By Tim Bontemps | ESPN, 2025-02-14 20:00:00
由生成式人工智能翻译，译文内容可能不准确或不完整，以原文为准。
进入 2024-25 NBA 赛季，联盟最有价值球员奖项已经涌现出三位明确的竞争者。
卢卡·东契奇(Luka Doncic)在 2024 年排名第三，之后带领达拉斯小牛队出人意料地打入总决赛，他似乎准备成为下一个突破重围、赢得首个 MVP 的超级巨星。
谢伊·吉尔杰斯-亚历山大(Shai Gilgeous-Alexander)超越了东契奇，位居第二，本赛季带领俄克拉荷马雷霆队，球队预计将高居西部联盟榜首（自 11 月 25 日以来一直是如此）。
尼古拉·约基奇(Nikola Jokic)是过去四个赛季中的三届 MVP 得主，可以说是当今篮球界最具统治力的力量，他是一个很受欢迎的选择，有望加入勒布朗·詹姆斯(LeBron James)和比尔·拉塞尔(Bill Russell)的行列，成为联盟历史上仅有的在五年内四次获得该奖项的球员。
但是，虽然东契奇在竞争中有所退步——甚至在他转会到洛杉矶湖人队这一改变联盟格局的交易之前，由于小腿受伤，他将远远低于季后赛荣誉的 65 场比赛门槛，因此不具备资格——但亚历山大和约基奇都超出了赛季前的预期。
现在，由于联盟中其他候选人未能达到这些球星的产量和球队成功，MVP 的争夺看起来像是两个人的竞争。根据 ESPN 2024-25 赛季的第二次 MVP 模拟投票，在全明星赛之前，这场比赛已经有了一个明确的领先者。
» [跳转至完整的 NBA MVP 模拟投票结果](
在一次模仿联盟官方投票的调查中，从周六到周一的 48 小时内进行，亚历山大获得了 100 张第一名选票中的 70 张，并在其他 30 张选票中排名第二，总共获得了 1000 分中的 910 分。
因此，他与约基奇建立了显著的领先优势——尽管远未达到决定性的程度，约基奇在赛季第一次模拟投票中领先，获得了剩余的 30 张第一名选票、69 张第二名选票和一张第三名选票，总共获得了 788 分。
在自 2016-17 赛季以来进行的过去 18 次模拟投票中，前两名与其他选票之间的差距是前所未有的。最接近的一次是疫情缩短的 2019-20 赛季，当时扬尼斯·阿德托昆博(Giannis Antetokounmpo)和詹姆斯包揽了所有第一名选票，以及除两张选票外的所有第二名选票。
这也反映了最终结果，阿德托昆博赢得了他的第二个背靠背奖项，詹姆斯名列第二，没有其他球员获得第一名选票。这也是在赛季末的奖项投票中，只有两名球员获得第一名选票的最后一次。
除非在最后两个月发生重大变化，否则本赛季的比赛似乎可能会产生类似的结果。
亚历山大不仅是目前拥有 NBA 最佳战绩的球队的领袖，而且还贡献了出色的个人数据。他以场均 32.6 分领先联盟得分榜，同时平均得到 5.1 个篮板、6.0 次助攻、1.9 次抢断和 1.0 个盖帽。NBA 历史上只有五名球员在一个赛季中平均得到 30+5+5+1+1：迈克尔·乔丹(Michael Jordan)（两次）、詹姆斯（两次）、阿德托昆博、乔尔·恩比德(Joel Embiid)和德怀恩·韦德(Dwyane Wade)。对于这位 26 岁的球员来说，与他们为伍并不算差，他正努力成为连续第七位国际 MVP，也是自 2018 年詹姆斯·哈登(James Harden)以来第一位获得该奖项的后卫。
至于约基奇，人们的期望是，他需要做出一些特别的事情才能克服通常的三届冠军带来的选民疲劳。他所做的回应是，他平均得到 29.8 分、12.5 个篮板和 10.3 次助攻，同时总命中率为 57.8%，三分球命中率为 45.6%，罚球命中率为 82.1%。这将使他成为唯一一个平均获得三双的非控球后卫——拉塞尔·威斯布鲁克(Russell Westbrook)（四次）和奥斯卡·罗伯特森(Oscar Robertson)是仅有的做到这一点的球员——也是唯一一个在投篮命中率超过 50% 的情况下做到这一点的球员。
考虑到约基奇已经连续七次进入投票前三名，并且在总共 13 次投票中，有 11 次进入前三名，而且自 2020-21 赛季开始以来，他从未跌出前五名，因此也很难指责选民对约基奇在比赛中的地位感到疲劳。
这些结果也需要结合实际情况来看。对于亚历山大来说，在过去的三周里，他获得了 NBA 职业生涯中的前三个 50 分比赛，同时带领雷霆队在会议中取得了巨大的领先优势，尽管关键贡献者切特·霍姆格伦(Chet Holmgren)、以赛亚·哈尔滕施泰因(Isaiah Hartenstein)和亚历克斯·卡鲁索(Alex Caruso)本赛季都至少缺席了 20 场比赛，这肯定对他的事业有所帮助。与此同时，约基奇在开局缓慢之后，悄然带领丹佛队重返西部联盟的上层。自 1 月 1 日以来，掘金队的战绩为 17 胜 6 负，仅次于俄克拉荷马城的 16 胜 4 负。
NBA 2024-25 MVP 模拟投票 2.0
| 球员 | 球队 | 第 1 名 | 第 2 名 | 第 3 名 | 第 4 名 | 第 5 名 | 总选票 | 总分 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. 谢伊·吉尔杰斯-亚历山大 | OKC | 70 | 30 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100 | 910 |
| 2. 尼古拉·约基奇 | DEN | 30 | 69 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100 | 788 |
| 3. 扬尼斯·阿德托昆博 | MIL | 0 | 1 | 77 | 12 | 6 | 96 | 430 |
| 4. 杰森·塔图姆(Jayson Tatum) | BOS | 0 | 0 | 18 | 65 | 14 | 97 | 299 |
| 5. 多诺万·米切尔(Donovan Mitchell) | CLE | 0 | 0 | 3 | 11 | 25 | 39 | 73 |
| 6. 杰伦·布伦森(Jalen Brunson) | NY | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 17 | 22 | 32 |
| 7. 卡尔-安东尼·唐斯(Karl-Anthony Towns) | NY | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 19 | 23 | 31 |
| 8. 维克托·文班亚马(Victor Wembanyama) | SA | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 8 | 12 |
| 9. 贾伦·杰克逊(Jaren Jackson Jr.) | MEM | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 7 |
| 10. 安东尼·爱德华兹(Anthony Edwards) | MIN | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| 并列 11. 勒布朗·詹姆斯 | LAL | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| 并列 11. 埃文·莫布里(Evan Mobley) | CLE | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 13. 凯德·坎宁安(Cade Cunningham) | DET | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| 14. 阿尔佩伦·申京(Alperen Sengun) | HOU | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
阿德托昆博的情况可能取决于健康状况
鉴于亚历山大和约基奇现在比其他球员享有的差距，除非这两位球星受伤，否则极不可能有人会获得本赛季的奖项。唯一有哪怕一丝机会改变这一局面的是密尔沃基雄鹿队的大个子阿德托昆博——这位两届 MVP 得主——可能会因为伤病而错失任何赢得赛季末荣誉的机会。
这是因为，在缺席了周三晚上 103-101 战胜明尼苏达森林狼队的比赛后，阿德托昆博——他获得了 77 张第三名选票和 430 总分，连续第二次投票排名第三——本赛季已经为雄鹿队缺席了 12 场比赛，其中包括全明星赛前的连续六场比赛，原因是小腿问题。伤病也迫使他错过了本周末在旧金山举行的全明星赛。
然而，虽然阿德托昆博总共缺席了 12 场比赛，但出于奖项目的，他只缺席了 11 场。为什么？因为 NBA 杯决赛，虽然在大多数其他情况下不计入统计数据或排名，但在赛季末的奖项资格方面确实算数。
因此，阿德托昆博可以在常规赛的最后两个月最多缺席六场比赛，仍然有资格获得所有赛季末荣誉，包括 MVP。
投票显示了新老交替
虽然我们强调了约基奇的稳定性，但塔图姆在投票中的位置也具有相似的水平。自从在 2022-23 赛季的第一次模拟投票中领先以来，这位凯尔特人队的超级巨星在过去七次投票中每次都排在第四到第六名之间——包括本赛季的明确第四名，在本次投票中获得 65 张第四名选票和 299 总分。没有其他球员超过 100 分。
塔图姆从未在实际 MVP 投票中排名高于第四名，如果阿德托昆博在本赛季晚些时候失去资格，他将有望首次进入前三名。
除了塔图姆，这次投票的最大收获是明显地远离了老牌超级巨星。在本次投票中至少获得一张选票的 14 名球员中，目前只有阿德托昆博和詹姆斯年满 30 岁（约基奇将在周三年满 30 岁）。
从塔图姆到休斯顿火箭队的中锋申京(Alperen Sengun)，排名第 14 位，有六名球员——圣安东尼奥马刺队的中锋文班亚马（第八名）、孟菲斯灰熊队的前锋小贾伦·杰克逊（第九名）、明尼苏达森林狼队的后卫爱德华兹（第十名）、克利夫兰骑士队的前锋莫布里（第十二名）、底特律活塞队的后卫坎宁安（第十三名）和申京——在 25 岁或更年轻时获得了一张选票。
这也延续了一个趋势，即 NBA 球星阵营中的三位老将——詹姆斯、斯蒂芬·库里(Stephen Curry)和凯文·杜兰特(Kevin Durant)——至少有一位被排除在投票之外，可以追溯到 2021-22 赛季的最终统计，当时库里排名第八，杜兰特排名第九，詹姆斯排名第 11。他们上次有任何一人进入前三名是什么时候？那个赛季的第一次投票，当时库里和杜兰特分别排名第一和第二。
尽管他们在个人天赋方面仍然非常出色，但三人组作为这项荣誉的真正竞争者的日子似乎已经结束。
尼克斯队由他们的两位球星推动。这能在季后赛中奏效吗？
尼克斯队的球星布伦森和唐斯几乎完美地分摊了纽约队本赛季的功劳，布伦森在 22 张选票中排名第六，获得 32 分，而唐斯在 23 张选票中排名第七，获得 31 分。本赛季只有一对队友的总选票和分数超过了布伦森和唐斯：库里和杜兰特在 2017-18 赛季曾两次与金州勇士队做到这一点。
在他在纽约的第一个赛季里，唐斯场均得到 24.3 分和职业生涯最高的 13.5 个篮板，总命中率为 53.3%，三分球命中率为职业生涯最高的 42.6%，在他的第五次全明星赛中首次成为全明星首发。与此同时，布伦森以场均 25.9 分和职业生涯最高的 7.5 次助攻赢得了他连续第二次全明星席位。但是，尽管他们拥有出色的进攻能力，但关于他们两人是否能够成为一支冠军级别球队中足够好的防守齿轮的问题仍然存在。
“不，”一位助理教练在被问及这个问题时说。“有了米卡尔·布里奇斯(Mikal Bridges)、约什·哈特(Josh Hart)和 OG·阿奴诺比(OG Anunoby)，你有强大的防守者，但你只会继续将布伦森和唐斯放在行动中，你会攻击他们。杰伦已经好多了，但他仍然是一个可以攻击的人。而且隐藏他比隐藏卡尔更容易。”
他们比赛中的优点和缺点都在周三对阵亚特兰大老鹰队的比赛中展现出来，当时唐斯连续第二场比赛超过 40 分，布伦森得到 36 分和 8 次助攻，命中了几个关键球——包括加时赛还剩 11.1 秒时的制胜球。
另一方面，全明星球员特雷·杨(Trae Young)得到 38 分和 19 次助攻，这是本赛季常规赛中得分最高的一场比赛。虽然纽约最终以 149-148 的比分险胜，但这场比赛让人想起最近主场输给洛杉矶湖人队和波士顿凯尔特人队的比赛，尼克斯队的防守在那场比赛中表现非常糟糕。
“他们无法防守凯尔特人队，”这位助理教练说。“那是他们必须经历的。他们对每个人来说都是个问题，特别是对他们。”
贾伦·杰克逊的选票预示着灰熊队的未来一片光明
在这样的投票中，获得三张总选票而排名第九通常不会引起人们的太大兴趣。但是，当涉及到杰克逊和灰熊队时，这三张选票最终可能会非常重要，因为它们预示着未来的发展方向。
杰克逊正处于他七年 NBA 职业生涯中最好的一个赛季，他获得了两张第四名选票和一张第五名选票——这只是他职业生涯中第二次获得哪怕一张模拟投票。但是，尽管杰克逊不会在今年的 MVP 竞争中留下有意义的印记，但这表明他有真正的机会在本赛季进入 15 个全 NBA 席位之一。
三个五人全 NBA 球队由媒体投票选出，就像绝大多数赛季末的奖项一样（只有年度最佳总经理，由高管自己投票选出，不是）。而且，特别是在选票中取消了位置之后，在 MVP 投票中进入前 10 名将极有可能让杰克逊突破，他尚未进入全 NBA 球队。
如果杰克逊做到了这一点，他将在今年夏天获得超级顶薪资格，从而为灰熊队提供另一种途径，以在 2022-23 年度最佳防守球员的潜在不受限制的自由球员身份之前的一个赛季获得长期续约合同。
灰熊队将马库斯·斯马特(Marcus Smart)交易到华盛顿队有助于创造薪金灵活性，以便在今年夏天重新谈判和延长杰克逊的合同。如果他有资格获得超级顶薪，孟菲斯队可以从 2026-27 赛季开始以高达工资帽的 35% 的价格延长他的合同。
如果发生这种情况，谈判可能会类似于 2020 年鲁迪·戈贝尔(Rudy Gobert)和犹他爵士队之间的谈判，当时戈贝尔——当时是联盟中最出色的防守球员——同意了一份略低于他可以通过续约获得的最高金额的超级顶薪协议。这是唯一一次有资格签署超级顶薪的球员以低于工资帽的 35% 的价格签约。
点击查看原文：NBA MVP straw poll 2.0 - 100 league insiders rank SGA, Jokic and more stars
NBA MVP straw poll 2.0 - 100 league insiders rank SGA, Jokic and more stars
Heading into the 2024-25 NBA season, three clear contenders have emerged for the league’s Most Valuable Player award.
Luka Doncic, who finished in third in 2024 before leading the Dallas Mavericks to an unexpected Finals run, seemed poised to be the next superstar to break through for his first MVP.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who edged out Doncic for second, entered the season at the helm of an Oklahoma City Thunder team expected to sit atop the Western Conference (and has since Nov. 25).
Nikola Jokic, the MVP winner in three of the past four seasons and arguably the most dominant force in basketball today, was a popular choice to join LeBron James and Bill Russell as the only players in league history to win the award in four out of five seasons.
But, while Doncic has faded in the race – even before his league-altering trade to the Los Angeles Lakers, he was ineligible because of a calf injury that will keep him well short of the 65-game threshold for postseason honors – Gilgeous-Alexander and Jokic have more than lived up to preseason expectations.
Now, with other candidates around the league failing to match those stars’ production and team success, the push for the MVP is looking like a two-player race. According to ESPN’s second MVP straw poll of the 2024-25 season, that race has a clear leader heading into the All-Star break.
» Jump to the full NBA MVP straw poll results
In a poll that mirrors the league’s official voting and was conducted over a 48-hour period from Saturday to Monday, Gilgeous-Alexander claimed 70 of the 100 first-place votes and finished second on the other 30 ballots, giving him 910 of a possible 1,000 total points.
As a result, he has established a significant – albeit far from decisive – lead over Jokic, who, after leading the first straw poll of the season, amassed the remaining 30 first-place votes, 69 second-place votes and one third-place vote for a total of 788 points.
The separation between the top two and the rest of the ballot is unprecedented across the previous 18 straw polls conducted since the 2016-17 season. The closest two players have come was during the pandemic-shortened 2019-20 season, when Giannis Antetokounmpo and James combined for every first-place vote and all but two second-place selections.
That mirrored the final result, as well, when Antetokounmpo won his second consecutive award and James finished second, with no other player receiving a first-place vote. That also was the last time that, in the end-of-season awards voting, only two players received first-place votes.
Barring a dramatic change in the final two months, it seems likely this season’s race will deliver a similar outcome.
Not only is Gilgeous-Alexander the leader of a team that currently sports the NBA’s best record, he’s also putting up fantastic individual numbers. He is leading the league in scoring at 32.6 points per game, along with averages of 5.1 rebounds, 6.0 assists, 1.9 steals and 1.0 blocks. Only five players in NBA history have averaged 30-5-5-1-1 in a season: Michael Jordan (twice), James (twice), Antetokounmpo, Joel Embiid and Dwyane Wade. Not bad company for the 26-year-old vying to become the seventh consecutive international MVP and the first guard to capture the award since James Harden in 2018.
As for Jokic, the expectation was that it would take something special for him to overcome the usual level of voter fatigue that comes with being a three-time winner. All he has done in response is put up averages of 29.8 points, 12.5 rebounds and 10.3 assists per game while shooting 57.8% overall, 45.6% from 3 and 82.1% from the free throw line. That would make him the only non-point guard to ever average a triple-double for a season – Russell Westbrook (four times) and Oscar Robertson are the only players to ever do it – and the only player to do so while shooting over 50% from the field.
It’s also hard to accuse the voters of any fatigue when it comes to Jokic’s status in the race when you consider he has now been in the top three in voting in seven consecutive polls and 11 out of 13 overall, and he has never been outside the top five in any of them since the start of the 2020-21 season.
Context matters with these results, too. For Gilgeous-Alexander, it has certainly helped his cause that, over the past three weeks, he has had the first three 50-point games of his NBA career while powering a Thunder team that has stormed out to a massive lead in the conference despite key contributors Chet Holmgren, Isaiah Hartenstein and Alex Caruso each having missed at least 20 games this season. Meanwhile, Jokic has quietly led Denver back into the upper-echelon of the West standings after a slow start. The Nuggets are 17-6 since Jan. 1, second only to Oklahoma City’s 16-4 mark.
NBA 2024-25 MVP Straw Poll 2.0
| PLAYER | TEAM | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | Total votes | Totalpoints |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander | OKC | 70 | 30 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100 | 910 |
| 2. Nikola Jokic | DEN | 30 | 69 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100 | 788 |
| 3. Giannis Antetokounmpo | MIL | 0 | 1 | 77 | 12 | 6 | 96 | 430 |
| 4. Jayson Tatum | BOS | 0 | 0 | 18 | 65 | 14 | 97 | 299 |
| 5. Donovan Mitchell | CLE | 0 | 0 | 3 | 11 | 25 | 39 | 73 |
| 6. Jalen Brunson | NY | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 17 | 22 | 32 |
| 7. Karl-Anthony Towns | NY | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 19 | 23 | 31 |
| 8. Victor Wembanyama | SA | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 8 | 12 |
| 9. Jaren Jackson Jr. | MEM | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 7 |
| 10. Anthony Edwards | MIN | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| T-11. LeBron James | LAL | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| T-11. Evan Mobley | CLE | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 13. Cade Cunningham | DET | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| 14. Alperen Sengun | HOU | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Antetokounmpo’s case could come down to health
Given the separation Gilgeous-Alexander and Jokic now enjoy over the rest of the field, it’s exceedingly unlikely anyone else will be claiming this season’s award, barring injury to either star. The only player with even a slight chance of changing that – Milwaukee Bucks big man and two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo – could see injuries derail any chance he has of winning an end-of-season honor.
That’s because, after sitting out Wednesday night’s 103-101 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves, Antetokounmpo – who had 77 third-place votes and 430 total points to finish third for the second straight ballot – has now missed 12 games for the Bucks this season, including the final six in a row before the All-Star break because of a calf issue. The injury has also forced him to miss this weekend’s All-Star Game in San Francisco.
However, while Antetokounmpo has missed 12 games overall, for awards purposes, he has missed only 11. Why? Because the NBA Cup final, which doesn’t count for statistical or standings purposes in most other contexts, does count when it comes to end-of-season awards eligibility.
As a result, Antetokounmpo can miss up to six games over the final two months of the regular season and still be eligible for all end-of-season honors, including MVP.
Voting shows a changing of the guard
While we highlighted Jokic’s consistency, there’s a similar level to Tatum’s place in the polls. Since leading the first straw poll of the 2022-23 season, the Celtics superstar has landed between fourth and sixth in each of the past seven polls – including being a clear fourth in both this season, getting 65 fourth-place votes and 299 total points in this poll. No other player eclipsed the 100-point mark.
Tatum, who has never finished higher than fourth in actual MVP voting, would be poised to move into the top three for the first time if Antetokounmpo were to become ineligible later this season.
Beyond Tatum, the big takeaway from this poll was the clear shift away from aging superstars. Of the 14 players who received at least one vote in this poll, only Antetokounmpo and James are currently 30 or older (Jokic turns 30 on Wednesday).
From Tatum through Houston Rockets center Alperen Sengun in 14th, six players – San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama (eighth), Memphis Grizzlies forward Jaren Jackson Jr. (ninth), Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards (10th), Cleveland Cavaliers forward Evan Mobley (12th), Detroit Pistons guard Cade Cunningham (13th) and Sengun – received a vote at age 25 or younger.
It also continued a streak in which at least one of the three elder statesmen of the NBA’s star class – James, Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant – has been left out of a poll, dating back to the final tally of the 2021-22 season, when Curry was eighth, Durant ninth and James 11th. The last time any of them were in the top three? The first poll of that season, when Curry and Durant were first and second.
Despite how outstanding they remain as individual talents, the trio’s days as true contenders for this honor appear over.
The Knicks are powered by their two stars. Will it work in the playoffs?
Knicks stars Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns almost perfectly split the credit for New York’s season in this poll, with Brunson winding up on 22 ballots and with 32 points (sixth), and Towns on 23 ballots and with 31 points (seventh). Only one pair of teammates has combined for more total votes and points than Brunson and Towns this season: Curry and Durant did it twice with the Golden State Warriors during the 2017-18 season.
In his first season in New York, Towns is averaging 24.3 points and a career-best 13.5 rebounds while shooting 53.3% overall and a career-high 42.6% from 3 to make his first All-Star start in his fifth All-Star appearance. Brunson, meanwhile, has earned his second straight All-Star spot with 25.9 points and a career-best 7.5 assists per game. But for all their offensive prowess, questions remain about whether the two of them can be cogs of a good-enough defense on a championship-level team.
“No,” one assistant coach said when asked that question. “With Mikal [Bridges], Josh [Hart] and OG [Anunoby], you have strong defenders, but you are just going to keep putting [Brunson and Towns] in actions, and you’re going to go at them. Jalen has been better, but he’s still someone to attack. And it’s easier to hide him than Karl.”
The good and bad in both of their games was on display Wednesday against the Atlanta Hawks, when Towns eclipsed 40 points for a second straight game and Brunson had 36 points and eight assists, making several critical buckets – including the game winner with 11.1 seconds left in overtime.
At the other end, fellow All-Star Trae Young finished with 38 points and 19 assists in what was the highest-scoring game of this regular season. And while New York eventually escaped with a 149-148 victory, it was a game reminiscent of recent losses at home to the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics in which the Knicks’ defense struggled mightily.
“They can’t guard the Celtics,” the assistant coach said. “That’s who they have to go through. They’re a problem for everyone, but specifically them.”
Votes for Jaren Jackson Jr. bode well for the Grizzlies’ future
It’s not often that finishing ninth while getting three total votes generates much interest in a poll like this. But when it comes to Jackson and the Grizzlies, those three votes could wind up being quite significant because of what they portend down the line.
Jackson, who is in the middle of the best season of his seven-year NBA career, received two fourth-place votes and a fifth-place vote – marking just the second time in his career he has received even a single straw poll vote. But even though Jackson won’t be making a meaningful mark on this year’s MVP race, that shows he has a real chance of making one of the 15 All-NBA spots this season.
The three five-man All-NBA teams are voted on by the media, like the vast majority of end-of-season awards (only Executive of the Year, voted on by the executives themselves, is not). And, especially now that positions have been removed from the ballot, finishing inside the top 10 in MVP voting would make it exceedingly likely that Jackson, who has yet to make an All-NBA team, will break through.
If Jackson does, he will become supermax eligible this summer, giving the Grizzlies another avenue to secure a long-term contract extension with the 2022-23 Defensive Player of the Year one season ahead of his potential unrestricted free agency.
The Grizzlies’ trade of Marcus Smart to Washington helped create salary flexibility to renegotiate and extend Jackson’s contract this summer. If he’s supermax eligible, Memphis can extend him at up to 35% of the salary cap starting with the 2026-27 season.
Were that to happen, the negotiations could mirror those between Rudy Gobert and the Utah Jazz back in 2020, when Gobert – then the premier defensive player in the league – agreed to a supermax deal that came in slightly below the maximum amount he could get in an extension. That is the only time a player eligible to sign the supermax has done so for less than the full 35% of the salary cap.
By Tim Bontemps | ESPN, via ESPN