8p9s Roundtable: Will the Pacers Get Home-Court Advantage in the Playoffs?
By Jared Wade
3. Fact or Fiction: Paul George will finish in the top five in MVP voting?
Furr: Fiction. Paul George is phenomenal, easily one of the top 10 players of the NBA, but he’s not going to get much love for MVP. LeBron James, Kawhii Leonard, Steph Curry, Russell Westbrook, possibly Kevin Durant, Anthony Davis if he’s healthy, Karl-Anthony Towns (it’s coming). The list of people he’s up against goes on. PG would have to go November Paul George for the entire season, something he’s never shown the capability to do.
Neal: Fiction. Paul George is really good. Easily a top 10 player in this league. However, I can’t see him finishing top five in MVP voting due to the team’s record. I don’t see the Pacers winning 50 games, so it’s hard for me to envision George garnering enough national attention to be thought of as MVP over guys who will end up in the top five conversation. George would have to carry the Pacers to a Top 3 seed in the East, at least, to gain that level of consideration.
Hughes: Fiction. I can easily see Paul George having the best season of his career, and as one of the better players in the league, that should bode well for his MVP chances. But to be seriously considered as an MVP candidate, the player’s team usually has to be a top two seed in their conference. The Pacers could get there, but I don’t think they will. And George could make the top five based on his numbers alone, but there are too many other players I expect to play better — Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant, of course, LeBron James, Russell Westbrook, James Harden, Blake Griffin, Kawhi Leonard. George has a shot at it, but he’ll need a lot of things to go right.
Wade: Fiction. It’s likely the Pacers just won’t be quite good enough to put him in that tier when guys like LeBron, Curry, Durant, and Kawhi are pushing 60+ wins. There is also Westbrook likely to average a triple-double-like line and Harden set to explode in a D’Antoni-run offense. Paul George will have his best season ever — but probably finish sixth in MVP voting.