2017-18 NBA Awards: HoopsHabit roundtable predictions

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MVP

Bourguet pick: Kevin Durant
HoopsHabit pick: Kevin Durant/Kawhi Leonard

Everyone knows who the MVP candidates will be in 2017-18, but once you get down to the top six or seven of them, it becomes nearly impossible to predict this early on.

To be perfectly honest, Kevin Durant, LeBron James, Kawhi Leonard, James Harden, Russell Westbrook, Stephen Curry and even a dark horse like Giannis Antetokounmpo all have reasonable claims to preseason MVP hype.

Curry remains perhaps the most important player for the Golden State Warriors and found himself again when KD missed 20 games. Harden has supplied two of the greatest non-MVP seasons in NBA history over the last three years. Giannis Antetokounmpo could be ready to devour worlds soon, which could singlehandedly propel the Milwaukee Bucks to prominence.

Kawhi Leonard remains a strong two-way candidate, despite his San Antonio Spurs not getting much better this summer. Russell Westbrook just averaged a triple-double and could do it again, only this time for an even better Oklahoma City Thunder team.

LeBron James is at his best when the cards are stacked against him, which is why he could very easily carry the Cleveland Cavaliers in their time without Isaiah Thomas. And Kevin Durant, fresh off his first title and Finals MVP Award, completed the first step in snatching the title of “NBA alpha dog” away from LeBron when he drilled that dagger 3-pointer over the King in Game 3 of the championship series.

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All of these candidates could put together MVP-caliber seasons, but if we’re making preseason predictions, the momentum Durant built for himself in last year’s Finals is too strong to ignore. He got over the hump, he finally bested LeBron, he put up absurd numbers head-to-head and he’s only going to get better now that he’s comfortable with his superstar teammates.

Who cares if his teammates are unfair? That context still matters, because Kevin Durant on this Warriors team is more lethal than any other player on any other team.

The Dubs won 67 games with KD missing 20 of them last year. If Durant stays healthy, slightly increases his efficiency, boosts his scoring numbers a bit and remains a long-limbed terror on the defensive end, it’ll be hard to debate him winning MVP as the best player of a 70-win team.

After all, LeBron relatively coasts through regular seasons now, Giannis’ team might not win enough games, and Paul George and Carmelo Anthony may detract from the attention being paid to Russ. Even on a more dangerous Houston Rockets team, Chris Paul could similarly steal some of Harden’s production, Curry may wind up deferring to KD on the stat sheet and Kawhi still needs better numbers across the board to emerge triumphant.

KD and Leonard were tied for first among our HoopsHabit staff with eight votes apiece. LeBron followed them up with six votes, while Westbrook, Harden, Giannis and Kyrie Irving all received one vote.