Denver Nuggets: Where do they stand in award races?

MVP Candidate: Nikola Jokic

Historically, MVP candidates tend to be the best players on the best teams in the NBA. Nikola Jokic checks both of those boxes.

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45 games into the 2018-19 season, Jokic is averaging 19.6 points, 10.0 rebounds, 7.7 assists, 0.7 blocks, 1.3 steals, and 3.2 turnovers per game while slashing 50.5/32.3/84.2. Those aren’t just incredible numbers for this season, they are historic figures.

Should he keep up those averages through the year, he will become only the 4th player in NBA history to average 19+ PPG, 10+ RPG, and 7.5+ APG per game for a season.

Every other player on that list(Wilt Chamberlain, Russell Westbrook, and Oscar Robertson) has won at least 1 MVP award in their career. Make of that what you will.

Jokic has also amassed 6.7 win shares so far, to go along with a PER of 26.8, a VORP of 4.1(so far), a TS% of 59.2%, an OBPM of +6.3, a DBPM of +3.3, and an overall BPM of +9.6.

All of those are career highs except for his TS%, which is actually only the third highest mark of his young career. Here are how those stats rank up with the rest of the NBA:

PER: 5th

VORP: 4th

Win Shares: 7th

OBPM: 4th

DBPM: 14th

BPM: 3rd

Not bad for a 23-year-old former second-round pick. While he is having an incredible season, his low PPG average will end up biting him at the end of the year if it doesn’t go up.

The last MVP to average below 19 points per game was Steve Nash in the 2005-06 season. That is showing on current MVP leader boards.

On Basketball-Reference’s MVP probability chart, Jokic currently has the 7th best chance in the NBA to win the award, with a 5.8% chance of victory. OddShark gives him the 11th best odds at grabbing the trophy as of January 15th.

While Jokic may not be the player standing on the podium at the NBA Awards at the end of the year, he should certainly at least be looked at as one of the most valuable players in the NBA.