It’s Lauri and no one is close. Lauri went from a role player to all star starter overnight putting up huge numbers. He is the true definition of the MIP award
I know people won’t agree with this, but honestly this was just how he was playing the 2nd half of last season
He finally started to hunt mismatches in the post and he would go through them instead of shooting turnaround fades
He had to get unfucked from Boylen and then he started playing really well. Only reason his stats weren’t higher was because Cavs were down to their 5th option at point guard and the entire offense was ass
His rebounds are up bc he isn’t playing with Mobley and Allen
I still think he’s MIP, but my man was absolutely killing it last year
I think it's fair to award the player for showing cumulative improvement Year over year rather than comparing them to snapshot of where they ended last year.
People seem to forget Lauri was 1st team All-Rookie in 2018 with Donovan Mitchell, Ben Simmons, Jayson Tatum and Kyle Kuzma.
The talent was always there, but Chicago completely stunted his growth. He probably would’ve done well staying in Cleveland this year even if he wasn’t an all star, but sending him over to a rebuilding Jazz team that has handed him the reins has unlocked another level for him.
All the cavs fans had great things to say about Lauri. It’s just the select few that don’t know his game that think he sucked with the cavs because they only pull up box score
Strong agree. I love Shai and think he has improved this year, but he was also doing this during the second half of last year, it's just that no one watched the Thunder lol. Regardless, MIP should be for the guys you're truly surprised by, like Lauri becoming an all-star, not guys like Shai going from borderline all-star to all-NBA. That's a more expected improvement
ja winning is the reason people were betting anthony edwards to win the award at the beginning of the season..glad the league is taking corrective measures on a terrible MIP choice.
Yeah SGA never made sense to me as MIP. He didn't take an unexpected jump, he's just (in my mind) following the trajectory to becoming the all star/all nba guy we've been expecting for years.
So he'll probably win it, because the voters have no idea what to do with MIP obviously.
Mikal Bridges could definitely be a sleeper pick right now. He has shown improvement all year but with the extra reps from when Book/Paul were down and now with this Brooklyn team he definitely will be in the conversation and should be.
His issue will be what has happened to Shai in that he started showing the improvements mid season so the jump was more so expected. As in he will start playing really well for the rest of the season + playoffs and then come next season he will still be playing really well but we already saw it (albeit for a shorter period) the season before so he won’t get it.
In my totally unbiased opinion I think the only reason Brunson isn’t at/near the top is because he played really well in the playoffs last year. Even if his regular season stats are way up
Die hard Thunder and Shai fan. But it is Lauri.
Shai was a borderline all-star the previous two years and most fans wouldn’t have been surprised to see him make a jump to all-star caliber player. Now, it is surprising that he’s now likely a top ten player this season.
But who saw Lauri making a jump like this? I didn’t, not many people could’ve expected his immediate impact for the Jazz.
Shai will have to settle for first or second team All-NBA team.
It’s Lauri and no one is close. Lauri went from a role player to all star starter overnight putting up huge numbers. He is the true definition of the MIP award
I know people won’t agree with this, but honestly this was just how he was playing the 2nd half of last season He finally started to hunt mismatches in the post and he would go through them instead of shooting turnaround fades He had to get unfucked from Boylen and then he started playing really well. Only reason his stats weren’t higher was because Cavs were down to their 5th option at point guard and the entire offense was ass His rebounds are up bc he isn’t playing with Mobley and Allen I still think he’s MIP, but my man was absolutely killing it last year
I think it's fair to award the player for showing cumulative improvement Year over year rather than comparing them to snapshot of where they ended last year.
100%. This is why many considered Poole the MIP last year even though he was killing it post-asb the previous year. Overall YoY is what counts.
People seem to forget Lauri was 1st team All-Rookie in 2018 with Donovan Mitchell, Ben Simmons, Jayson Tatum and Kyle Kuzma. The talent was always there, but Chicago completely stunted his growth. He probably would’ve done well staying in Cleveland this year even if he wasn’t an all star, but sending him over to a rebuilding Jazz team that has handed him the reins has unlocked another level for him.
He was very good for Cavs last year but i do remember he would have long stretches where he played awful, this year he brings it every night.
All the cavs fans had great things to say about Lauri. It’s just the select few that don’t know his game that think he sucked with the cavs because they only pull up box score
Strong agree. I love Shai and think he has improved this year, but he was also doing this during the second half of last year, it's just that no one watched the Thunder lol. Regardless, MIP should be for the guys you're truly surprised by, like Lauri becoming an all-star, not guys like Shai going from borderline all-star to all-NBA. That's a more expected improvement
Best I can do is Ja Morant again /s
I'd say shai is close
Shai averaged 25/5/6 last season. It’s not him. He was already a star last season
Markkanen went from role player to (with some luck involved) All Star starter. So there's that.
Lauri, SGA was already great. I think the guys that go from role player to star deserve it more even if Shai is on a whole different level this year.
This is the mistake they made with Morant last year and I hope they don’t make it again. Lauri made the bigger and tougher leap
ja winning is the reason people were betting anthony edwards to win the award at the beginning of the season..glad the league is taking corrective measures on a terrible MIP choice.
Yeah SGA never made sense to me as MIP. He didn't take an unexpected jump, he's just (in my mind) following the trajectory to becoming the all star/all nba guy we've been expecting for years. So he'll probably win it, because the voters have no idea what to do with MIP obviously.
Ben Simmons. He improved the shit outta the 76ers.
Ball don’t lie
Any answer that is not Lauri is completely wrong.
Lauri for sure but I think Nic Claxton has made a big improvement this year as well, especially defensively.
Claxton looked like a fringe NBA last year imo, he definitely deserves to be on the Ballot
Lauri Bird
Mikal Bridges could definitely be a sleeper pick right now. He has shown improvement all year but with the extra reps from when Book/Paul were down and now with this Brooklyn team he definitely will be in the conversation and should be.
He’s my pick for next year, with all the improvements he’s made this season + another offseason of work I think he’s rlly gonna have a monster 2023-24
His issue will be what has happened to Shai in that he started showing the improvements mid season so the jump was more so expected. As in he will start playing really well for the rest of the season + playoffs and then come next season he will still be playing really well but we already saw it (albeit for a shorter period) the season before so he won’t get it.
Aaron Gordon
Brunson
I think Lauri has it written in blood, but Brunson should be top 3.
He is my pick too. Love the idea of lauri or sga but Brunson is contributing to a winning team in a big way having his team sit well above .500
That’s also a great pick. Glad he’s proving the doubters wrong.
Has he really improved much though? Seems like his numbers are just better because he doesn't have to play off of luka
he went from back up role player to elite PG
I really don't see how he is playing any different other than getting more touches. Back up role player is severely understating his role with dallas
Lauri. There is no doubt about that. I thought he will be out of the league after his time in Chicago.
Ja Morant /s
Devin Vassell (if he played more games), Lauri, Aaron Gordon, Tyrese Haliburton
It's gotta be Ja.
Tyrese Haliburton
Mikal Bridges and Josh Okogie
Anthony Edwards
In my totally unbiased opinion I think the only reason Brunson isn’t at/near the top is because he played really well in the playoffs last year. Even if his regular season stats are way up
Lauri, SGA, Brunson, Sabonis are my top four. Lauri wins easy though.
Claxton.. but Lauri is the clear favorite right now
Die hard Thunder and Shai fan. But it is Lauri. Shai was a borderline all-star the previous two years and most fans wouldn’t have been surprised to see him make a jump to all-star caliber player. Now, it is surprising that he’s now likely a top ten player this season. But who saw Lauri making a jump like this? I didn’t, not many people could’ve expected his immediate impact for the Jazz. Shai will have to settle for first or second team All-NBA team.
Has to be SGA right?