NBA: MVP

Who could get MVP consideration this year?  Half of the teams won't be good enough to produce an MVP, another half of the remaining won't either.  Still, I came up with 21 guys worth adding to the conversation.

Previous winners: KG, Duncan, Kobe, Dirk, Lebron, D Rose, KD
KG stop playing years ago, he just keeps getting dem checks; Duncan doesn't care about that stuff and his rotation has way too many cogs to have an MVP (and it'd be Parker anyway); Kobe will have the whole team to himself, he'll get some votes but the Lakers are too awful to have an MVP; Dirk isn't the MVP of the Mavs so much as the cherry on top, the adult that'll step up when need be but the team should be pretty good around him; Lebron will be sharing the touches and limelight with KLove and Kyrie, I think they take votes from each other, Lebron ends with his lowest MVP vote total of his career; D Rose is on a team that will be carried by its depth, not its star, and I think the Bulls will be good whether D Rose is MVP-level or not; KD has already missed games but I think he'll be stellar by the end of the year and should get some votes.

Some East contenders: Melo, Rondo, Bosh, Horford, Big Al, Wall
Melo should have a monster season, won't win enough games but he'll get some votes;  I think the Celtics will be awful, I think Rondo is stuck in Boston, doesn't get traded to a team where he can make an MVP type difference; Bosh will be huge and his team goes as far as he can take them, he'll get votes, might even win; Horford will come back strong and if the Hawks overachieve Horford probably gets the glory; ditto the Hornets, if they improve it'll be Big Al's team not Kemba's or Lance's; I think the Wiz will be a really good regular season team, should improve by a lot, Wall could get a lot of the credit for that.

Some West contenders: Harden, Gasol, Bledsoe, Curry, Davis, Cousins, Rubio
The Rockets go as far as hard Harden carries them, he could win an MVP; if the Grizz improve from last year, Gasol should get some votes (and he's all set to be next summer's prized free agent); Bledsoe will surprise people with his improvement, Suns make the playoffs he might could get some votes; Curry is poised to be better than ever but I think the Warriors improve based on the supporting cast more than Curry, I think he's awesome but not really an MVP; Davis, too, is great but I'm not sure he's ready to really take over a team yet, at least I don't think the Pelicans make the playoffs this year; Cousins is awesome, he's been awesome, he'll still be awesome but he'll also still be in Sacramento; keep an eye on Ricky Rubio: the Wolves are his team now and if he has them humming by the end of the year, he'll get some cred for that.

I think Blake Griffin wins MVP.  I think the Clippers win a ton of games this year, the media darlings, triumphant story, lots of highlights, impressive win totals, Lakers suck, the Clippers get much glory.  I think Jordan gets defensive player of the year votes, I think Chris Paul establishes himself as the lockdown OG in the league and Griffin gets the big cut of the glory.  Anthony Davis will get there but I think its Griffin's time now.

Harden, Bosh, KD, Melo, Lebron, Curry, Wall I think will all be in the talk by the end of the year (with some squawks for Tony Parker).

But note the collection of dudes whose teams will go as far as he can take them: Bosh (Heat), Harden (Rockets), Rubio (Wolves), Melo (Knicks), Gasol (Grizzlies), Cousins (Kings).  Harden will by far have the most touches of any Rocket this year; Bosh will carry huge portions of the load for the Heat;  the Wolves are Rubio's team now, whatever he does is what they'll get; Melo is still the #1 ball dominant offensive force in the league and the Knicks have not much else; Gasol is surrounded by good players but he is the one that makes them go (a la Chris Webber controlling everything from the foul line); Cousins is a beast but the sort of beast that needs constant service and ironically enough: an MVP season won't convince anyone to play with him.  (I guess you could throw in Kobe (Lakers), maybe even Rondo (Celtics) but I don't think I'll bother)

But a lot of other players don't fit that description because they've got (seemingly) the right talent around them: the Cavs big 3 or any particular player in the Bulls or Spurs rotations or John Wall, Steph Curry, Eric Bledsoe or any of the Suns, Dirk, the Raptors guys.  Those players have the talent around them to not really need to be an MVP.

Kooky twist: The Clippers will only go as far as Chris Paul can take them but I still think Griffin wins the MVP.  Didn't think I'd go through all that just to bet it all on an anomaly.