Seems like it deserves its own thread. He's been incredibly good in his first two games, putting up numbers that would shame Derrick Rose in his MVP season in just 33 mpg. This is coming off a preseason where he seemed to already be in playoff form. The dude seems to have a massive chip on his shoulder from the playoff embarrassment, and it feels like he's made up his mind to be a one-man wrecking crew this year. And Lillard's body of work shows remarkable, consistent improvement. PER by year: 2012-13 16.4 2013-14 18.6 2014-15 20.7 2015-16 22.2 2016-17 24.1 2017-18 25.2 2018-19 31.7 (2 games) You can argue about this year being a 2 game trend, which is a terrible sample size of a mediocre metric, but you can't argue the overall trend. He. Just. Gets. Better. He may not put up 31.7 all year (although he may) but the trend shows he's probably better than 25.2. And nobody ever sees the improvement coming. How many people predicted he'd get better the next season? I don't mean last year, or the year before, or the year before that. I mean ever. When he was a rookie I remember people marveling, "What a stud! But you really have to remember he's a 4 year guy from a nobody school. He's a finished product. Now, Dion Waiters has so much upside..." They sleep, and they've always slept. It's really overlooked how much he's steadily improved as a player, maybe because it's such a contrast to the instant success of a guy like Rose who won the MVP at 22. But Rose is remarkable because he was so young. Let's look at our two most recent MVP's, and their ages when they first won. Harden, 28. Westbrook, 28. The average MVP age since Rose is 28. Guess how old Lillard is? I get it that his stats so far were home games against teams in turmoil (the Spurs just lost their starting PG, and the Lakeshow will be synonymous with turmoil this year), but this is beyond numbers. He's doing it on a huge stage--that opening night game was probably the most talked-about regular season game in franchise history. He's playing off the ball more with Turner, and letting guys like Sauce and Curry create more of the long range spacing. He's getting Nurk and Collins more involved in the offense. He's taking every hard shot when the offense breaks down. Can he keep it up? Are they right to sleep? Only time will tell. But this is how you start an MVP season. And I don't want to wake up.
Dame has been great so far, but i doubt he will be MVP, portland just isn't a big Time Market and does not get the attention from outside. Lillard would have to play a historicly good Season and portland would have to finish right behind Golden State at 2nd in the West to even be in the conversation at all. The chances of that happening are at 10% imo
I was thinking while watching the second half last night how we could have had a choice between Dame and LMA as the face of the team. We lost LMA as a result, but Dame is so much better as a player now, and as a leader.
He looks like he more fresher this year at the start of the season. If the bench can continue to play like there doing this also will keep him fresher through out the season. He play 35 minutes against the Lakers and 30 last night. Actually last night he was more impressive then openings night. 29/9 in 30 minutes that was really impressive.
As good as he is and continues to improve, there is another from his draft that will win mvp this year. If he stays healthy, mark my words. This is the year of the unibrow. He has finally figured out that nobody in this league can stop him and he can own anyone. This is the year a big takes back the mvp, which i dont think we have seen since Shaq.
The only question about Davis is his durability. Last 2 years he played 75 games and last year had to play more into the playoffs - which is the best of his career. We will see if can continue to play that many games and stay healthy - because if he can, he is the #1 MVP candidate in my book.
Great post, Mook. After Dame's first year, I was in the camp that was satisfied with 2012-13 being his ceiling. 19.0 pts, 6.5 ast, 3.1 reb, .501 eFG. How much could a 4-year guy from a small school really improve? Wow, it's nice to be wrong. Last year he was 26.9 pts, 6.6 ast, 4.5 reb, .519 eFG. Improvements in all major statistical categories. MVP? Most likely not. But he certainly has earned that 1st team all-NBA title.
Yep thsts why i said if he stays healthy which is a big ?. I think he is learning ot play smarter too though, not harder. So a little less stress on his body Nd that might help hos endurance. I give it a 50/50 really but if he plays 70 plus games? He will be a lock.
Is OKC a big market? 2 of the last 5 MVPs played there. And Dame was 4th in MVP voting last year, ahead of every GS Warrior. That’s hardly being overlooked. I agree with you mook. This feels like MVP season to me too. It will take getting the best record in the NBA (like Harden last year), but I don’t think that’s impossible.
Dames my favorite player in the league but I think the Blazers will need 53+ wins for Dame to even be top 3 for mvp. Anthony Davis, Lebron if the Lakers end up in the playoffs, and Giannis. I think some of last year the All star bid, 1st team, and being that high in mvp votes was a make “up” for the year before where he played great and was basically not recognized for it. He’s definitely put his foot print in the league as a top 10 player though and we should be proud of him, and thankful for all the work he does on and off the court.
Having a decent bench should really help. He's not in the top ten in mpg, which is new. Talking of which - GIVE CURRY MORE MINUTES! Take away Layman's if necessary.
How absolutely delicious was it that they presented his All-NBA First Team award to him last night - with LA standing 30 feet away in the shadows? Loved it.
Two quick addendums: 1) The death of PA is probably not that significant, but it is a factor 2) MULTIPLE national pundits (espn, 538, ...) have the Blazers falling out of the playoffs. This pisses me off. Lillard probably feels the same, if not even more so. "They Sleep", even after everything.
I don't think Dame would get serious consideration for MVP unless the Blazers finished in the top two in the conference, personally, simply because he doesn't have the ESPN-fueled hype train that other guys get. He simply performs, game-in, game-out, and, in terms of leadership, he's got to be one of the best in the NBA in taking responsibility upon himself, using disappointment to fuel his motivation, and making the players around him better.
I haven't done the regression on it yet, but to my memory it seemed that Dame had fewer "supernova" games last year (only 2 of his top 9 games in scoring) and was more of a steady presence. While I love the consistency and think it's better for winning% (and having CJ and others make more shots means he's going to be scoring less/more efficiently/more assistises), if he's ever going to be MVP it's because he puts up a few ridiculous lines (50-burgers, 40/15 games) early, gets the SportsCenter love, and rides out the momentum in a year when LBJ misses the playoffs and no one else really goes off.
