Charlotte Hornets: Is Kemba Walker an MVP candidate?

The Charlotte Hornets would be lost without Kemba Walker so far this season. Does that make him an MVP candidate?

Bringing in a new head coach in James Borrego has been a great offensive move for the Charlotte Hornets and their star point guard, Kemba Walker. They are pushing the ball more as their pace is 100.0 compared to last year’s 98.4 mark, and they continue to take care of the ball with just 12.6 turnovers per game so far on the young season.

This has helped the Hornets achieve a 113.6 offensive rating and put up 114.7 points per game, both top-10 marks in the NBA right now. The biggest reason behind the stellar offensive marks is the team’s ability to score from beyond the arc. They’ve attempted 33.7 3-pointers per game so far this season, making 12.1 a night, both of which are top-10 marks in the league as well.

What has been good for the Hornets has been good for Kemba Walker, the biggest catalyst behind their offensive surge. He leads the team in 3-point attempts per game and is converting 44.7 percent of his shots overall. Thanks to the best perimeter shooting of his career, Walker has launched himself into the MVP conversation.

Through 22 games so far, Kemba Walker put together a line of 27.1 points, 6.2 assists and 4.4 rebounds per game — all career highs. His 27.1 points per game are nearly four points higher than his previous career high and rank in the top 10 in the league, right behind the likes of Anthony Davis and Stephen Curry.

Walker is putting together a top-10 scoring season thanks to an increased number of 3-point attempts. His 9.4 attempts from beyond the arc is a career high and he is still converting 37.2 percent of them.

He was the first to reach 200 3-point attempts on the season and is one of just three players with 70 or more 3-pointers made. His increase in 3-point attempts has allowed him to reach 20 or more points in 17 of his 22 games, including two performances of at least 40 and a 60-point performance as well.

Kemba Walker is performing well in other aspects of his game as well. While his 6.2 assists per game aren’t earth-shattering, he still places among the top-20 of the league in assists among the likes of Ricky Rubio, Kyrie Irving and Damian Lillard.

Advanced analytics like Walker as well. His 53.2 effective field goal percentage has helped him a achieve a 116 offensive rating so far, a career high. His overall game is fairly efficient as his 23.8 Player Efficiency Rating is just inside the top-20 of the league. He’s contributed 2.8 win shares to the Hornets this year, which is also among the best 20 players in the league.

Will Kemba Walker win the MVP award this year? It’s hard to say this early into the season, but there are a few things working against him. His current cold streak beyond the arc (2-for-12 in his last two games) doesn’t help either.

The Hornets aren’t exactly winning every night they come out on the court, so that could hurt his case. Walker is definitely valuable and they might have fewer wins than the Atlanta Hawks at this point if he weren’t on the team, but it still may not help him in the long run.

Kemba Walker is definitely having a career year, but with guys like Anthony Davis, Joel Embiid and Giannis Antetokounmpo having career years as well, and playing on teams with better records, Walker may not measure up in the eyes of many voters.

So unless Walker goes off for triple-doubles the rest of the season, as Russell Westbrook did during the 2016-17 season, he’ll remain in the MVP conversation, but will have a hard time just making in the list of MVP finalists.