With the hottest player movements of the summer finally wrapped, the stars are finally aligned – for our boy Christopher Paul to nab himself a nice heavy trophy.
Most of the Eastern Conference’s talent is headed to the beach for the next six years, and the stats traffic jam in Miami doesn’t seem likely to produce the definitive MVP in 2010/11 – too much burn for too many guys. Kobe is coming down off of his historical prime and shifting the statistical burden of regular season play to the capable hands of his teammates, and Melo and the Nuggets are reeling a little too hard for that team to compete for a title. A majority of the other perennial candidates have never been close enough to the mountaintop to really have a shot.
That leaves with the three legitimate heavyweights. Or I might say, two heavyweights and a slick handled bowling champ.
Kevin “OMGsh” Durant has never looked better statistically, and we can realistically expect improvement from his young gun franchise next year. As they bring in OUR draft pick (not resenting this) and a plethora of talented pieces, the defense and supplemental scoring might finally be there for KD. Having seen this team rip into the untouchable Lake show in the first round, you gotta think he’ll be playing deep into the summer next year.
Dwight “WTF” Howard is coming off his second straight Defensive Monster of the Year award, but his once-frightening team is starting to age out from under him. No doubt the Magic will be around and in form next season, but having to lose out pitifully to the unprecedented Miami situation (how do you put a name on something that fierce? I’ll just call it a bed-wettingly fierce situation) all season long might hurt his chances.
So in the end it’s a good year for fresh MVP winners. Can I say that CP3 has a shot in the race with Durant? Absolutely. But it’ll take hard work from the front office, constant improvement through the season, and most of all healthy body parts from our favorite PG. In the end we’re just left to think, hope, chant, and pray that in the end our man Chris comes out with a big trophy in May, and a much, much bigger one in July.