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3 Dark Horse NBA MVP Candidates

By Brandon Carney

Jan 27, 2016; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Minnesota Timberwolves center Karl-Anthony Towns (32) celebrates a basket in the fourth quarter against the Oklahoma City Thunder at Target Center. The Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 126-123. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 27, 2016; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Minnesota Timberwolves center Karl-Anthony Towns (32) celebrates a basket in the fourth quarter against the Oklahoma City Thunder at Target Center. The Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 126-123. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports /
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These three guys aren’t the first players that come to mind when talking about NBA MVP candidates, but they certainly can’t be written off.

NBA
Jan 27, 2016; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Minnesota Timberwolves center Karl-Anthony Towns (32) celebrates a basket in the fourth quarter against the Oklahoma City Thunder at Target Center. The Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 126-123. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports /

Before the start of each season, it’s pretty easy to narrow down the eventual NBA MVP winner to a handful of names. LeBron James, Stephen Curry, James Harden, and a few others are near guarantees to be toward the top of the voting results in any given season.

However, this doesn’t mean the award is 100 percent exclusive to those guys. There’s always a chance that some lesser-discussed players find their way into the conversation.

Last season, Curry took home MVP honors, but the full voting results revealed several names who you wouldn’t necessarily expect to be there, at least not as high as they were.

Although in some circles Kawhi Leonard may not be considered under the radar anymore, he finished second in voting, ahead of James. That’s an upset in my book.

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Then you have names like Draymond Green and Kyle Lowry who also finished in the top 10 and you realize MVP voting may not be as chalk as it appears.

With that in mind, we wanted to take a look at the players who may not be considered MVP favorites, but who could nevertheless find themselves near or at the top of the voting at season’s end. Here are three dark horse candidates for NBA MVP in the 2016-17 season.

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