3. Jayson Tatum, Boston Celtics
If the league is going to award the MVP to the best player on the best team, there's a very good chance that Jayson Tatum could finally win his first MVP award this year. As we arrive at the end of the season, I imagine the Boston Celtics are going to begin to separate themselves from the rest of the Eastern Conference. Assuming that does happen, that's going to put Tatum in a great spot to earn votes for the NBA MVP award. Averaging 28 points, nine rebounds, and six assists on 45 percent shooting from the field and 37 percent shooting from 3-point range, he could be on the path toward winning the MVP.
At least for now, he. certainly should be in the conversation. Through the Majority of the first quarter of the season, the Celtics had to navigate without Kristaps Porzingis, who was still recovering from offseason surgery. Boston managed to do so in large part because of the contributions and leadership of Tatum. And if you did remove Tatum from this team, I'm not sure how good the Celtics would be. I'm sure they would still be competitive but I'd have my doubts that they'd be a championship contender. That just goes to show just how valuable Tatum is to the Celtics.
Why Tatum's MVP bid may fall short
But as has been the case each of the past few seasons, there is a path toward Tatum not earning enough votes. One argument that could be built against Tatum revolves around how talented this Celtics roster is. Boston has arguably the most talented starting 5 and then one of the deepest teams in the league. It would be easy to punish Tatum as he tries to win his first NBA MVP because of it - not to mention there are some around the league that believe Jaylen Brown is a better player - but that's a different conversation for another day.
For the most part, that could be the one big reason why Tatum doesn't end up getting enough votes to be taken seriously as an NBA MVP candidate. In fact, just looking at how last year's race ended, Tatum, who was the best player on a 64-win Celtics team, received zero first-place votes for the award and finished sixth in total voting. As silly as it may sound, the Celtics may be too talented for Tatum to be a serious candidate to win the NBA MVP award.