Why Kevin Love is NBA MVP -- The MVP Debate

There are three things that make a player the MVP. His impact on his team, his stats, and his team's performance. Here's the comparisons of the top MVP candidates and how they stack up:

Most Valuable to Own Team: 
1. Chris Paul -- Last year at this point Clippers were 19-31. They add Chris Pual, they're 29-21. You can't deny the facts, he's more valuable to the Clippers than any player on any other team. 
2. Kevin Love -- Putting his whole team on his back, keeping his team in contention. Without Love T-Wolves are one of NBA's worst teams. 
3. LeBron James -- Tough call between KD and LBJ, went with LeBron. The Heat's various injuries made LeBron the pick here, because without LeBron the Heat would have actually really struggled.
4. Kevin Durant -- There are nights when he's overshadowed by Westbrook, and his team would win without him more often than the Heat would win without LeBron. 


Best Stats:
1. Kevin Love -- 26.6ppg, 13.9rpg, ESPN#NBAMVP rank: 6
Kevin Love is putting up ridiculous numbers. With his 51 point game, and his 40 point 19 rebound game, he's having a ridiculously good statistical season. 
2. LeBron James -- 26.7ppg, 6.6apg, ESPN#NBAMVP rank: 1
If LeBron's PER can remain the same he will have the best PER ever. That's incredible. He's only behind Love because of Love's amazing rebounding rate that goes with his scoring.
3. Kevin Durant 27.8ppg, 8.1rpg, ESPN#NBAMVP rank: 2
Kevin Durant is the best scorer in the NBA, and he's always going to put up impressive stats. This year he's scored less than the two previous years though. 
4. Chris Paul 19.4ppg, 8.8apg, ESPN #NBAMVP rank: 4
With Chris Paul the stats don't show the affect he has on the game being played. While his stats are impressive, they're not nearly as impressive as the stats of the players above. Paul's affect on the game comes with his speed and leadership along with the scoring and passing which he of course also does well. 


Team Record/Quality of players of team (How well team has done compared to expectations)
1. Kevin Durant -- OKC is living up to expectations with the second best record in the NBA, and Durant is a big reason why. 
2. Kevin Love -- With Rubio out for the season the T-Wolves season is fully dependent on Love. He's embraced this, and has gotten his team of NBA draft busts into playoff contention.
3. Chris Paul -- The Clippers were expected to compete for the division and make the playoffs. That's been exactly what has happened, and they are currently leading their division.
4. LeBron James -- It's pretty crazy for a team to be second place in the confrence and be underachieving... but that's the case with the Heat. 

Who Should be MVP:
After looking at the three things that are considered when deciding who's MVP, I've decided Kevin Love should be the 2011-12 NBA MVP. He has the best stats out of the four candidates, and has carried his team by himself like none of the other candidates. Love was the best player in the NBA in March, when he scored more than 35 points 5 times, including a 51 point game and a 40 point 19 rebound game. He's been dominating every team he faces, and the teams play fully relies on him. If Love were not on the Wolves they'd be one of the worst NBA teams instead of a playoff contender.

NBA Players Draft Round 1 -- All Players Eligible

Every year kids from college are drafted into the NBA. Here's what the draft order would look like if GM's got to draft anyone in the NBA, not just college players. (These teams would be drafting these players to their team for many years to come, not just this year)
1. LeBron James (SF) -- Some question how clutch he is, some question his competitiveness, but no one questions that LeBron is the best overall player in the NBA. He's more valuable to a team than anyone else.
2. Dwight Howard (C) -- Dwight Howard single handedly makes his team one of the best defensive teams in the NBA. He also has eight 20 point 20 rebound games this season. He's tough to turn down.
3. Kevin Durant (SF) -- Kevin Durant is the best scorer in the NBA. He's won the scoring title the last two years, and is just 23. The only reason he's third and not first in this draft is that the two players above him are much better defenders than he is.
4. Derrick Rose (PG) -- Derrick Rose has not peaked yet, which is unbelievable for a player that has already won an MVP. He may not be the best point guard in the NBA right now (Chris Paul) but he's just 23 and is still improving. Imagine how good he's gonna be when he peaks...
5. Chris Paul (PG) -- As mentioned Chris Paul is arguably the best point guard in the NBA right now. He's behind Rose though because he's three years older and isn't going to improve as much as Rose will in the future. Paul does have a huge impact on a team though, a perfect example is the LA Clippers.
6. Blake Griffin (PF) -- Blake Griffin's upside is enormous. His offensive game is currently very raw, yet he still averages 21.2 ppg this year. When Griffin learns learns how some good post moves and gets his jumper more consistent, NBA watch out. Also no one sells tickets quite like Blake Griffin which is very important to some struggling franchises.
7. Dwayne Wade (SG) -- Wade falls back to no. 7 because of age and injuries. He's been struggling with a number of injuries this season, which has resulted in inconsistent play. Also Wade is 7 years older than Griffin Rose and Durant, so why pick Wade over those guys?
8. Kobe Bryant (SG) -- Sadly the great Kobe Bryant is getting old (well... basketball old). At 33 no one know how many more great seasons he's going to have. He may be getting old, but it doesn't seem to be affecting his scoring. He's a great scorer and shooter, and will likely be able to put up the amazing numbers he's currently putting up for at least the next 3 years. Kobe is a great leader, and when crunch time comes there's no one in the NBA who's I'd rather have.
9. Russel Westbrook (PG) -- Russel Westbrook is insanely athletic, and can do things at the point guard position that no one else can. The downside is that he's often criticized for shooting too much and not passing to the other star his team, Kevin Durant. If Westbrook is on a team that fits his playing style, he could become a point guard very similar to Derrick Rose.
10. John Wall (PG) -- Similar to Blake Griffin, John Wall has incredible upside. A change of scenery and a new system could turn this much hyped no.1 overall pick into the best point guard in the NBA.
11. Demarcus Cousins (PF) 
12. Andrew Bynum (C)
13. Deron Williams (PG) 
14 Kevin Love (PF)
15. Carmelo Anthony (SF)
16. Al Jefferson (C)
17. Rajon Rondo (PG)
18. Roy Hibbert (C)
19. Ricky Rubio (PG)

20. Kyrie Irving (PG)
21. Rudy Gay (SF)
22. Pau Gasol (PF)
23. Tony Parker (PG)
24. Brandon Jennings (PG)
25. Tyreke Evans (PG/SG)
26. LaMarcus Aldridge (PF)
27. Steve Nash (PG)
28. Paul Pierce (SF)
29. Dirk Nowitski (PF)
30. Monta Ellis (PG/SG)

The Most Underrated Player in the NBA -- By Far

In the Air Canada Center in Toronto the least talked about, most forgotten, and most underrated team in the NBA play about twice each week. That team of course is the The Toronto Raptors. On that forgotten team are 12 players who all deserve more media attention and most of them are very underrated. The most underrated player (by far), on the most underrated team is James Johnson.

The 6 ft 9 starting SF for the Raptors has been having an amazing season. Johnson is underrated by fans, writers, reporters, virtually everyone outside of Toronto. The players know how good Johnson is though. He is as strong defensively at his position as anyone else in the NBA. LeBron, Igoudala, Gay and Durant are generally looked at as the best small forward defenders, but James Johnson is equal to all of them, if not better. He defends the opponents' best scorers, and defends them just as well as the names I previously listed. Don't believe me? Look at the stats below.




















As the charts show James Johnson is one of the best defenders in the NBA even though outside of Toronto he's virtually unknown. He definitely deserves to be in the Defensive Player of the Year discussions, but given how underrated he is, he may not. James Johnson deserves way more credit than he receives for his defense, and he's improving on the offensive side as well.