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Thus far in the 2016/2017 NBA season, we’ve already seen some amazing performances from all over the league. Guys like Damian Lillard and DeMar DeRozan are putting on incredible scoring performances while other players, such as Russell Westbrook and James Harden, have displayed a dominant overall approach. With that being said, some players have come out of the gate much slower. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it is interesting to see how different players approach the regular season. We’ve grown accustomed to watching LeBron James coast during the first half of the season, knowing that he will ultimately “turn it on” sometime after the all-star break. We understand that Gregg Popovich will monitor his players’ minutes, which is why Kawhi Leonard plays less minutes per game than anyone else in the league averaging 19+ points per game. In Golden State we have a completely different scenario altogether. Coach Steve Kerr has to manage the minutes during the regular season very carefully in order to maintain a balance between building chemistry and resting his stars. Yes, playing their “death line-up” for a ton of minutes will certainly build a great deal of chemistry in time for the postseason, but what good will that be if one or two of those players suffers an injury in the process? The key here is that the NBA regular season is a marathon, not a sprint and at this point we have no idea how the season is going to unfold. With that, here is our ‘way-too-early’ ranking for the 2016/2017 Most Valuable Player:
