2024 Awards Predictions: Nikola Jokić’s MVP Statement + Coby White’s Surge to MIP

artstarss13 | March 16, 2024 | Nba | No Comments

DENVER, CO - MARCH 11: Nikola Jokic #15 of the Denver Nuggets handles the ball during the game against the Toronto Raptors on March 11, 2024 at the Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2024 NBAE (Photo by Garrett Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images)

Garrett Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images

Nikola Jokić is playing like someone intent on wrapping up his third MVP award with several weeks left in the season, but Shai Gilgeous-Alexander isn’t going anywhere as his Oklahoma City Thunder try to hold off a horde of contenders vying for the West’s top seed.

That high-stakes race is just one of many nearing the finish line as the 2023-24 season speeds toward its conclusion.

MVP: Nikola Jokić, Denver Nuggets

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DENVER, COLORADO - MARCH 9: Nikola Jokic #15 of the Denver Nuggets reacts to a referee decision in the second half of a game against the Utah Jazz at Ball Arena on March 9, 2024 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Dustin Bradford/Getty Images)

Dustin Bradford/Getty Images

MVP cases aren’t made in a single game, and it’s not like Nikola Jokić’s 32 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists in the Denver Nuggets’ 115-109 win over the Boston Celtics on March 7 were all that far from his season averages of 26.2 points, 12.3 rebounds and 9.2 assists. But if anyone needed an example of the unmatched control and technical mastery Jokić exerts on games, that performance offered it.

While the East-leading Celtics struggled to generate good looks down the stretch of a contest that had a definite playoff feel, Jokić calmly dissected possessions time and again. He was like a factory whose conveyor belts churn out “correct basketball decisions” without error or deviation.

Jokić is just fourth in Dunks and Threes’ Estimated Wins, but he leads in Basketball Reference’s Value Over Replacement Player. Numbers aside, that Boston game proved Jokić thinks the game on a higher plane than anyone else.

Runner-Up: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City Thunder

It was hard to resist moving SGA up a spot in the wake of this mic-drop moment:

In addition to forcing us all to ask “Wait, am Iconsistent enough?”, Gilgeous-Alexander has the Thunder sitting atop the West and riding a 5-2 stretch since we last updated our awards predictions. His 30.6 points, 5.6 rebounds and 5.1 assists on a 53.1/41.9/87.0 shooting split during that run are closely in line with his full-season stats and mark him as the clear No. 2 behind Jokić.

SGA is an elite version of a player type—elite scoring guard—defenses have seen before and have some sense of how to handle. That distinguishes him from Jokić, who simply can’t be defended by any of the currently understood methods.