*NEW* MVP Rankings

*NEW* MVP Rankings

*NEW* MVP Rankings

New week, new MVP rankings. An exciting time as we are nearing the end of the season faster than ever. If you guys have enjoyed March Madness so far, then you will enjoy the excitement surrounding these awards and rankings.

CourtSideHeat released their initial rankings of MVP, but now we are releasing a new one. With everyone having their good moments, bad moments, and neutral moments; how will this all effect the rankings? Find out now, right here!

Real quick… take a look at our last MVP Race Rankings

1. WINNER: Joel Embiid 
2. RUNNER-UP: Nikola Jokic 
3. DeMar DeRozan
4. Ja Morant 
5. Giannis Antetokounmpo
6. Devin Booker 
7. Steph Curry
8. Luka Doncic

Personally, some things will be altered as there will be two new entries to this list. As each week passes, really every game that passes, we are having this conflicting issue of who is going to win. Or at least be the runner-up and beyond.

What has the main players done this week (or leading up to the end of the week)?

Antetokounmpo, Embiid, and Jokic all are having a successful week. They all have records of 1-0 this week as their teams have been dominant with each player contributing in huge ways when on the court.

Giannis is currently averaging 25 points, 17 rebounds, and 5 assists per game this week. Joel Embiid is currently averaging 30 points, 10 rebounds, and 3 assists per game this week. Nikola Jokic is currently averaging 30 points, 14 rebounds, and 6 assists per game this week.

If they end this week with these kind of stats, then there will be strong cases being built about changing the winner, runner-up, etc. To be honest, Giannis Antetokounmpo is proving himself to be a third-place MVPer; but I am taking Jokic and Embiid to be the closest. Having that closest battle all season as Denver and Philly have been having speculator starts and finishes to their season.

How has everyone else been fairing this week?

DeMar DeRozan is currently averaging 23.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2 blocks in 2 games this week. Ja Morant hasn’t played this week yet as he is battling injury issues, to be more specific, it is a knee soreness injury. Devin Booker is currently averaging 28 points, 7 assists and 3 rebounds in 1 game this week. Stephen Curry is done for the season due to an injury of his own, something that took place during the Celtics-Warriors game not too long ago. Lastly, Luka Doncic is currently averaging 15.0 points, 10.0 assists and 6.0 rebounds in 1 game this week.

Curry is no longer in the MVP Race as injuries are going to ruin his chances; his chances were solid, not great enough to win, but good enough to be a contender. Unless he was averaging 40/10/5 per game, then no way could we continue to add his name to the MVP Conversation.

Doncic is an interesting name to consider; not impressive, stat-wise, by any stretch of the imagination. But I would consider him a top-five contender without fail. Truth be told, the top three guys (Giannis, Embiid, Jokic) will always be the top three as no one is going to consider Tatum over Jokic. Right? Same goes for Morant, Booker, Doncic, DeRozan, or whoever else you want to put into the MVP Conversation.

New MVP List!

1. WINNER: Nikola Jokic
2. RUNNER-UP: Joel Embiid
3. Giannis Antetokounmpo
4. Ja Morant 
5. Kevin Durant
6. Devin Booker
7. Jayson Tatum
8. LeBron James
9. DeMar DeRozan
10. Luka Doncic

Like I said before, big changes are happening and new additions were going to happen. People have been favoring Jokic to win, however, it is very close. Going from last Monday to now, Wednesday, Jokic has been (slightly) one step ahead of Joel Embiid. Embiid and Jokic are having a great rivalry as I want to award this ranking to Embiid, but Jokic has shown more over a span of a week and a few days.

Giannis has jumped from number five to number three very quickly because of how phenomenal he has been playing. Passing up guys like Morant and DeRozan, why? Because Morant and DeRozan have been good, but not as impressive as Giannis. Giannis is on another level that Morant and DeRozan cannot have. I guess he is just built different.

Devin Booker remains the same, not because he doesn’t deserve to move to a better spot, but because of the new additions. Tatum, Durant, and LeBron have been playing out of their minds. Durant, before getting Kyrie back, has been on fire and trying everything he possibly could just to win. He has been amazing on the road and at home. Same goes for LeBron, different situations, but LeBron has been averaging serious numbers across the board just to compete in a game. Not securing the win (shockingly) but allowing them to compete. I guess that is a win all on it’s own?

Then Tatum has been transcendent for the Celtics, who was putting up fifty-burgers like it is nothing. He is doing what he has always been doing; it helps when national attention is given to a player that is transforming his team and their record. Improving himself each year, setting career-highs, and allowing himself to become the best him to date. Career-highs in points scored, minutes played, rebounds, and has been playing a ton of games (70).

What happened to Doncic and DeRozan?

Don’t get me wrong both men are amazing respectively; but, to be real, there are so many guys that pass them and it isn’t even funny. Doncic and DeMar are now those two guys that are fighting for the eighth, ninth, and tenth spot as they won’t beat out guys like Jokic, LeBron, Embiid, Giannis, or anyone else off of that list. Maybe Morant as Morant isn’t a locked-in fourth place winner, he isn’t. That could easily go to Tatum, Durant, or even Booker.

However, even with injuries (if that were to occur) would not make DeMar and Luka skyrocket to the top. Sadly, as much as I like them, it just doesn’t make logical and emotional sense to have them as top competitors for this glorious award.

Doncic and DeRozan does not have the backing, platform, and big-time stats as majority of their coworkers do. That is me being honest, maybe the brutal truth; however, it needs to be said without hesitation.

So nothing technically happened to the two great athletes; more big names and talent came into the picture and bullied out DeMar and Luka.

Will the final games of the season determine a player’s success of winning this award?

Yes and no. It all depends on the situation, stats they are putting up, and different things like that. Unless injuries occur, H/S Protocols, or load management, I couldn’t see these lists across the internet change greatly or even slightly.

The biggest thing you will have to keep an eye out for would be Embiid and Jokic; that is going to be the closest thing. Giannis fatigue is going to set in soon and that is why they are either going to crown a new MVP or give it to the reigning MVP, Jokic. For entertaining purposes for fans, I would say Embiid. Majority of everyone will pick Embiid, would be really cool to see Embiid have a MVP Award.

But, yeah, it gets very interesting for the final days as that is when the speculation ramps up and final speculation sets in and we see if we were right or wrong. CourtSideHeat will come out with one more MVP Ranking List come this Sunday or Monday as that will conclude our final bets, takes, etc as that will lead us into the postseason.

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