Daniel Lindsey's take:
I believe this year's MVP should belong to Stephen Curry, a point guard that does it all, offensively and defensively, on a consistent basis. Part of the reason I'm in Curry's camp is because he's doing better defensively than the rest of the candidates, minus Anthony Davis.
Curry is the league leader in steals (133) and is tied for the lead in steals per game (2.1). Curry also ranks 13th overall in Defensive Rating (100.0) which is better than all other MVP candidates and the second-best rating for a guard, behind only Tony Allen. And in Defensive Win Shares, Curry is tied for fourth at 3.5, the same number as Harden.
But if defensive stats aren't your cup of tea, check out these offensive ranks for Curry.
| Points | 3pt FG | Assists | Off Rtg | TS% | eFG% | nF Eff | nERD | Fantasy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1,461 (2nd) | 208 (1st) | 482 (4th) | 120.6 (12th) | 62.7% (5th) | 58.2% (4th) | 6.0 (1st) | 19.6 (1st) | 12.85 (1st) |
Curry doesn't just score -- he's a distributor as well, as indicated with his high assist numbers. Granted, he's fourth behind the likes of John Wall, Ty Lawson and Chris Paul, but they're all over 600 assists on the season already, so Curry is essentially the leader of the next tier and still has 28 more than Harden.
Curry is lights-out from three-point land as well, and has made 18 more than teammate Klay Thompson this year. I also want to point out that, while Curry is just 12th in Offensive Rating, he actually has the fourth-best rating of all guards in the league -- only Kyle Korver, Chris Paul and Jimmy Butler are higher.
Points are the end of the story with Curry though, as he ranks well in all efficiency marks, including our in-house metrics. The numberFire Efficiency notates his raw efficiency and estimates his impact on an average team. Our nERD metric is very similar, but factors in all his contributions. Curry even presents the best fantasy value according to our metrics.
So Curry has proven to do it at both ends of the floor, something few other candidates can say. Because of the value he presents across the board, which can be quantified by his league-leading .284 win shares per 48 minutes, and his track record in efficiency this season, Stephen Curry is my vote for MVP.