Kia NBA MVP Race: Latest Power Rankings - April 19th, 2021
With only a month of regular season action left for fans to enjoy, our NBA MVP power rankings continue to change as the race to be named the league's best player nears its culmination.
The likes of LeBron James, Kevin Durant and James Harden all remain sidelined. They are highly unlikely to claim another MVP trophy this season, with only the latter having an outside chance at the moment. This has left the door open for Nikola Jokic and Joel Embiid to battle it out as the favorites for this year's award.
2020-21 NBA MVP - Power Rankings entering final month of action
Debate around the NBA MVP award has been rife, and the outcome will wholly depend on how voters value certain aspects of the game.
While Jokic is dominating the NBA in win shares and has one of the best, if not the best, all-round games in the league, the Serbian falters on defense and the Nuggets have a worse record than Embiid's 76ers.
Of course, the West is arguably more difficult than the East, so judging their MVP candidacy based on record is flawed. However, the Philadephia 76ers leader has transformed his game this year and has dominated his opponents on both ends of the floor this campaign.
This all amounts to a thrilling NBA MVP race, the setting of which will likely still have a few twists and turns before the season is up. Let's take a look at our current power rankings for the award.
#5 Damian Lillard
MPG - 35.9, PPG - 28.7, APG - 7.7, RPG - 4.2, FG% - 44.0%
Previous NBA MVP Power Rankings - 5th (-)
Damian Lillard remains fifth in our power rankings for the NBA MVP award, although his numbers have continued to fall.
The 30-year-old was open about his slim chances at earning the award, saying the Trail Blazers would have to return to winning ways. Portland have won only six games in their previous ten and are at risk of losing the 6th seed to the Dallas Mavericks.
Regardless, Lillard has had another stellar scoring season and remains one of the most underappreciated stars in the NBA. He averaged over 30 points a night while McCollum and Nurkic were out, keeping the Trail Blazers' playoff hopes afloat in the West.
He ranks among the top 3 starting guards for points and free-throw accuracy this season while averaging the most minutes of any player on our NBA MVP list - proving his value to the Trail Blazers success.
#4 Steph Curry
MPG - 34.0, PPG - 31.0, APG - 5.9, RPG - 5.6, FG% - 49.1%
Previous NBA MVP Power Rankings - N/A
Steph Curry is arguably having the best season of his career and could make a late push for the NBA MVP award.
Having won the award twice in his career, Curry is averaging more points and rebounds while shooting at a similar rate to the year he won MVP unanimously. He enters our power rankings this week in place of James Harden, who continues to miss game time for the Brooklyn Nets through injury.
Curry is having an unprecedented scoring run recently and leads all NBA players in points per night by almost ten in his last ten matchups (39.9). During that time, he has shot the ball at 55.6% from the field and at close to 50% from downtown. He has made at least a staggering ten threes per night in three of the Warriors' last four matchups.
Also Read: How much is Stephen Curry's Net Worth?