[OhCanada-Participant]

 Pascal Siakam. Spicy P. Best inappropriate nickname ever.

 

[ChoppyParticipant]

It’s definitely bold… Don’t see it happening though, unless he leads them to the finals or something.  

[OhCanada-Participant]

To be completely realistic I see him being one of the guys on the shortlist, kinda like Paul George last year. The way I see it once again everyone is doubting Toronto not that this doesnt happen every single year, so if the Raptors win the East regular season and Siakam scores 23 points and 5 assists per game then hes gotta be a candidate right?

[ChoppyParticipant]

He’d be in the conversation, sure.  But I don’t see Toronto winning the East. Philly and Milwaukee are more realistic candidates in my eyes. But hey, if that scenario played out and he was the driving force behind the team? He’d definitely have consideration. Still don’t think he’d win it though. 

[SubZeroParticipant]

Toronto’s gonna need Siakam to take about 2 huge steps in his game and more than 1 injury for each of the East contenders for them to win the East

[dmo21Participant]

As a Raptors fan, I would love to see this happen but I don’t see that happening. Firstly, now that teams have seen Siakam play at a high level for a full year there will be more tape on him and they’ll have more information on how to shut him down. Also, now with Kawhi, and to a lesser extent Green, gone teams can key on him more. Now Siakam is the second, sometimes probably first, scoring option on the team with Lowry as the other one. I don’t think Toronto will be a top 4 team in the East either, and having a top team is pivotal for a MVP candidate. So in closing, I don’t think he’ll have the stats nor will the Raps have the wins to put him in contention.

I do think the MVP race is kind of open now as with stars teaming up, their stats will go down, they’ll have lots of rest games (like Leonard last year) and I feel like people don’t wanna vote for guys who teamed up. So in my theory, that takes James, Anthony, Leonard, George, Westbrook and Harden out of the picture for this year. You also have Durant and Oladipo starting the year injured which will take them out of the race.

For right now, my top 5 MVP candidates (in no order) would be:

Giannis (Bucks will probabl be top 3 team in the East, Giannis should have similar stats to last year and he actually plays defense too)

Irving (if he leads the Nets to a top 3 seed in the East with ridiculous numbers)

Jokic (if Denver is as good as they were last year, he should be in the running again)

Embiid (if he plays enough games, Philly is a top 3 team in the East and he brings it on O and D)

Curry (without Thompson and Durant, he’s gonna have to become prime Curry again. If the Warriors make the playoffs in the tough West and he puts up numbers similar to his MVP years, he’ll be getting votes)

[SubZeroParticipant]

Those are my 5 as well, except with Dame instead of Kyrie on similar conditions

[dmo21Participant]

Dame was my next up. I think him and Irving may have similar stats, but Irving has less scoring help so he might up his totals. Brooklyn plays high pace too which will inflate numbers. Also, i think Brooklyn will have a better chance of finishing higher in the East than Portland does in the West.

[The GoatParticipant]

With so many duos one star will dilute the chance of the other star of winning. My top 5 is:
Giannis
Harden
Jokic
Curry
Lebron

Talk about a dark horse, was that the Pelicans owner or GM saying Jrue Holiday for MVP? He was saying it was just as crazy for anybody saying Nash was a candidate the year before he won. I suppose he has a point, so yeah Siakam, Beal, Donovan Mitchell, it just takes one breakout season I guess..

[cohenbc1Participant]

 Seriously? No one thinks Kawhi will win MVP or even finish top five?

[dmo21Participant]

 Kawhi is one of the best players out there, but he has some things going against him for the MVP race. If the Clippers plan to rest him like Toronto did, you can’t really give it to a guy who plays 20 less games than other players. Him not getting a lot of assists doesn’t help him either. When you’ve had guys like Giannis, Harden, Westbrook, Jokic and LeBron that could average close to triple doubles will make them alluring. MVP doesn’t go to the best player. It goes to the player who put up the best stats on a winning team.

[HitsterParticipant]

 I’d suspect if everyone stays sound then it will be pretty much the consensus guys mentioned above.

For an outside shot I’ll suggest Kemba Walker who could put up 26 to 28ppg for the Celtics and will be on a more competitive team for the season but more could depend where the Celtics finish.

My realistic top 3 would be Giannis, LBJ and PG13.

[Bmore_DCParticipant]

What a homer pick lol. I like Siakim but the MVP goes to the best player on (usually) the team with the best record. Seeing as how the Raptors just lost the finals MVP, the stars would have to align perfectly. 

[daggers818Participant]

I’m going with Embid.  Curry will put up freakish numbers.  AD will be a monster, but with LBJ, won’t win enough votes.

[iguapops420Participant]

Siakam showed me very little in the finals. One good game was all I saw. His defense was below what he’s been said to be on the level of. His offensive game was three parts. Isolate and throw up a bad shot without ever looking for an open shooter or cutter, drive off of a fast break and attack,.. or miss damn near every jump shot he took. I was a big fan of his early on, but the longer the season went on,.. I saw a jerky jerky player who was quickly dialed in on and made nearly obsolete by the end of the series. He wasn’t even finishing games in favor of. Gasol/Ibaka front court. I see NO way Siakam is an MVP candidate. Just not a diversified enough offensive  game to move into that tier of player. Id be hard pressed to believe the Raptors even win enough games to have him in the MvP talks. 

[HitsterParticipant]

 AD could be an interesting contender but a lot would depend on him staying sound and playing 70 to 75 games minimum. He could put up 28ppg, 4apg, 12rpg and 2.5bpg potentially. But I just don’t see him being as productive as LBJ.

If you fancied a punt on AD, I’d certainly look at his odds to be DPOY, that could be a productive bet.

[Andrew1984Participant]

 If I had to name a darkhorse candidate, it would be Luka.

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