Burning Questions: Who Has Been the MVP of the NBA So Far This Season?

Anthony Davis, New Orleans Pelicans

Brandon Gdula's take:

Of any player who has a realistic semblance of MVP worthiness, Anthony Davis probably has the toughest case to make. Right now, only the Thunder have a worse record than the Pelicans -- and that's only by half a game.

Still, Davis has a nERD of 19.6, which ranks behind only Stephen Curry (19.9). His numberFire Efficiency, which measures expected point differential in a game above league average, is best in the NBA at 6.5. Among our six candidates in question, Davis actually has the highest Offensive Rating (124) and is tied for the second-best Defensive Rating (101) with Russell Westbrook and trails only Curry (100). His Win Shares per 48 minutes (0.282) trail Curry (0.284) again, but Davis is doing this on a team with 15 fewer wins than Curry's squad.

Oh, and Davis' PER of 31.4 is the only mark better than 30.0 this year. In fact, if the season ended today, Davis would have the eighth-best PER in NBA history. Wilt Chamberlain surpassed it three seasons from 1961-62 to 1963-64 (31.7, 31.8, and 31.6, respectively). Michael Jordan did it in 1987-88 (31.7) and 1990-91 (31.6). LeBron did it in 2008-09 (31.7) and 2012-13 (31.6). That's it.

I'm fully aware that Davis has played in just 53 games so far -- only Westbrook has played in fewer (49) -- and that his team is dangerously close to missing the playoffs, but his high standing in these efficiency metrics on a team low in the standings relative to his MVP contenders warrants some deep consideration as to what the most valuable player actually means.