rome8180 said:
I don't think he's a terrible candidate. I just think Harden deserves it more. It's a weird year and both candidates would represent a break from history, but Harden less so since an MVP has actually been selected from a 3rd place team before. And of course, Harden's generally more efficient.
The efficiency stats frustrate me sometimes. In this case, the guys have nearly identical shooting percentages, though Harden nominally leads by .013 in FG%, .002 in 3Pt%, and .006 in FT%. The biggest difference is that Harden takes 2.2 more threes a game. In a vacuum, sure, a Harden 3FGA is worth more than a Harden 2FGA. But on a team like the Rockets, where Harden's .346 is basically the worst of rotation players who shoot threes, it seems weird to credit him for jacking up nearly 10 treys a game when he's got better shooters like Anderson, Gordon, and Beverly around him. Westbrook leads OKC in 3FGA too, with 7.2 attempts, but he actually is one of the more efficient shooters on the team (which sucks from outside, shooting .327 on the year).