When you think of current NBA MVP’s you probably think of two names – LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma City Thunder. You’d of course be correct as both have held the hardware in recent seasons.
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But what about Derrick Rose? The Chicago Bulls star hasn’t seen the floor much due to injury, but the former Memphis Tiger talent looks to be returning to form. Might he be in contention to win yet another NBA MVP award? Seems a bit illogical off the top considering he’s only played in 49 games the past three seasons, though an expert panel from ESPN thinks it’s very possible.
In fact, the collection of minds stated they believe he’ll fall in place directly behind the aforementioned James and Durant and rank third in MVP voting during the 2014-15 season.
So how did they get the results, you ask? Simple formula as noted below.
"We asked the ESPN Forecast team to rank their top three choices for 2014-15 Most Valuable Player. Then we totaled up the ballots, with a first-place vote receiving five points, a second-place vote receiving three and a third-place vote receiving one."
It’s a pretty bold pick considering Derrick Rose’s injury history, though when you get past James and Durant the options tend to open up and if healthy, you have to think Rose would certainly be in contention for the award. It’s unlikely that he’ll pass up either James or Durant though it’s reasonable to believe he’ll be a top three finisher.
All that said, it’s a pretty safe assumption that Derrick Rose is more concerned with how his Chicago Bulls do and not what type of individual hardware he can potentially bring home at season end.