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NBA Award Predictions Roundtable: Most Valuable Player

By Kohl Rast

Nov 16, 2016; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0) drives to the basket in front of Houston Rockets guard James Harden (13) during the fourth quarter at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 16, 2016; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0) drives to the basket in front of Houston Rockets guard James Harden (13) during the fourth quarter at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports /
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Nov 16, 2016; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0) drives to the basket in front of Houston Rockets guard James Harden (13) during the fourth quarter at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 16, 2016; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0) drives to the basket in front of Houston Rockets guard James Harden (13) during the fourth quarter at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports /

With the NBA season now over, it is time for The Smoking Cuban staff to make their predictions on the various end of season awards for the NBA. Today, we start off with the NBA Most Valuable Player.

The NBA and fans around the league have such varying definitions for what the league MVP should be that it is almost impossible to be sure which direction to go with this one. Although there are two leading candidates for most people, the “Most Valuable Player” title does have some potential variability this season.

Feb 19, 2017; New Orleans, LA, USA; Eastern Conference forward LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers (23) reacts with Eastern Conference guard Isaiah Thomas of the Boston Celtics (4) in the 2017 NBA All-Star Game at Smoothie King Center. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 19, 2017; New Orleans, LA, USA; Eastern Conference forward LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers (23) reacts with Eastern Conference guard Isaiah Thomas of the Boston Celtics (4) in the 2017 NBA All-Star Game at Smoothie King Center. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports /

Some people choose to use the definition of the best player in the league this season. Others choose to go with the best player on one of the best teams in the league. Then there is the argument for the best two-way player, the most impressive player, and of course, the most important player to the entire league.

Each of these definitions could lead you to a different player on the list and each person truthfully has a right to be at or near the top of the NBA. Even though it seems like this is a two-headed race, there are anywhere from 5-7 players that could at least reach the podium in the MVP race.

For that reason, each member of the staff has taken the time to pick their Top-5 finishers in this year’s MVP battle. Although many of the names are similar, the order varies from writer to writer and there are a few outliers that certainly do receive some recognition for the work they did this year.

That being said, here are the results to The Smoking Cuban staff roundtable on who should be the NBA’s Most Valuable Player this year, as well as those who also would receive votes if we were involved in the voting.

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