NBA Season Preview: Picks and projections
By Staff
Who finishes third in the MVP voting?
Buhler: James Harden behind only Chris Paul and Russell Westbrook.
Williams: Kawhi Leonard behind Karl-Anthony Towns and Russ.
Yeung: James Harden, behind Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant. (Serge Ibaka finishes fourth, obviously.)
Masterson: Kevin Durant, behind Russell Westbrook and James Harden. Weep for the 2012 Finals, a reminder that everything we love dies eventually.
Rossman-Reich: Stephen Curry behind Chris Paul and LeBron James. Curry gets some blowback from his numbers going down. But he is still Stephen Curry. And the best player on the best team gets MVP votes. The Clippers will be a good regular season team and this is Paul’s year to shine.
Barnewall: LeBron James. I think he’s gonna take it easy this year, but he’ll be the dominant force he always is.
Rowell: LeBron James. He’s a popular pick after what he did in the Finals but I’d guess he will be taking it easy to start the season, which slots him around spot number three if the trend from the past couple years continue.
Israeli: Season win total remains paramount in the MVP vote. After LeBron, Durant and Curry split the vote, finishing in that order.