NBA Finals MVP Top-10 Power Rankings

by Ryan Mercier

Who will be named MVP of the NBA Finals? In past years, the choices have been painfully obvious. Going back to the heyday of the Cavs and Warriors punching their Finals tickets before the season even began, everyone would likely choose LeBron James, Kevin Durant, or Steph Curry. End list.

The final four of Heat, Celtics, Mavericks, and Warriors leaves things a little more unclear this season. Here’s the (somewhat bonkers) rankings for the 2021-22 championship. Hint, the list gets real juicy at No. 5.

1. Jayson Tatum

Here’s why things are already off the rails at No. 1. This list is my opinion, and in my opinion the Miami Heat and Golden State Warriors will be meeting in the Finals. So why Tatum in the top spot?

First of all, Jayson Tatum is a tremendous player who just helped lift the Boston Celtics past the defending champions. He deserves high praise which he has not fully gotten in his career until this very moment. Second, if the Celtics do get through Miami (which is extremely conceivable) and win the title, he would win MVP. What is far more inconceivable is another Celtic holding the Bill Russell trophy.

2. Luka Doncic

Still no Heat or Warriors. Not yet. If it is pretty unlikely for another Celtic to win the award, it is a 0%, universe collapsing in on itself, entering the Upside Down from Stranger Things, never happening possibility for another Dallas Maverick to win MVP. There will be no other Maverick on this list. Tom Cruise will make the list as a Maverick before Jalen Brunson does.

It’s more likely the Celtics will advance than the Mavericks, hence the No. 2 spot for Luka. Doncic is a walking hyperbole as a basketball player, there’s nothing that needs to be said on that end. If Dallas wins the title, don’t even have a vote. Just give the trophy to Luka.

3. Jimmy Butler

The Heat, I believe, will make the Finals. If Miami goes on to win it all, though, who can definitively be named the MVP?

Heat Culture, while fun to laugh at, is no joke. This team is in lock step and led by an incredible head coach in Erik Spoelstra. At its core, the Heat truly are a team. Duncan Robinson makes a cagillion dollars and is then benched for Max Strus who goes on to rack up 40 minutes, 20 points, and 11 boards in a close-out game.

Given Butler’s propensity to rise up in big moments (averaged 26 points, eight rebounds, and 9.8[!] assists in the 2020 NBA Finals) and his never-back-down attitude, he is the closest thing to a likely Finals MVP that the Heat have. He, and Tatum, also bring a defensive element to the award.

4. Steph Curry

It’s been kind of a weird year. It’s been kind of a weird postseason. And, yes, Steph Curry has never been named MVP of the NBA Finals.

The latter does not have as much to do with Curry “falling” in these rankings as his performance. He is an all-time great player and will continue to be great. He’s just also shooting a career low percentage from 3-point range in the postseason and regular season (excluding the five games played in 2019-20) and a career low from the free throw line in the playoffs.

If the Warriors win another NBA championship, the MVP just feels a little bit up in the air. And that’s why…

5. Jordan Poole

Look, Klay Thompson, on the whole, has not looked the same since coming back. Yeah, Poole is a player who averaged 18.5 ppg in the regular season and is only up to 19.3 in the postseason. That is an outrageous personal accomplishment but not quite numbers which scream MVP. In his last three postseason games he has shot 9-of-33 from the floor.

In a single series, though, this is a player who could explode. The Celtics or Heat, both great defensive teams, will surely have a gameplan to stop Steph Curry. This opens the door for someone else to rise up. Poole has proven he can score 30 and even dish out nine assists in big playoff games. MVP!

6. Bam Adebayo

If it’s not Jimmy Butler, there’s a high chance it would be Bam Adebayo holding the hardware for a Heat championship. Bam will get to the rim, be a defensive anchor, and be a passing weapon as a big man. He could give the Mavericks and Warriors tremendous problems with his size and versatility.

This is the last stop to hop on the Bamwagon.

7. Jaylen Brown

This is where there’s a huge drop-off in the rankings. Brown is likely the best player remaining on the entire board at this point across all four teams. He’s the second best player on Boston and averaged 23.6 ppg this season. That number is hard to reach! Really, Brown is a top-level player in the NBA. His postseason gamelogs are more consistent than one might think this season, too.

He just does not ring true as a Finals MVP.

8. Tyler Herro

Herro is the Sixth Man of the Year. He could easily lead the Miami Heat in scoring for an entire series. Scoring is what he does, and he’ll be sure to let you know he scored. Herro probably thinks he’s better than Giannis. If he wins a Finals MVP, there will be no limit on his swag meter.

9. Klay Thompson

He did it! He made the list! If this were Klay pre-injury, there’s no question he would be higher. Can he build off of his Game 6 Klay performance against the Grizzlies? Could he regain his high-level defensive form in the final round? If so, he could win it.

10. Marcus Smart/Draymond Green/Victor Oladipo

This is the memorial Andre Iguodala NBA Finals MVP award. It is essentially a defense-only award.

For Draymond, he’s coming off of a regrettable series filled with turnovers. But he has a championship pedigree, is a defensive juggernaut, and is one of the smartest basketball players of all-time. Can he average 10 points? The committee has decided we need at least double-digits to give him a vote. Best not get Draymond started on NBA voting, though.

In the other scenarios, Marcus Smart has locked down Steph Curry to Russell Westbrook levels of outside shooting. Oladipo, it turns out, is the secret weapon to holding Luka Doncic to under 20 points per game with only a few assists and countless, crippling turnovers.

Smart or Oladipo would average somewhere around 16 ppg. Meanwhile, Tatum and Brown have a subpar shooting percentage and low scoring output for the series. Butler/Bam/Herro/Kyle Lowry all barely notch enough points as a team but never have a consistent personal mark on the championship. Therein would lie the road to one of the weirdest Finals MVP winners ever.