Denver Nuggets: Ranking Nikola Jokic among the top 5 MVP candidates

How Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic ranks in MVP race: #2. Joel Embiid

Joel Embiid went down with an injury that caused him to miss 20 games this season for the Philadelphia 76ers. In his 40 games played Embiid is averaging an impressive 30.1 points per game with 11.3 rebounds. However, Embiid is still averaging his normal 3.2 turnovers, which is equivalent to an equal 1:1 ratio with his assists.

Compared to the wizardry of the Joker who is averaging 26.4 points and 11 rebounds but averaging almost 9 assists per game at 8.7. Jokic has the highest win share out of the entire league at 12.9 compared to Embiid’s 7.6. He also leads Embiid and the rest of the league in VORP (value over replacement player) at 7.1. The advanced metrics are clearly pointing to the fact that Jokic has been the more complete player this season.

The MVP award normally falls to the player with the best season on a top-four team in the conference. While Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers are the 2nd seed in the Eastern Conference, they only have a one-game lead on the 4th seeded Nuggets in the West. Therefore, the record argument between the two should be nonexistent. While Embiid had the strongest case against Jokic for MVP, the statistics and availability clearly show that the Joker deserves the MVP this season.