Giannis Antetokounmpo is a top 3 MVP candidate in latest ESPN straw poll

The Milwaukee Bucks are 27 games through their title defense season — roughly over 30 percent of the way — and while they’ve had their highs and lows, the one constant has been Giannis Antetokounmpo.

His performance once again has him in consideration for another MVP award and, in Tim Bontemps’ latest straw poll among NBA media members for ESPN, they seem to agree he should be one of the three candidates for the award through the first 30 percent of the season.

Antetokounmpo ranks third among the 14 players who received votes, sitting behind Golden State Warriors superstar Steph Curry (the leader) and fellow East rival Kevin Durant (the runner-up), while being ahead of the Denver Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic.

Should Antetokounmpo be higher? Is there someone below him who should be higher? Let’s dive into the straw poll, which has traditionally been a good indicator of who will end up as the Most Valuable Player at the end of the season.

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Antetokounmpo, along with Curry and Durant, were the only three players to receive votes from all 100 media members that were polled. He received three first-place votes, which was more than Durant got (two), but Durant received 61 second-place votes as opposed to Antetokounmpo’s 19.

Antetokounmpo was a distant second in first-place votes to Curry, who received 94 and is the most of any player in the history of the ESPN straw poll, meaning he is the clear frontrunner for the award at this point.

That’s certainly not unfair, seeing as the Warriors have the league’s best record at 21-4 and the best net rating at plus-12.9. Traditionally, the MVP has gone to a player on a team with the best record or a top three to five record. There are a few exceptions, but that’s typically how it goes.

Antetokounmpo has made his MVP case all season, including carrying a very depleted Bucks team through injuries to both Khris Middleton and Jrue Holiday, and also carrying the team when both players returned and struggled initially (or continuing to, in Middleton’s case).

Antetokounmpo is top three in points per game, sixth in rebounds per game, top ten in blocks per game, and top 15 in assist rate which leads to the second-highest usage in the league.

His impact on the Bucks has never been greater than this season where they’ve needed him at his best on both ends of the floor, including playing more minutes at a position he isn’t comfortable with than ever before.

He has still played over 55 percent of his minutes at center and those lineups have produced a plus-11.2 net rating across over 840 possessions. As evidenced by his career-high in block rate, he is excelling at the position even though it isn’t his strong suit.

To truly underline the impact that Antetokounmpo has on the Bucks this season and how important he has been, his on/off differential is plus-22.3 which is in the 99th percentile in the NBA, per Cleaning the Glass (subscription required).

Making the case for Antetokounmpo as the leading MVP candidate ahead of Curry, Durant, and Jokic (who is having another insane season and him being a distant fourth in voting is a bit odd to me) is centered around how much he has meant to the success of his team.

None of the other three candidates’ teams would be the same without their superstar, but what Antetokounmpo has done for the Bucks with the injuries they have faced (which is what Jokic is going through as well), at a position that he hasn’t played long stretches in before, and doing so at arguably the highest level in his career is the base of the argument.

Right now, I don’t think there’s an incorrect selection for MVP. All of the top four candidates have merit and are having truly special seasons of their own. This is only the first 30 percent of the season as well, so there is still a lot of basketball to be played and Antetokounmpo can continue to make his case stronger for why he deserves a third MVP award in four years.

One great way to strengthen your MVP case (and likely why Jokic is lagging behind the top three so much) is to win a ton of games because voters love wins more than individual performance. So keep stacking those wins, Giannis & Co.