2008-2009 Top 5 NBA MVP Candidates

1. Yao Ming

Yao Ming has a great chance next year to win MVP, if he is fully healthy. At the worst, he will only have to play 70 or more games in order win the MVP trophy. The Houston Rockets are already a 50+ win game team, and winning more than 50 games is usually key to getting the MVP. It is also key to have a very good statistical season, not to mention to be one of the best teams in the league, not just get more than 50 wins. The type of stats you should expect Ming to get are the stats that Tim Duncan had during the years he had won the MVP. They were not great and legendary stats, but they were good and effective enough for him to win the MVP award. With the addition of Ron Artest, the Rockets are destined to be a better team, and destined to be the best defensive team in the NBA and maybe even the best team in the NBA. Yao Ming is already the best center in the NBA, there are very few big men who are dominant on both ends of the floor, Yao is one of them. With only few great big men in the league, Yao Ming is destined to dominate every single one of them which he had did last season, until he went out with the season-ending knee injury which made the Rockets suffer. A healthy Rocket team and a healthy Yao , should not only give Yao Ming the MVP, but should also crown the Rockets as the best team in the league.

2. LeBron James

LeBron James also has a great shot to win the 2008-2009 MVP this year. However, a key thing to winning the MVP is getting 50 or more wins. Cavs will not get the 50 wins, for the simple fact that Mo Williams is not a huge upgrade or as a matter of fact not an upgrade at all. Mo Williams is a decent shooter and scorer, but he is not going to help the Cavs win ball games or as a matter of fact help LeBron get easy shots. Williams is not a playmaker at all, he is just a one-dimensional player who just scores  the ball. It is not easy to make an improvement from being a scorer one year to a playmaker the next. James last year had one of the greatest statistical seasons ever last year, but he did not win MVP for the simple fact that his team was not able to get more than 50 wins. The Cavs have a chance to win 50 games, it's a possibility, but it is improbable.

3. Chris Paul

Chris Paul who is the best point guard in the NBA as of now will be third in the MVP voting this upcoming season. The Hornets should be a contender in the West again, but I do not see Paul having the phenomenal season, like he had last year. The Hornets should do very well next season probably a top three seed in the West. More responsibility should go to David West and some of the new addition of the Hornets. Paul has also not have many great back to back years, after the year he won Rookie Of the Year, he didn't have as good of a season as he did in his rookie year. He went out with injuries and did not do as well as he could have done. The next year, he had bounced back and finished second in the MVP voting behind Kobe Bryant. Chris Paul should have a pretty good season next year, but not the same MVP like season he had last year.

4. Kobe Bryant

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