Ryan Snellings (@rsnellings25)
Blake Griffin wins MVP. Golden State has too many voters angry at their situation (Honestly, I’m mad at Durant, not the Warriors. Who wouldn’t sign him?). However, both Durant and Curry’s numbers SHOULD go down and some expect Kerr to rest players more willingly during the year. Westbrook may put up numbers, but will the Thunder even be good enough to warrant him MVP considerations? The same goes for James Harden. LeBron James will be resting and biding his time for yet another Finals appearance, so he won’t produce at the level he’s capable of, at least in the regular season. The only other real threat is Kawhi Leonard, but with the ways the Spurs share the ball, putting up gaudy stat line will be tough.
This leaves the field wide open for Blake. Expect him to look at the chance to win MVP like this.
Chris Paul will gladly take a seat and coast if Griffin wants some revenge. Remember, he finished 3rd in MVP voting only two seasons ago and prior to injuring his quad last year, he was averaging 23.2 PPG, 8.7 RPG and 5 APG on about 51 percent shooting. Did I mention he’s been working on a 3-point shot in the offseason? He went 2-for-3 againt Tornoto a few days ago. Expect him to put up around 25 PPG, 9 RPG and 6 APG this year as the Clippers take the 2-seed out West.