LA Clippers
Kawhi Leonard 26 points per game (plus 6.5 rebounds/3 assists)
Paul George 22 points per game (plus 7 rebounds/4.5 assists)
Last year’s monster season that earned him third place in MVP voting was the first time Paul George exceeded a 24 points per game average for an entire season in the NBA, so while there’s a reason to believe he is still on an upward trajectory, a regression to the mean would still leave him a borderline top 10 player. For George this upcoming season, expect a bit of a drop-off but he’ll still be one of the better scorers in the NBA.
Kawhi unveiled a scoring pedigree during the playoffs that few knew he possessed, so he is the clear cut first option in LA.
LA Lakers
Anthony Davis 26 points per game (plus 13 rebounds/4 assists)
LeBron James 24 points per game (plus 8 rebounds/7 assists)
For the first 16 years of his career, LeBron was never not the leading scorer on his own team. This should be the year that changes, as he likely plays a career-low in minutes, and tries to woo Anthony Davis by making it “The Brow’s” team, at least for the first 45 minutes of each game.
Like Curry, James no doubt has at least one move MVP-caliber season in the tank. And if he’s going to get one more championship, this feels like the season for it.