The Top 10 Bad-Team MVPs of 2016
MVP awards usually go to players on winning teams.
Fair enough. Amazing performances from superstar players lift what would normally be perhaps average teams to glory, maybe even with historic numbers.
But what about the amazing players on bad teams? The guys who are so good yet ignored because they can't do it all on their own, combating poor roster building or coaches or downright sheer bad luck.
Fans have heard it or even typed it countless times before: free player X, where "player x" is a guy who deserves better, posts outstanding numbers and should go to a team where he can win team-based glory rather than being the unfortunate good guy on a bad team.
Let's take a moment to recognize some of these guys from 2016. After all, this might be the most attention they receive for epic campaigns.
Philip Rivers, San Diego Chargers
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Remember when Philip Rivers used to go all Philip Rivers on good teams?
Rivers' San Diego Chargers are now bad, bad enough to not even look competitive in the AFC West at 5-7. It's odd to think a Rivers-led team is a divisional bottom-feeder such as the Cleveland Browns or Jacksonville Jaguars, but here we are.
From a numbers standpoint, Rivers simply keeps chugging along at the age of 35. Through 12 games, he completed 62.6 percent of his passes with 3,353 yards and 25 touchdowns to 14 interceptions, the touchdowns number already four shy of his mark last year.
Now take a look at some of the names on injured reserve Rivers hasn't been able to lean on: Jason Verrett, Manti Te'o, Stevie Johnson, Keenan Allen and Danny Woodhead, to name a few.
Joel Embiid, Philadelphia 76ers
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The Process has already arrived as a champion of bad-team MVPs.
Joel Embiid hadn't appeared in a game for the Philadelphia 76ers until the 2016-17 season, but it's quite clear where he's headed as far as this status goes.
Through 14 games to start the season, the 76ers won four. Now, let's not make fun of the fact that's an on-pace improvement over the season prior. But look at Embiid—on an average of 23.3 minutes per game, he leads the team in scoring by a healthy margin at 18.5, not to mention his 7.6 rebounds and 2.4 blocks.
Embiid is the future of the 76ers, and it's clear at this clip he's headed for major things this season. He's not getting freed from 76ers purgatory any time soon, but if he's lucky, he'll at least start to see more minutes.
Brandon Saad, Columbus Blue Jackets
3 of 10
A career-high 31 goals and 53 points from Brandon Saad couldn't save the Columbus Blue Jackets in the 2015-16 season.
Saad, in his first year with the team after coming over from the Chicago Blackhawks, didn't stand a chance at doing it all on his own thanks to a roster littered with more holes than a badly unkempt highway.
The Blue Jackets only totaled 34 wins, finishing dead last in the Eastern Conference's Metropolitan Division.
Columbus has started the 2016-17 campaign on a better note, but Saad will need another year of besting his personal highs to have the Blue Jackets thinking playoffs. He's a sign of optimism for an organization with plenty of work to do.
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Jordan Howard, Chicago Bears
4 of 10
Most probably haven't paid much attention to the three-win Chicago Bears this year, which is a shame given the special something unfolding in the backfield.
After letting franchise legend Matt Forte go, fifth-round rookie Jordan Howard eventually worked his way into the starting role and hasn't looked back.
The Indiana product didn't take more than nine carries in a game until Week 4, but he's since posted five 100-yard games over nine outings on the way to 883 yards and five scores on a 4.9 yards-per-carry average.
A versatile workhorse, Howard has led the Bears to a win in every game he's received at least 20 carries.
The Bears may or may not turn it around down the road, but Howard is easily one of the best—and quietest—things going on a bad team this year.
Devin Booker, Phoenix Suns
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The Phoenix Suns had the lofty honor of just finishing above the 17-win Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference during the 2015-16 season.
There, rookie Devin Booker put on an absolute show, averaging 13.8 points, 2.5 rebounds and 2.6 assists while shooting 42.3 percent from the floor and 34.3 percent from deep.
Booker is free of his minutes shackles in 2016-17. After averaging 27.7 minutes last year, the coaching staff has turned him loose at 32.9. He's now averaging 19.0 points on 42.4 percent shooting and leading the team in scoring, though the team has six wins in 22 tries.
Phoenix now belongs to Booker. He's the MVP of the desert, for better or worse.
Jose Altuve, Houston Astros
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For Jose Altuve, the 2015 season has to feel like decades ago.
Then, the Houston Astros won their first playoff series since 2005.
In 2016, Altuve took the next step as a player and blew notable past numbers out of the water—while the Astros regressed. Houston hardly finished above .500 and sat 11 games back in the AL West and a full five games out of the wild card.
Altuve posted personal bests in average (.338), RBI (96) and home runs (24). If the Astros are to get back to contention any time soon, he's the key.
Johnny Gaudreau, Calgary Flames
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At the age of 23, Johnny Gaudreau is one of the brighter young players in the NHL.
Gaudreau improved his numbers in 2015-16 compared to the season prior, and over fewer appearances. Yet the Calgary Flames went backward, going from a playoff win in 2014-15 to missing the postseason outright with only 35 wins and a goal differential of minus-29.
Don't let the faceplant take away from Gaudreau's epic campaign—he scored 78 total points and netted 30 goals, better than his previous highs of 64 and 24, respectively.
Calgary actually has a rather promising roster at most spots, with Gaudreau leading the way. If he's fortunate, he'll morph from a bad-team MVP to a guy making the postseason at a consistent clip.
Mike Trout, Los Angeles Angels
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So Mike Trout of the Los Angeles Angels did wind up receiving an award for his epic play in 2016, pulling in the American League MVP award.
Even with individual hardware in hand, it is hard to leave Trout off a list like this. The Angeles finished 74-88 and in fourth place in the AL West this past season, with only an 8-2 finish to the season helping the team avoid full humiliation.
Trout? The guy batted .315 with 29 homers and 100 RBI. These weren't career-best numbers, but given the iffy circumstances around him, Trout was easily one of the best bad-team players of the year.
Now the Angeles have to find a way to properly build the team around him. Not every team has a 25-year-old MVP who can post epic numbers at the plate.
Anthony Davis, New Orleans Pelicans
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Anthony Davis is one of the kings of the "free player X" movement.
The New Orleans Pelicans only mustered 30 wins in 2015-16. What did the No. 1 pick in the 2012 NBA draft do? He averaged 24.3 points, 10.3 rebounds and 2.0 blocks on 49.3 shooting from the floor over 35.5 minutes.
This year, Davis looks better than ever, but like many on the list, his team has gone the opposite direction and only boasts a .318 record. Davis? Just 31.6 points, 11.4 rebounds and 2.8 blocks in 38.0 minutes, not to mention 50.3 shooting from the floor.
The Pelicans have failed at building a roster around Davis for years. He's currently tied to a max rookie extension that will keep him under contract through 2020-21, per Spotrac, so his status on such a list won't suddenly evaporate.
Terrelle Pryor Sr., Cleveland Browns
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Normally, the Cleveland Browns don't even qualify for a list like this.
This says more about the Browns than their players, though, as few have what it takes to rise above the almost unbelievable tide in Cleveland.
Terrelle Pryor Sr. does, though.
Pryor, the former quarterback, has come out of almost nowhere to look like a stud No. 1 receiver. Through 12 games (losses) and almost as many quarterbacks (kidding, sort of), Pryor has 62 catches for 855 yards and four scores.
It doesn't sound like otherworldly numbers, but keep in mind they came while Pryor caught passes from Cody Kessler, Josh McCown, Robert Griffin III, Charlie Whitehurst and Kevin Hogan.
Pryor making this transformation and salvaging a career on its own is incredible. Doing it with the Browns is something else entirely.
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