2016-17 NBA Awards Season: Ranking The Top 4 MVP Candidates
Value To Their Team
The term “Most Valuable Player” is ambiguously worded for a reason. The NBA loves the debate that ensues over what it really means to be MVP. Is it the league’s best player? Is it the player with the best season? Is it the player who, if you took them off their respective team, would watch that team crater without their superstar talents leading the way?
In that latter definition, the phrase “most valuable” is taken quite literally to mean the player whose team needed him the most. In that respect, it’s hard to argue against Westbrook’s MVP case.
Without Harden, the Rockets probably wouldn’t be a playoff team, but without Russ, OKC would be a leading lottery team. Westbrook carried his team to 47 wins, and when he was off the court, the Thunder’s offense cratered.
With Russ on the court, OKC posted a Net Rating of +3.3. Without him, that number plummeted to -6.9, a difference of 10.2 points per 100 possessions. While Houston’s Net Rating of +6.3 with Harden on the floor was better than OKC’s with Russ on the court, the Rockets didn’t drop off so drastically when the Beard sat, posting a +2.8 Net Rating without their MVP.
In terms of impact, Harden could easily have a better case as the orchestrator of the league’s second-ranked offense and most belligerent three-point assault of all time. His impact led to more wins with a group of role players many expected to miss the playoffs. You can easily make the case he makes his teammates better than Russ does.
But as good as the Thunder were defensively this season, there’s no question Westbrook had less help to work with, especially without three-point shooters to space the floor like Harden had. That makes his league-leading scoring numbers even more impressive, efficiency aside. Teams knew he was going to drive it straight into the teeth of their defense and still couldn’t stop him. At its strictest definition, “Most Valuable Player” leans in Westbrook’s favor.