I think Steph, if healthy, is going to have a great year. But I simply don't think he is going to win a third MVP award. I wouldn't be surprised if he did, but I don't think he will.
Not that I am pitying him or anyone else on the Warriors one bit, but it is really tough to win an MVP award on a team that is that stacked and where the expectations are that high, whether he "deserves" it or not. There was some really good discussion about that on KNBR early this morning as I was driving in, and I wholeheartedly agree. It was basically what I said, but obviously went much deeper than that. Where you have one guy that is *the* difference maker in terms of whether his team is a contender or a complete bust, that is where the MVP votes most often go. And that's fair. No complaints from me. But part of me does wish he would get a bit of a harder look. Curry is absolutely the MVP of the Warriors, notwithstanding Durant's addition. I'm not sure a Durant/Thompson/Green-led team is a perennial championship contender. I think a Durant-less Curry/Thompson/Green-led team is. Curry makes the other players around him, Durant included, better. And their scheme really is based around him, including the defense.
And while we're on the subject, Curry does not get NEARLY the credit he deserves for his defensive skills. He is, without a doubt, one of the best in his position on defense. It's just that that gets overshadowed when you have the other defenders the Warriors have. And it gets overshadowed when Curry looks so "small" when standing next to those other players. But as I pointed out last championship series, for example, he was playing lights-out defense even when switched
onto LeBron, the most dominant player in the game right now. It wasn't flashy and didn't manifest itself in blocked shots. But more often than not, he either directly made LeBron pass rather than shoot, or forced LeBron to where the defensive help was, which again often forced LeBron to pass rather than shoot.
I would boil his defensive assets down to maybe three areas: (1) He's deceptively strong for his size, and doesn't get backed down or pushed out of the play nearly as often as one might expect a player of his size. (2) He is a very smart defensive player. He understands angles and understands where his help is, as well as understanding when he is needed to provide help, and that alone takes away a lot of open looks for players that thrive on open looks or open lanes. (3) He is really quick, which allows him to either steal or disrupt shots or dribbles, even if he doesn't get a steal or block on a given play. It also helps him on switches and helps him get around screens that a lot of guys don't have the ability to avoid.
Again, most of that isn't flashy, so it doesn't get noticed. And it isn't likely to when you've got Green, Thompson, and Durant playing strong D as well. But being the third best defender on
this team is quite the accomplishment. And when you couple that with what he brings on the offensive side of the ball
and what he brings in terms of team chemistry, I can't say that anyone on the team is more valuable than him--not even Durant.