2042 Top 10 Preseason MVP Candidates
May 22, 2019 11:59:25 GMT
vanimmer, naterade, and 1 more like this
Post by ucfinfan86 on May 22, 2019 11:59:25 GMT
I'm trying to come up with different article ideas instead of the typical same season preview articles. Decided to take a look at the top 10 MVP candidates for this season. I know that this award is essentially only for PGs, but I wanted to mix it up and purposely included other positions on here. While this might not be the traditional list that the game will use, I think it's a pretty accurate representation of the league.
1. PG Bob Cousy – 32yo
No surprise that Bob Cousy comes in at #1 on the list. He will likely go down at the greatest player in NBN history when he retires. He’s won 7 straight MVPs, 2 straight championships (4 total), and 3 playoff MVPs. At age 32, he’s probably nearing the end of his prime, but he’s been so far above the rest of the field it probably doesn’t matter yet. He did have a slight decrease from B+ to B in training camp, but still holds his A, A+, A+ for Outside/Handles/Defense. At this point the Celtics look poised to be among the best teams in the league and probably only an injury can derail an 8th straight MVP.
2. PG Nico Mannion – 26yo
Nico is moving over to the East and is probably the next most likely MVP candidate. He keeps getting snubbed from All League awards, but he’s been named to 3 straight all-star games and should just be entering his prime at age 26. He appears to have improved his defense going from A to A+ in TC. I think he’s been viewed the past few seasons as the 2nd or 3rd best PG (w/Lumpp) in the league and with Lumpp likely beginning to decline, the mantle is probably his until West/Oscar finish developing. Nico is going to a team that will be a playoff team and could possibly push for a top 4 seed. I think there's a good chance that you see Nico have the best season of his career. Can he put up 30-5-10-2 with sub 2 TOs on 48% shooting? The Cavs will probably need to push for home court advantage for Nico to have his best case.
3. PG Jerry West – 22yo
I have a feeling we are going to be saying West or Oscar for the next 10 seasons once Cousy hands over that title. I think that West can be the better overall player, but Oscar will probably have the gaudier triple double stats. West had the best rookie season of anyone that I can remember and will be a top scorer for the next decade. A rookie stat line of 27-5.5-7.5-2 on 47% FG and 46% 3pt is just crazy and he just received a supercamp. He appears like as sure of a thing to become a 30ppg as anyone. Helping his MVP candidacy is the fact that I think the Hornets will be pretty damn good this year. I think their odds are as good as any team in the Central to win the division. A 30-6-9-2 on 47%-46% line would seem overly optimistic, but within reach.
4. PG Oscar Robertson – 22yo
Entering his 3rd season and the sky is the limit for Oscar. He appears to be on path to becoming the next Booboo McAdoo. I wouldn’t be surprised if Oscar retires as the all-time leader in triple doubles. Booboo currently has 79 and appears to be on his last legs while Oscar has already recorded 11 in just his first 2 seasons. #4 might be a little premature on this list, but I think outside of Cousy, he has the highest potential. In order for him to stake his best claim, he is going to need to reduce his 3.4 TOs from last year into the 2.5 range. He will also need the Nuggets to outperform expectations. The Nuggets have 3 really good players, but not much beyond that. It has the least talented wing group of teams with playoff aspirations. Oddly, this does help Oscar because they are going to need them to carry him. Over/Under 8 triple doubles for the Big O this season?
5. SG Miki Berkovich – 25yo
6. SF Paul Arizin – 32yo
If Arizin hasn’t won the MVP by now, he likely never will. That being said, no one but Cousy has won the award recently. It feels crazy to say since he’s been so good for so long, but his stats last year were as good as any season he’s had previously. He put up 29.7-8-4-2.4 on 52% FG and 50% 3pt. The counting stats are great, but it’s the efficiency that is really eye popping. At age 32, he probably only has 1 or 2 more seasons left of being the best SF in the league. The Pacers didn’t really make any moves this offseason and will again be relying heavily on Arizin to carry them.
7. PG Ray Lumpp – 34yo
He was the mini-Cousy before Cousy with 3 MVPs in 4 seasons in the beginning of his career. He’s 34yo now and declined from B- to C+ inside in TC, but still holds A+ A+ A outside/handle/defense. He’s coming off a fantastic season scoring 31ppg on 48% shooting with nearly 11 assists. I do wonder if they could have been even better if it wasn’t on an inactive team. I debated a lot about where to place Lumpp on this list. He’s the oldest player on the list, but is also the only one aside from Cousy who has won an MVP. I considered him as high as #3 and think that I ended up to low with him at #7. Speaking honestly though, I didn’t want everyone on the top list to be PGs. I’m also not sure if the Warriors will be good enough to have the MVP. They have 3 good players in Zoran, Coleman, and Lumpp but don’t really have much at SG or C and lack depth everywhere. The roster feels like more of a 6-8 seed, but while they have their holes, the west is WIDE open so maybe Lumpp can carry them to homecourt advantage.
9. PF Maurice Stokes – 27yo
Stokes is the only big man to make the list. I think he is easily the best all around big in the league. He’s arguably the best scoring big man and is still improving, raising his PPG every season of his career. He’s also one of, if not the best rebounder in the league, averaging 15 a game and a top shot blocker at just under 4 a game. At just 27yo it’s reasonable to think he’ll continue to get better. I doubt a big man would ever win the official MVP in this league, but that doesn’t mean he shouldn’t be on this list. What exactly is his ceiling? Could he average 30-15-4? It would probably require him to raise his 3pt % to closer to 40% and with Clyde now on the team he may steal some of his rebounds. This team should be a title contender and I think Stokes is their best overall player.
10. SG Sergei Belov – 29yo
Honorable Mention:
No surprise that Bob Cousy comes in at #1 on the list. He will likely go down at the greatest player in NBN history when he retires. He’s won 7 straight MVPs, 2 straight championships (4 total), and 3 playoff MVPs. At age 32, he’s probably nearing the end of his prime, but he’s been so far above the rest of the field it probably doesn’t matter yet. He did have a slight decrease from B+ to B in training camp, but still holds his A, A+, A+ for Outside/Handles/Defense. At this point the Celtics look poised to be among the best teams in the league and probably only an injury can derail an 8th straight MVP.
2. PG Nico Mannion – 26yo
Nico is moving over to the East and is probably the next most likely MVP candidate. He keeps getting snubbed from All League awards, but he’s been named to 3 straight all-star games and should just be entering his prime at age 26. He appears to have improved his defense going from A to A+ in TC. I think he’s been viewed the past few seasons as the 2nd or 3rd best PG (w/Lumpp) in the league and with Lumpp likely beginning to decline, the mantle is probably his until West/Oscar finish developing. Nico is going to a team that will be a playoff team and could possibly push for a top 4 seed. I think there's a good chance that you see Nico have the best season of his career. Can he put up 30-5-10-2 with sub 2 TOs on 48% shooting? The Cavs will probably need to push for home court advantage for Nico to have his best case.
3. PG Jerry West – 22yo
I have a feeling we are going to be saying West or Oscar for the next 10 seasons once Cousy hands over that title. I think that West can be the better overall player, but Oscar will probably have the gaudier triple double stats. West had the best rookie season of anyone that I can remember and will be a top scorer for the next decade. A rookie stat line of 27-5.5-7.5-2 on 47% FG and 46% 3pt is just crazy and he just received a supercamp. He appears like as sure of a thing to become a 30ppg as anyone. Helping his MVP candidacy is the fact that I think the Hornets will be pretty damn good this year. I think their odds are as good as any team in the Central to win the division. A 30-6-9-2 on 47%-46% line would seem overly optimistic, but within reach.
4. PG Oscar Robertson – 22yo
Entering his 3rd season and the sky is the limit for Oscar. He appears to be on path to becoming the next Booboo McAdoo. I wouldn’t be surprised if Oscar retires as the all-time leader in triple doubles. Booboo currently has 79 and appears to be on his last legs while Oscar has already recorded 11 in just his first 2 seasons. #4 might be a little premature on this list, but I think outside of Cousy, he has the highest potential. In order for him to stake his best claim, he is going to need to reduce his 3.4 TOs from last year into the 2.5 range. He will also need the Nuggets to outperform expectations. The Nuggets have 3 really good players, but not much beyond that. It has the least talented wing group of teams with playoff aspirations. Oddly, this does help Oscar because they are going to need them to carry him. Over/Under 8 triple doubles for the Big O this season?
5. SG Miki Berkovich – 25yo
The first non-PG on the list. I thought Miki was going to take more of a step forward offensively than he did last year. What he did defensively though was quite impressive. Miki jumped up nearly a full steal per game to 3 and received his 3rd overall All Defensive award, but his first 1st team. His ppg jumped up slightly, but a FG% below 45% is disappointing. The reason I have him listed 5th is because few players can match his 2 way game to go along with his youth/potential to improve and also being on a title contending team. If he can lead the Raptors to the Central division title with a 27-8-4.5-3 on 47% FG, I think he has a strong case, even if a SG will likely never with the official award.
If Arizin hasn’t won the MVP by now, he likely never will. That being said, no one but Cousy has won the award recently. It feels crazy to say since he’s been so good for so long, but his stats last year were as good as any season he’s had previously. He put up 29.7-8-4-2.4 on 52% FG and 50% 3pt. The counting stats are great, but it’s the efficiency that is really eye popping. At age 32, he probably only has 1 or 2 more seasons left of being the best SF in the league. The Pacers didn’t really make any moves this offseason and will again be relying heavily on Arizin to carry them.
7. PG Ray Lumpp – 34yo
He was the mini-Cousy before Cousy with 3 MVPs in 4 seasons in the beginning of his career. He’s 34yo now and declined from B- to C+ inside in TC, but still holds A+ A+ A outside/handle/defense. He’s coming off a fantastic season scoring 31ppg on 48% shooting with nearly 11 assists. I do wonder if they could have been even better if it wasn’t on an inactive team. I debated a lot about where to place Lumpp on this list. He’s the oldest player on the list, but is also the only one aside from Cousy who has won an MVP. I considered him as high as #3 and think that I ended up to low with him at #7. Speaking honestly though, I didn’t want everyone on the top list to be PGs. I’m also not sure if the Warriors will be good enough to have the MVP. They have 3 good players in Zoran, Coleman, and Lumpp but don’t really have much at SG or C and lack depth everywhere. The roster feels like more of a 6-8 seed, but while they have their holes, the west is WIDE open so maybe Lumpp can carry them to homecourt advantage.
8. PG Panagiotis Giannakis – 25yo
Giannakis started off his career very strong and looking like a potential MVP candidate by the end of his rookie contract. He came into the league with a lot of hype. He had one of the best pre-draft ratings that I had seen up to that point and combined with the fast start to his career I think his reputation was greater than his actual value. Unfortunately he kind of plateaued after his rookie contract ended. He’s still one of the better scoring PGs in the league, but he doesn’t do anything else extremely well. He’s pretty average as far as steals, turnovers and assists go for a PG and has yet to win any awards. Instead of leaping into that top 3 range, he kind of settled into that 5-10 range, which is still very good. All that being said, I still believe with his scoring ability that he has the potential to put together a great season to be on this list. The Wizards should be fighting for home court. They pair Giannakis with another stud in Drazen and then some other really good players like Galis and Johnston, but ultimately will go as far as Giannakis takes them. 9. PF Maurice Stokes – 27yo
Stokes is the only big man to make the list. I think he is easily the best all around big in the league. He’s arguably the best scoring big man and is still improving, raising his PPG every season of his career. He’s also one of, if not the best rebounder in the league, averaging 15 a game and a top shot blocker at just under 4 a game. At just 27yo it’s reasonable to think he’ll continue to get better. I doubt a big man would ever win the official MVP in this league, but that doesn’t mean he shouldn’t be on this list. What exactly is his ceiling? Could he average 30-15-4? It would probably require him to raise his 3pt % to closer to 40% and with Clyde now on the team he may steal some of his rebounds. This team should be a title contender and I think Stokes is their best overall player.
10. SG Sergei Belov – 29yo
If you are judging Belov on his 2040 season, I think he has the best non-PG MVP case. Unfortunately he had a down year for his standards last season. He dropped nearly 5ppg, 30% FG, 80%. He did improve elsewhere though, so assuming he just had a prolonged shooting slump, I think he has the potential to move up quite a bit on this list. At 29, he should be in the middle of his prime and he didn’t have any movement in TC for 2 straight seasons. With Davies gone and Nicolin taking over as PG, Belov should theoretically have more ball handling responsibilities. The Nets should continue to be in title contention and if Belov can raise his FG% back to even just his career average of .468 while keeping his other stats and leading a top 4 team, he should have a strong case.
PG Trae Young
PG Larry Costello
SG Frank Selvy
SF Elgin Baylor
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