking or even Kevin Durant. And keep in mind, KD got 26, 5-5 with one steal and one block on 51, 41, 88 splits. That's not bad. And we got an all-star in Singoon. Thing is, though, he has a 7-win share, which is around the same as Tyrese. Less than Jokic, because Jokic is at 10.5. Okay. He's played 53 games, but his team is rated number six. So yes, those stats for those individuals are a little bit better than KD's, arguably, right? The efficiency, KD's in the mix, without question. But the team success, which KD could be viewed as the leader of this team, of that Rockets team, it's a little higher. So if that team's success shifts any, like let's say Tyrese's team, 76ers go up to like number nine. All right, I might put them ahead of these boys. Because guess what? Yokik's team is number eight. KD's team is number six, and Tyrese is doing this without any all-star. Embiid's been injured. So I may consider that. But again, right now, because of how things are situated, KD's number four, Jokic's number five, Tyrese's number six. But depending on the day, they can alternate or even vault up into the top three. Now, ladies and gentlemen, we're at the top three here. Okay. Y'all remember the top three from the other list that we had? SGA, Nicola Jokic, and Cade Cunningham. That was on Chat GPTs. And then basketball reference gave me Nicola Jokic, SGA, and Cade Cunningham. So clearly, there's a little bit of a difference between my listing and theirs. So without question, let's start it off with number three. We got to go Jalen Brown. Now, this part might trip you up a little bit because win share rating-wise, you know, is not the best. He had 4.7 win shares. His team, though, is number four in the league. Let me say that again. In the league, number four. And he's played 51 games. Team success matters for this team, for Jalen Brown. Because you got to remember he's not playing with Jason Tatum. He has no other all-star on his squad, too, by the way, and given us 29.7 rebounds, five assists, one steal and 0.4 blocks. While I have some gripes with the defensive end, I understand it too. Because again, there's no JT. But he's giving me 48 from the field, percentage-wise, 34 from the three, and 78 free throws. If we ever just so much as uptick the threes and the free throws, we might go up a little bit higher. Because these other boys is hooping. I can't hold you. These other boys is hooping. There's really no negative thing to knock JB. Because again, this might be the wilder storyline that we're talking about. This helps his case out. No Jason Tatum. Your team is number four in the league, not the East, the league. That matters. He is the one option that we have been waiting to see. And I'm glad he finally got his opportunity. You know, be mindful because I'm going to be talking about him and JT in another episode. But JB at number three, he definitely could go up, so pay attention. Be very careful. Now, number two, Cade Cunningham. I was torn between Cade and obviously SGA is number one. Cade and SGA are playing around the same games. 49 to 50, favoring Cade. The win shares, though, yeah, they go to SGA. SGA is number one in win shares at 11.4. Cade is at 6.7. So Cade is slightly behind. Kevin Durant and Tyrese Maxie. A little bit ahead of Wimby. Right there with Jamal and Luca. And Chet, actually, in terms of win shares. Okay. Team success because the team is new. The expectations were not this high. The Detroit Pistons are number two, ladies and gentlemen, in the league. Not the East. Not the in the league. Okay? And Cade giving us 25 points, 6 rebounds, 10 assists, 1.5 steals, and one block on 46, 33, 81 splits. He does have an all-star to boost in Jalen Durin. But again, Cade is without question the leader of this team. And it was funny too because basketball reference actually has Jalen Durin listed as a top candidate for MVP. He's actually number six, which surprised me. Now let's be clear though. I do like Jalen Durin. He's giving them 18 points, 11 rebounds, one steal, one block, two assists. But this is without question Cade's team. And Cade is the key cog as to why these boys are number two. Yes, they have a good young team that is active, hungry, but Cade is without a doubt the best player. And to be honest with you, if we uptick the field goal percentage and the threes, I have a really strong case for why I could put him higher than SGA. Now, SGA, this is the reason why I got him number one. Again, win shares, he's right there. He's higher than Jokik, which Jokic is having a stellar season. I tried to make an argument for K number one, but hey, when you almost double someone's win shares, too, I gotta factor that in. He's played enough games, but here was the thing that did it for me. Yes, he's averaging 32 points, four rebounds, six assists, 1.3 steals, and one block on 55 from the field, 39 from the three, and 89 splits from the free throw line. We can talk about the team success. That does technically hurt SGA. But at the same time, he has been playing without Jalen Williams. He does have another all-star who also made honorable mention on my list in Chet Holmgren. But SGA is the only player top 10, to be in both top 10 in offensive win shares and defensive win shares. That's something to note. Throwing in the stats that he has and the fact that his team is still number one in the league. Yes, the Detroit Pistons were technically number one at one point in time. OKC took that back. Remember, we were talking about the Thunder as a dynasty building up. And SGA is the key cog of that engine. Because that was without Jalen Williams, by the way, this year, ladies and gentlemen. Now again, his team's success hurts him because they're defending champions, and we know how stout this OKC team is. But still, SGA currently, when I talk about my metrics, regular season award. So what you doing in the regular season? Top four player in win shares, team being top three to six, or a wilder storyline. SGA almost actually SGA hits all those metrics. Because regular season stats, he's in the thick of things. Only person who scored more than him is Luca, and Luca has the highest usage rating. Luca doesn't do what he does defensively, and respectfully, SGA has better splits than Luca. I gotta lean SGA number one. He hits all the checkboxes for me. I like Cade. I love JB. KD, cool. KD's my favorite player to watch. Currently, him and Steph are. Nicola Jokic is having a dominant season, averaging a triple-double. I told y'all Russell Westbrook won his because he averaged a triple-double. Nicola Jokic's number five for me. But again, it depends on the day, too. Because let him start playing a few more games. I may have to rethink this lineup. Tyrese Maxley been hooping. We got a lot of people that have been hooping, ladies and gentlemen. Wimby. Jamal Murray, I got to tip my cap to you. But SGA takes the cake. But ladies and gentlemen, as y'all can see, my listing is a little bit different than what ChatGBT came up with, than what basketball reference came up with. I'm sure ESBN's listing is going to be different than mine. I'm curious what you all think. What's your MVP listing? And I went as far as 10 with the honorable mention. 10 and a possible. So I'm curious what you all think in terms of who would you have be your MVP? Let's start off with top three. If you got a top five or a top 10, I'm cool with that. But I'm curious who your top three are, ladies and gentlemen. Also, I'm curious what you think of my listing. Is it wild? Is it wonky? Is it accurate? Let me know. But, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, that does conclude the end of the episode. So thank you all for listening. Please make sure to like, subscribe, comment, tell anyone who's anyone about the show. My name is Trey. I'm the host of Get a Bucket. I hope you are all having a good one. Take care.