5 NBA MVP Candidates Through One Month
Although it is still too early to make any serious determinations about where the season is headed, a handful have players have separated themselves early on as potential MVP candidates. Here is a small sample of that select group.
1. Stephen Curry, Golden State Warriors
Steph has long been one of the most exciting players in the league, but has stepped it up in Steve Kerr's debut season with Golden State. His Player Efficiency Rating (PER) of 27.88 is good for second in the league, and his True Shooting Percentage ranks tops among starting point guards. You want some traditional stats? Curry is averaging twenty-four points, eight assists, and five rebounds per night while hitting just under fifty percent of his shots - including last night's game winner.
2. Anthony Davis, New Orleans Pelicans
Davis has exploded in his second year in the league, showing a combination of size and athleticism that comes around once or twice in a generation. Just look at what happened when Kendrick Perkins tried to post him up:
Oh, MAN, Perk! That ain't good, my man. Sure, it's Kendrick Perkins, but this is the type of stuff that The Brow is doing on a nightly basis. He leads the league in PER and is dropping twenty-five points and eleven rebounds each night. New Orleans will have to win more games for Davis to earn the individual honor, but his play can't be ignored.
3. Kyle Lowry, Toronto Raptors
Lowry doesn't dominate the advanced statistics like Curry and Davis, but his metrics are still among the tops in the league, and he's the go-to guy on the best team in the Eastern Conference. Twenty points, seven assists, and five rebounds is what you can count on Lowry for every night, and he's going to take it to the basket with authority. Listed at six feet tall, Lowry is able to use his muscular frame to get where he wants to go.
4. Chris Paul, Los Angeles Clippers
Chris Paul is very likely headed to the Hall-of-Fame, but his start this year ranks among the finest in his already-stellar career. The eighteen points and ten assists aren't a surprise, but he's posting a career high field goal percentage of .526. The Clippers will contend for the division, which will vault their most effective player into the MVP conversation.
5. DeMarcus Cousins, Sacramento Kings
DeMarcus is arguably the most dominant center in the league (being that Anthony Davis is a power forward) and is, by far, the most physically talented. The question has always been whether his attitude would catch up with his skill set - and it appears to have happened this season. The Kings are off to their best start in a decade and it has a lot to do with DMC. His PER of 27.82 is third in the league behind Curry and Davis, and he's putting up an average of twenty-four points and thirteen rebounds. If the Kings can keep up their start and sneak into the playoffs, expect to hear more of Cousins in the MVP discussion.
