Luka Doncic is the MVP
I don’t have an official awards ballot, but I do vote on Tim Bontemp’s MVP straw poll on ESPN.com, so I’ve been thinking about this award all season. I’ve had Nikola Jokic in the top spot most of the year, but now I’d vote for Luka Doncic. The more I’ve thought about it, the better I feel about my decision. My argument boils down to three main points:
We overvalue on/off stats that include a fair bit of noise.
We undervalue box-score stats that are more straightforward.
Nikola Jokic is the best player in the NBA, but Luka Doncic had a better regular season.