4 days Ago By The Oklahoman
With the NBA Playoffs almost here, the league will announce individual awards over the next several weeks.Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is the heavy favorite to win MVP, Lu Dort is in the Defensive Player of the Year mix and reigning Coach of the Year Mark Daigneault is likely to receive votes for the award once again.Here's how The Oklahoman's Joel Lorenzi, Justin Martinez and Joe Mussatto would vote if they had a ballot.
CARLSON: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's case for NBA MVP puts OKC Thunder superstar over Nikola JokicNBA Most Valuable PlayerJoel Lorenzi, Thunder beat writer Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, ThunderNikola Jokic, NuggetsGiannis Antetokounmpo, BucksJayson Tatum, CelticsDonovan Mitchell, CavaliersIt feels as though we’re caught in this inflection point on the award, with many torn between whether the award should go to who’s believed to be the world’s best player or the case that best aligns with history. Jokic, a unicorn of a talent, has done things this year that most haven’t. SGA has had one of the best guard seasons of all-time, and has checked virtually every box any other MVP has — and then some.
The bottom line is this: 68 wins is significant (and a far cry away from Denver’s 50 wins). It’s not Cleveland’s 64, mostly against the East, in which Evan Mobley threatened Mitchell as the Cavaliers’ most impactful player. SGA is the system.
It’s because of his floor, which is better than almost any player on Earth, that allows the Thunder to team him up with whoever they please — rookies, reserves, anyone. His ceiling, at least for this season, proved to be as the league’s leading scorer by a wide margin, a positive defensive player, and as perhaps the most consistent star in the NBA. Gilgeous-Alexander is an embodiment of impact on winning.
A guarantee of it. And he embodies efficiency, too, if you’re into that sort of thing. His rough stat line of 33-5-6-2-1 while shooting 57.
1% from 2, 37.5% from 3 and 89.9% from the free-throw line is nothing to scoff at.
If Gilgeous-Alexander being deemed worthy of the award incites war, then perhaps we weren’t very civilized to begin with. MUSSATTO: Which team will OKC Thunder play in first round of NBA Playoffs? Ranking toughest matchupsJustin Martinez, sports trending reporterShai Gilgeous-Alexander, ThunderNikola Jokic, NuggetsGiannis Antetokounmpo, BucksJayson Tatum, CelticsDonovan Mitchell, CavaliersI don't have a case against Nikola Jokic, who's putting up historic numbers. But I picked Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who leads the league in points per game (32.
7) despite sitting out the entire fourth quarter 17 times. He also led OKC to the most dominant regular season of all time based on point differential per game (12.9), and he went 43-7 in games when Jalen Williams and/or Chet Holmgren didn't play.
I gave him the slight edge over Jokic for those reasons.REQUIRED READING: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander may be the next MVP, but can he be the face of the NBA his way?Joe Mussatto, columnistShai Gilgeous-Alexander, ThunderNikola Jokic, NuggetsGiannis Antetokounmpo, BucksJayson Tatum, CelticsLeBron James, LakersPicking one through four was easy for me. SGA and Jokic each have ironclad cases, but if you're looking for a tiebreaker, one guy's team finished 18 games ahead of the other guy's team.
The fifth spot was between James and Donovan Mitchell. Mitchell's case is bolstered by the Cavs' success, but the raw numbers and advanced numbers favor James. Lebron had more points, rebounds and assists than Mitchell, and at age 40, he played more minutes than Mitchell.
Is it hypocritical to pick James over Mitchell while having SGA over Jokic? Maybe. This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: 2025 NBA Awards ballot: Why Shai Gilgeous-Alexander will win MVP vote.
