NBA: Top 5 MVP candidate predictions for 2020-21 season

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5. Kevin Durant, Brooklyn Nets

The last time Kevin Durant stepped foot on the court in a real game, he was playing in the NBA Finals as a member of the Golden State Warriors. With that team, Durant elevated them to a level near unbeatable, proven after he tore his Achilles in Game 5 of the Finals, and the team lost the series.

Durant departed from Golden State this past offseason in favor of the Brooklyn Nets and was likely to miss this year in its entirety. Next season, a healthy Durant is going to return to basketball to wreak havoc on the rest of the league and has an immediate chance to be in the MVP conversation.

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Over the past three years, Durant was never genuinely involved in the MVP conversation because of his star-studded cast that included Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, although there is a case that he was deserving. Regardless, now Durant has earned the keys to the Brooklyn Nets’ franchise as they hope he can take them to the promised land.

In the 2018-19 season, Durant averaged 26.0 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 5.9 assists per game as he looked stellar all year. Not to mention that the 2014 MVP has taken home the league’s Finals MVP award twice in the past three seasons, likely a third without the Achilles injury.

With Durant running the show, he can undoubtedly elevate this Brooklyn team to one of the premier contenders in the Eastern Conference, and simultaneously make his case for MVP. The most significant factor in this will be Durant’s health and how the team handles it.

With all this time off, the team may still want to be cautious and “load manage” Durant on occasion, similarly to how the Toronto Raptors handled Kawhi Leonard in the 2018-19 season. Still, if he plays in a significant amount of games and is the same Kevin Durant that last took the court in the 2019 Finals, there is a genuine belief he could take home his second MVP award.