James Harden, Not Giannis Antetokounmpo, Is Our NBA MVP Ahead of the All-Star Break

Lead Mid-Season NBA Awards 2019

The majority of people handing out their mid-season awards gave the nod to Antetokounmpo because the best player on the best team often wins it (friendly reminder the Bucks have the best record in the NBA right now). He was briefly the leader, according to Vegas, to win the award and rightfully so as the Greek Freak has basically become a cheat code. How do you stop him? At age 24, it’s scary to think where the 7-footer with moves like a two-guard is going to be when he reaches his prime (in roughly three-to-four years) or when he finally develops a 3-point shot (maybe the only true flaw in his game right now since he’s shooting a putrid 21.3 percent from beyond the arc).

But the reason we’re giving it to Harden is that his absurd run of scoring hasn’t (entirely) been a self-serving showcase of how he’s the game’s unstoppable offensive superstar. It’s kind of been necessary as the Rockets were floundering through the first two months of the season, suffering from injuries and such perplexing ineffectiveness that we declared they wouldn’t make the playoffs. We’re probably going to have to walk that one back, but since we dropped that hot take Harden’s basically been unconscious on the offensive end, making his 3-point step-back the game’s most deadly move. The Rockets went from one of the worst teams in the Western Conference to firmly in the mix for securing home-court advantage through at least the first round of the postseason thanks to Harden scoring 30 or more points in 27 straight games, the third longest run in NBA history. With Chris Paul spending a good chunk of the season on the bench (more injuries), Clint Capela recently sidelined for several weeks, and his current cast of characters not quite as good as they were last year, Harden’s needed to go Sicko Mode in games to carry Houston from 11-14 to its current 32-22 record. For those of you into advanced stats, he leads the league in win shares, box plus/minus, value over replacement player (VORP), and player efficiency rating. While the Rockets aren’t going to come anywhere near the 65 wins they stacked last season, considering Harden’s been doing things that only compare to Wilt Chamberlain (who owns the two longest 30-point scoring streaks in NBA history), proper credit is due. — AC

Uncle Luka (too young for that nickname?) was always the best player in last year’s draft. Goran Dragic knew it, Kristaps Porzingis knew it, I knew it (after only watching a couple of his highlight vids on YouTube). Most people doubted Doncic because somehow playing amateur teenagers is harder than playing against professional adults. But Doncic leads all rookies by a good margin in points per game (20.7) and 3-pointers made per game (2.4) with 20.7 ppg, he’s second in dimes with 5.4 per game, and third in cookies with 1.1 swipes a night. He already showing signs of being an alpha by driving Dennis Smith Jr. out of town and hitting a couple buzzer beaters—including that ridiculous corner trey he made against the Blazers to send the game into OT.

Now, the Mavs have given him his old friend from the times they played each other in Europe to play alongside him for years to come. Luka is the future even if he moves slowly and gets like three inches off the ground. He’s deceptively quick as they say. Uncle Luka (as I like to call him as of today) is by far the best rookie in this year’s class, I’m not sure if this is a predication at all. He has a grown man game at only 19 and is 6’8”, 220 pounds, so he can’t be pushed around.  It doesn’t matter if his defense is a little sus because he makes up for it with passion. That boy got a lot of dawg in him and be calling more plays than Rick Carlisle. During the draft lottery, I prayed to my bodega candles the Knicks would land in the top three so they could pair him with KP in New York—not in Dallas. — AD

PG-13 is having a career year. He’s averaging career-highs in points (28.0), boards (7.9), and steals (2.3), which he’s leading the league in. As a matter of fact, the Thunder are leading the NBA in forced turnovers with 16.8 a game and in the top 10 for point differential and opponents 3-point percentage. George is big reason for those stats. He and Westbrook (who’s second in steals) wreak havoc on the defensive end, turning turnovers into fast breaks. I know you’re gonna ask: “But what about Giannis?” Well, there’s definitely a case to be made for the Greek Freak, and by the end of the year, it’s going to go down to these two guys, but I think he’s more of an MVP candidate. George is letting his defense dictate his offense. His basically Scottie Pippen with a more consistent jump shot. Giannis plays defense by fault due to his length and athleticism. I think PG does more with less. I might be splitting hairs here, though. This race is going to be incredibly close, but as of today? I’m giving the slight edge to George because he guards the best player on the floor night in and night out the same way Pip used to do. — AD

This one’s a bit of a swerve since most places that handed out mid-season awards did not give the Clippers reserve the nod (Pacers reserve Domantas Sabonis seemed to be the popular pick). We went with Harrell because nobody brings energy off the bench like the Louisville product does and he’s a big reason why the Clippers are still fighting for a playoff spot when almost no one thought they’d be in the mix in the packed Western Conference. Harrell is among the leaders in points (15.7) and rebounds (6.7) for players coming off the bench, he bangs with all the best bigs, and finds himself earning crunch time minutes thanks to his ravenous defense. Yes, you can make a case for Harrell’s teammate and last year’s winner, Lou Williams. You can also make a case for Derrick Rose and Spencer Dinwiddie. But Dinwiddie recently went down with an injury, Rose has started a third of the games he’s played in this season, and while Sabonis continues to come off the bench there’s always the threat he’s inserted into the starting lineup thanks to the Pacers’ precarious injury situation. So let’s give the young, largely unheralded Harrell some shine. — AC

If you didn’t know who Pascal Siakam was last year, you’re excused. The Raptors forward only started five games, logged an average of 20 minutes a night while pouring in 7.3 points per game as he blended into Toronto’s talented and deep second unit. Fast-forward to this season and the 24-year-old from Cameroon has doubled his output to 15.4 points per night, averaging over 31 minutes, while starring all but one of the 54 games he’s appeared in. We’ve seen a drastic rise in Siakam’s 3-point percentage, effective field goal percentage, boards per game, assists per game, and he has nearly the same VORP as Kawhi Leonard. So yeah, Siakam has taken his game up more than a few notches to become one of the most valuable contributors to the second best team in the Eastern Conference. — AC

Probably the only ironclad, no-brainer award winner here other than Doncic. The Bucks have the best record in basketball. I repeat, the Bucks have the best record in basketball because it still looks funny to write. They have one star on the roster—albeit having an MVP caliber season—and a bunch of other guys casual basketball fans couldn’t pick out of a lineup. Yet the Bucks have been playing so well against the East’s best (6-3 vs. the Raptors, Celtics, Pacers, and Sixers) that if you aren’t taking them seriously as a legit threat to crash the NBA Finals then we might have to revoke your League Pass. Budenholzer orchestrated a similar turnaround when he took over the Hawks in 2014-15, only to wear out his welcome three seasons later so we’ll see how long the Gregg Popovich disciple lasts up in Milwaukee. But for this season, there isn’t really another candidate worthy of the honor. Vegas had the Bucks win total pegged at 48.5. They’ve won 40 and it’s not even Valentine’s Day. Your 2018-19 NBA Coach of the Year is Budenholzer by a landslide. — AC