Wajahat Malik
1. Luka Doncic, Dallas Mavericks
Luka Doncic is my favorite to win the NBA MVP this upcoming season. This past season he averaged 28 ppg, 9 rpg, and almost 9 apg which is close to averaging a triple double. This past season the Mavericks were the 4th seed and with the addition of Christian Wood, they will be a top 3 team in the West. I expect Luka to average thirty points next season since the defense has to worry about Wood too now since he is a solid player with all-star potential. You might say that getting doubled can be a good thing since he creates open shots for his teammates but with that style of play, it cannot make them a championship team. Luka has to be the best player, especially in the scoring column, and having his shooters like Reggie Bullock and others take more shots would not be the best strategy. They made the western conference finals of Luka being ball dominant but to make the finals, they needed to play team basketball and not have Luka do everything. However, the MVP is a regular season award and Luka has been taking this off-season more seriously than his previous ones by playing more basketball and getting in better shape. This will help his defense and conditioning which will allow him to play more games and overall better basketball.
2. Devin Booker, Phoenix Suns
Devin Booker is my second favorite candidate to win the MVP award. This past season he averaged almost 27 ppg, 5 rpg, and almost 5 apg. The Suns were also the first-seeded team in the west and had the best record in the NBA. The Suns were eliminated in the second round which was upsetting because a lot of people had them winning the championship last year. Booker was doing a lot of carrying after the all-star break when his point guard Chris Paul went down with a thumb injury. He had to switch his position to the point guard and made the most of it by having games where he was getting ten-plus assists. A lot of people thought that the suns were going to lose the top seed, but Booker made sure that did not happen. This was Booker’s best season in the NBA, and I expect him to average 30 ppg this upcoming season.
3. Jayson Tatum, Boston Celtics
Jayson Tatum is my third favorite to win the MVP award. This past season he averaged almost 27 ppg, 8 rpg, and 4 apg. The Celtics were the 2nd seed, and it was a surprise because they had a bad start at the beginning of the season. If they would have started the season strong, possibly Tatum would have won the MVP award. Tatum also struggled at the beginning of the season as well but as the season progressed, he got into a rhythm and found his groove. The Celtics made the finals last season but fell short to the warriors and I believe with that outcome, Tatum will have a chip on his shoulder to reach new heights which will put him in the conversation for winning MVP next season. He was first team all-NBA and is going to have his best season that is going to arrive in October.