Kevin Pelton, ESPN Senior Writer 7y

Ranking top four MVP candidates, based on advanced stats

NBA, Cleveland Cavaliers, Houston Rockets, Oklahoma City Thunder, San Antonio Spurs

Russell Westbrook or James Harden? Or, alternatively, LeBron James or Kawhi Leonard?

From win shares to RPM, NBA player value metrics were designed to help inform our discussion about awards such as this year's fascinating MVP race. Yet it can be tricky to navigate the alphabet soup of various metrics to determine what advanced stats really tell us about the players involved.

Let's take a look at how I would rank the top MVP candidates, based on five important metrics:

^ Back to Top ^