NBA MVP Race

Another NBA season is in the books, but before we look ahead to the playoffs and crown a new champion, let's look back on this regular season to determine the league's Most Valuable Player.

The term "most valuable" is open to interpretation, as there are a lot of factors involved.  Essentially how I look at it is a combination of who had the best statistical seasons combined with how much they helped their team win.  So while guys that stuff the stat sheet for lottery bound teams may be great in your fantasy league, they don't belong on this list.

MVP

1. Kevin Durant
2. LeBron James
3. Blake Griffin
4. Stephen Curry
5. Joakim Noah

This was essentially a two man race between Durant and James, with everyone else relegated to a lower tier of contenders.  While it's hard to argue that LeBron isn't the league's best all around player, Durant surpassed him by having a better season.

The advanced metrics favor Durant, who lead the league by a slim margin over James in PER (29.9), Value Added (903.8) and Estimated Wins Added (30.1).  He's also the league's most prolific scorer, with a league leading 32.0 points per game.  Through one scorching stretch this season, Durant scored 25+ points in 41 straight games - a streak that was only snapped when he was rested the entire fourth quarter of a blowout win.  He finished the game with 23 points, which is a fitting number considering who he surpassed with this streak.  With sidekick Russell Westbrook banged up throughout the season, Durant was forced to take on an even greater responsibility in carrying the Thunder's offense.  Not only was he up to the challenge, but he did so without sacrificing efficiency.   Durant put together another near 50-40-90 season, with shooting percentages of .503 from the field, .391 from beyond the arc and .873 from the charity stripe.

Not that LeBron is any slouch in the scoring department.  He was still third in the league in scoring (27.1), but more incredibly was also fourth in FG% (.567).  That's far better than any non-center and nobody near the top of that list came close to the number of shots LeBron took.  Compared to Durant, he is also a better passer and slightly better rebounder.  Wait, didn't Durant average more rebounds per game this season? Yes, he did, but LeBron had a better rebound rate (11.5), which measures the percentage of missed shots a player rebounds.  Yet Durant managed to close the gap in those areas, while remaining ahead of him as a scorer.  The biggest difference between the two used to be on the defensive end, but LeBron slipped a bit this year.  Many often wondered aloud this season if LeBron seemed to be coasting at times, particularly on defense.  After three straight Finals appearances, can you blame the guy for conserving some energy for another playoff run?  Perhaps not, but Durant's consistency helps nudge him ahead in the MVP race.

Chris Paul is still the Clippers best player, but he also missed 20 games this season due to injury, which takes him out of the race.  In his absence, Blake Griffin made the leap into the conversation of the league's best players by leading the Clippers to a 12-6 record during an 18 game stretch that CP3 was sidelined.  Griffin had a career best PER (23.98) and scored a career high 24.1 points per game.  A key part of this improvement came in his shooting.  While he remains a poor three-point shooter, his mid-range game has improved.  While he was once a liability at the free-throw line, he shot a respectable .715 from the line this year.  Lob City was fun, but Griffin is now much more than just a guy that can throw down awesome dunks.

Curry may be the league's best shooter and perhaps the most vital to his team's offense.  The Warriors had an offensive efficiency of 109.7 when Curry was on the court (per NBA.com), which is a rate that would have led the league. With Curry on the bench, that efficiency dropped to a miserable 93.2, which would easily be the worst in the league.  If we're talking "most valuable", that essentially sums up what makes Curry the most valuable offensive player in the league.  Of course, there are two sides to the game of basketball and Curry is a minus on the defensive end.  Luckily for the Warriors, Curry's defensive deficiencies are easy to hide when you have Andrew Bogut patrolling the paint and a lock-down wing defender like Andre Iguodala guarding the perimeter.

The Bulls got off to a rough start this season with the loss of Derrick Rose (again), but they managed to rally around Noah to climb to the 4th seed in the East.  His team feeds off his energy and the non-stop motor that has helped him become a strong contender for Defensive Player of the Year (especially with Indiana's late collapse weakening Roy Hibbert's case).  Chicago's defensive efficiency with Noah on the court is 95.2 and 103.4 when he sits.  However, it's not just his defense that helped turn the Bulls season around.  The team's identity changed when they started to run their offense through him.  How many teams can say their center is their best play-maker?  In addition to setting career highs in points (12.6) and rebounds (11.3), Noah's career high 5.4 assists is most telling.  He tied for second in the league in triple-doubles with 4, showcasing his versatility.  After his close friend Luol Deng was traded mid-season, the Bulls were deprived of one of the few players on their roster capable of initiating the offense.  The burden fell on Noah and he responded with the best season of his career.  Noah was furious when Deng got traded because it felt like the team was giving up on it's season, so he used that to fuel him on his incredible second half tear.  In reality, Chicago traded Deng for Andrew Bynum's non-guaranteed contract to save money and duck under the luxury tax line.  The best part is that Noah's leap to the elite should earn him a spot on the All-NBA first team that would trigger a bonus payment in his contract that would put the Bulls over the tax anyway.

Best of the rest

The Near misses

Dirk Nowitzki remains one of the league's elite players, despite that he should be slowing down at age 35. He deserves a lot of credit for carrying a fairly limited supporting cast to the last playoff spot in a highly competitive Western Conference.

James Harden had another strong season, raking 5th in the league in scoring (25.4), despite having to deal with adjusting the offense to incorporate Dwight Howard.  At times he can be a lazy defender, but having Howard behind him helps Houston cover for that.

LaMarcus Aldridge and the Blazers got off to a hot start, but tailed off a bit in the second half.  Portland looked like a contender while winning 17 of their first 20 games, but eventually settled for the 5th seed. Granted their 58 wins would have tied Miami for 2nd in the East, but their slide keeps LA just outside the list.

Paul George was in the mix for a while, but the Pacers stumbled down the stretch and George's shooting slump was a big part of the reason why.  Indiana is still a strong defensive team, but they struggle on offense when George doesn't have it going.

Missed too much time

Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook, Al Horford, Brook Lopez.  Thanks for playing, you just didn't play enough.

Studs on dud teams

Kevin Love continues to put up huge numbers, but eventually we have to start wondering why he's never played on a team with a winning record.  Former GM David Khan deserves much of the blame for the team's struggles, but he's long gone now.  This was supposed to be the year he finally made the playoffs, but they didn't come close.

Carmelo Anthony was second in the league in scoring, but also led perhaps the league's most disappointing team.  The stench of the Knicks failure to even make the playoffs in a weak Conference drags him down.

Anthony Davis is one of the league's brightest young stars, but the Pelicans were derailed by so many injuries that they never had a shot at the postseason.  Give him another year and he could be in the conversation.

Least Valuable Player

This one goes out to Larry Sanders, who signed a big new contract before the season and immediately made the Bucks regret it.  It started with his involvement in a bar fight that delayed the start of his season and ended with an eye injury that ended his season after only 23 games.  In between he saw troubling declines in his points, rebounds and blocks, while also managing to get himself suspended for smoking pot.  The Bucks might as well have lit $44 million on fire rather than clog their future cap space with a new contract for Sanders.  Believe it or not, Milwaukee entered the season planning on competing for a postseason spot, but thanks to the derailment of Sanders' career, they instead ended up with the league's worst record.  He was so bad, the Sixers probably considered trading for him!  On the bright side, getting such little value out of Sanders this season may help them land a future star in the lottery that can help turn the franchise around. That has to have some value in it.