NBA Award Watch: Harden, Porzingis and Lillard make their first appearances

Most Valuable Player

Originally, in Week 1, I handed out the early season MVP award to Giannis Antetokounmpo. The Greek Freak was playing out of his mind and the Milwaukee Bucks were successful as a team. That steam has definitely slowed down as the Bucks are now under .500, as of Monday night.

There’s a new front-runner in the MVP campaign, a player that’s been coming in the top three spots the last few years: James Harden.

Leaders in the Western Conference — without their second-best player, Chris Paul — the Houston Rockets have been carried by Harden. He’s averaging 29.5 points and 9.7 assists on 46 percent shooting from the field and 40 percent from three-point range.

Harden even had a 56-point performance this past week on 19-of-25 shooting that had a lot of fans excited over the team’s future when Paul returns to the lineup. With Antetokounmpo out of the running for now, Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant nullifying each other and LeBron James’ team sitting at 4-6, Harden seems like the most obvious pick.

The Rockets also have a signature win over the Warriors and finishing with a top record could help Harden land his first ever MVP honor.