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Kevin Durant knows whom he’d pick for MVP, at least as of Friday night: Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid.
“If I had to take a guess [who will win the award], I would go between Joel Embiid…DeMar DeRozan…and Ja Morant, for me,” he told reporters. “Those are my top three, and I would probably go Joel. I mean, [Nikola] Jokic, could throw Jokic in there, but I’d probably go Joel. I mean, there’s so many great players playing at a high level, man, so like I said the other day, the league’s in a great place.”
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Kevin Durant on injuries affecting his MVP candidacy: “It doesn’t validate me as a player. I know what I can do”<br><br>On his MVP vote: “I would go between Joel Embiid, DeMar DeRozan, Ja Morant – those are my top 3, I would probably go Joel. Could throw Jokic in there but I’d go Joel” <a href=”https://t.co/1uBavo0W9p”>pic.twitter.com/1uBavo0W9p</a>
Embiid leads the NBA in scoring (29.9 PPG) to go along with 11.4 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per contest. DeRozan is sixth in scoring (27.9 PPG) this season, while Morant is right behind him in seventh (27.5 PPG).
And Jokic, the defending MVP, is ninth in scoring (26.0 PPG), second in rebounds (13.8 RPG) and seventh in assists (8.1 APG).
All four players also have their teams firmly in playoff positioning. It should be a tight race, but it would be hard to argue with any of the players on Durant’s list.