Last season, the Phoenix Suns finished 10th in the Western Conference with a 34-39 record, just good enough to make the cutoff for the NBA bubble, where they went 8-0. One year later, the Suns are now 48-20, 1.5 games back of the Utah Jazz for best record in the NBA. When looking at the Suns' offseason, the one move that clearly stands out is their acquisition of Chris Paul via trade with the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Paul is having a fabulous season doing what he always does: Making those around him better. Paul is averaging 16.2 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 8.9 assists per game on 49.2% shooting from the field, 39.3% shooting from 3-point range, and 93.1% shooting from the foul line. He's having a very efficient season and appears to be just what the doctor ordered for the Suns in terms of elevating them into contender status.
Truth be told, nobody saw the acquisition of Paul paying off like this for the Suns. I think most were in agreement that he'd certainly make them better, but second-best record in the NBA? Nobody saw that coming.
As far as his MVP candidacy is concerned, I think a really strong case can be made for Paul. The MVP historically has been a combination of both team and individual achievement. The formula is basically as follows: Team success + perceived impact on that team success= MVP. If you want to make the formula a little fancier, you can subtract pre-season expectations of the team.
That is to say, if everyone thought your team was going to be really good anyways, that doesn't help your case as much. Whereas if everyone thought your team was going to suck and they don't, that helps your case. The higher the expectations, the more it takes away from your MVP candidacy. I hope that math all makes sense!
In the case of Paul, when using that formula to calculate his MVP odds, the end results end up looking pretty good for him. The Suns didn't have super high expectations going into the season, they ended up crushing those expectations by flirting with the best record in the NBA, and Paul has clearly played a big hand in their success. That all adds up to a strong MVP case.
Does that mean he'll win it? Not necessarily. Denver Nuggets big man Nikola Jokic is the consensus front runner for how he's kept his team afloat during the absence of Jamal Murray. When Murray went down, everyone assumed the Nuggets' goose was cooked. Instead, they are 45-24, just 3.5 games back of the Suns. Jokic has been a major reason for why the Nuggets are at where they are at, making his MVP candidacy quite strong as well.
Ultimately, I would love to see Paul win the award. Just because he has really paid his dues and historically, he doesn't get enough respect. When talking about the best point guards in NBA history, Paul too often gets overlooked. Part of that is his consistency and commitment to his team. He doesn't create any drama and he's always just out there doing his thing. Guys like that are easy to cheer for and deserving of whatever awards come their way.
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