#5 James Harden – Brooklyn Nets

After being traded to the Brooklyn Nets in January 2021, James Harden played in a total of 36 regular season games with Brooklyn, averaging 24.6 points, 8.5 rebounds, 10.9 assists and shooting 47.1% from the floor, 36.6% from three-point range. The former 2017-18 MVP nce again finds himself as a favorite to win the league-MVP award, even though he is on a team with two other superstars. 

Kevin Durant is going to get all the attention as being the Nets’ “go-to” scorer and best overall player and Kyrie Irving is going to get a fair amount of the attention as well since he is one of the better scoring guards in the league, but James Harden actually has the best chance to win MVP in my mind out of these three guys because of all the things he can do. 

He has led the league in assists before, he was arguably the best rebounder stats-wise on the Nets during his time there last season and we all know what Harden can do scoring-wise with the ball in his hands. Fully healthy and on the court next to two of the other NBA’s best talents, James Harden could really flourish as the all-around top-tier player he really is. 

The Brooklyn Nets are going to be entering the 2021-22 season as the “team to beat,” even though the Milwaukee Bucks are the defending World Champions, so if they live up to their expectations, it will be hard for either Harden or Durant to not receive votes for league-MVP. 

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This 2021-22 Nets squad has a chance to be very special and if they finish with the league’s best record, James Harden will very much have an appealing case to be had to win the 2021-22 league-MVP award.