We've covered how each team in the East and West will finish and who will be the top rookie. Now our panel takes a stab at which player will be awarded the NBA's ultimate individual prize in 2015-16.
We asked the ESPN Forecast team to rank their top three choices for the 2015-16 most valuable player award. Then we totaled up the ballots, with a first-place vote receiving five points, a second-place vote receiving three and a third-place vote receiving one. (Here's how ESPN Forecast works.)
To participate in the discussion and perhaps get your opinion published on this page, #ESPNForecast is the Twitter hashtag to use. Or you can just follow along @ESPNNBA.
Most Valuable Player
1. LeBron James
Cavaliers | Small forward
First-place votes: 17
Total points: 115
Lebron will win MVP next season just to prove it to himself he still can.#ESPNForecast
- Kakhi Maxwell (@KTMJ101) August 21, 2015
2. Anthony Davis
Pelicans | Power forward
First-place votes: 9
Total points: 77
Anthony Davis will be in the top 3 for MVP for the next 5-7 years at least. It's a matter of when he'll win, not if #ESPNForecast
- Malcolm Cheques (@malcrealtalk) August 20, 2015
3. James Harden
Rockets | Shooting guard
First-place votes: 4
Total points: 36
James Harden coming in at 3rd. If he leads the Rockets to the 2nd seed again, playing like last year, he should win. #ESPNForecast
- Jacob Barber (@NBA_Jacob_B) August 20, 2015
4. Kevin Durant
Thunder | Small forward
First-place votes: 1
Total points: 32
RT @ESPNNBA: 2 seasons ago, @KDTrey5 was MVP. This year, Summer Forecast projects him as #4 in race. #ESPNForecast. pic.twitter.com/xmVpPArXPq
- Up The Thunder (@UpTheThunder) August 20, 2015
@KDTrey5 AT #4?? #ESPNForecast for 2016MVP I hope he sees this... More fuel to his fire! #FutureGOAT @ESPNNBA
- The Facts Only (@TreFacts405) August 20, 2015
5. Stephen Curry
Warriors | Point guard
First-place votes: 1
Total points: 23
Uhhh...@StephenCurry30 is #5? #Motivation #ESPNForecast
- Brett Johnson (@bertj15) August 20, 2015
So...@StephenCurry30 (the reigning MVP) is 5th on the #ESPNForecast for MVP? The next few hours should be interesting...
- Timothy Johnson (@Timothy_Johnson) August 20, 2015
Others receiving votes: Blake Griffin, Clippers (3); LaMarcus Aldridge, Spurs (1); Chris Paul, Clippers (1)
