NBA Award Watch: Chris Paul is on a mission
By John Buhler
There have been some early shakeups in many of the NBA’s award races. Here are the front-runners for the best NBA hardware through roughly the first month.
The 2016-17 NBA season is roughly a month completed. We haven’t seen enough of all 30 teams to make serious observations and declarations, but we can gather a decent sample size to have interesting conversations.
Teams like the Charlotte Hornets, the Los Angeles Clippers, and the Los Angeles Lakers are exceeding expectations. Other clubs like the Indiana Pacers, the Minnesota Timberwolves, and the Washington Wizards have been worse than projected.
As of November 15th, here are the front-runners for all the major awards in the 2016-17 NBA season.
Most Valuable Player: Chris Paul
Through 11 NBA games this season, Los Angeles Clippers point guard Chris Paul has elevated his play above everybody else considerably. He’s been a top-tier point guard and an All-NBA player for some time. Now Paul is pushing for his first NBA MVP.
Paul is leading the NBA is so many statistical categories. A few of the most jaw dropping have to be PER (33.6), Defensive Win Shares (0.9), Win Shares (2.9), and Win Shares per 48 (.425). Offensively, Paul is averaging 19.2 points per game and 8.5 assists per game, shooting at a .485/.473/.914 clip.
Through defensive excellence and offensive prowess, Paul is the floor general and the defensive anchor for the best team in basketball through November 15th. Los Angeles is playing arguably its best basketball since Paul arrived in a high-profile trade with the then New Orleans Hornets several years ago.
Paul can opt out of his player option this summer, but may inevitably stay in Los Angeles with the Clippers. He seems to be having a blast playing basketball in Los Angeles, as he is playing at an MVP level at age 31.