I found an interesting article from about a year ago on Medium, looking at advanced stats for the recent MVP winners and those getting votes. I'd love to see it updated now, but even a year old it's still worth a read. As you might expect, Harden, Westbrook, CP3 and Dwight all pop up a few times. Spoiler: How the hell did Ty Lawson and Stephen Jackson ever get votes for MVP?
Honestly Im tired of talking about MVPs at this point. Get Harden an actual second option player and get him a coach who's actually a tactician.
The article does a good job of showing how utterly meaningless the award has become, something we've all known in our guts for years here.
Spoiler MVP: 2009-10: LeBron James 2010-11: Derrick Rose 2011-12: LeBron James 2012-13: LeBron James 2013-14: Kevin Durant 2014-15: Stephen Curry 2015-16: Stephen Curry 2016-17: Russell Westbrook 2017-18: James Harden 2018-19: Giannis Antetokounmpo 2019-20: Giannis Antetokounmpo Highest PER for a non-MVP 1. Anthony Davis, 2014–15: 30.8 2. James Harden, 2018–19: 30.6 3. LeBron James, 2013-14: 29.3 4. James Harden, 2019-20: 29.1 5. Anthony Davis, 2017-18: 28.9 6. Kevin Durant, 2012-13: 28.3 7. Kevin Durant, 2015-16: 28.2 8. Dwyane Wade, 2009-10: 28.0 9. Kevin Durant/Kawhi Leonard, 2016-17: 27.6 10. LeBron James, 2010-11: 27.3 11. Chris Paul, 2011-12: 27.0 Lowest PER for a MVP winner 1. Derrick Rose, 2010–11: 23.5 2. Steph Curry, 2014–15: 28.0 3. Kevin Durant, 2013-14: 29.8 3. James Harden, 2017-18: 29.8 5. Russell Westbrook, 2016-17: 30.6 6. LeBron James, 2011-12: 30.7 7. Giannis Antetokounmpo, 2018-19: 30.9 8. LeBron James, 2009-10: 31.1 9. Stephen Curry, 2015-16: 31.5 10. LeBron James, 2012-13: 31.6 11. Giannis Antetokounmpo, 2019-20: 31.9 Highest Win Shares for a non-MVP 1. Kevin Durant, 2012–13: 18.9 2. James Harden, 2014-15: 16.4 3. Kevin Durant, 2009–10: 16.1 4. LeBron James, 2013-14: 15.9 5. LeBron James, 2010-11: 15.6 6. James Harden, 2018-19: 15.2 7. James Harden, 2016-17: 15.0 8. Kevin Durant, 2015-16: 14.5 9. LeBron James/Karl-Anthony Towns, 2017-18: 14.0 10. James Harden, 2019-20: 13.1 11. Chris Paul, 2011-12: 12.7 Lowest Win Shares for a MVP winner 1. Giannis Antetokounmpo, 2019-20: 11.1 2. Russell Westbrook, 2016–17: 13.1 2. Derrick Rose, 2010–11: 13.1 4. Giannis Antetokounmpo, 2018-19: 14.1 5. LeBron James, 2011-12: 14.5 6. James Harden, 2017-18: 15.4 7. Stephen Curry, 2014-15: 15.7 8. Stephen Curry, 2015-16: 17.9 9. LeBron James, 2009-10: 18.5 10. Kevin Durant, 2013-14: 19.2 11. LeBron James, 2012-13: 19.3 Most Top-Two Finishes: LeBron James: 6 James Harden: 4 Kevin Durant: 4 Stephen Curry: 2 Giannis Antetokounmpo: 2 Derrick Rose: 1 Dwight Howard: 1 Kawhi Leonard: 1 Russell Westbrook: 1 Most Top-Five Finishes: LeBron James: 10 James Harden: 6 Kevin Durant: 6 Kobe Bryant: 4 Russell Westbrook: 4 Stephen Curry: 3 Kawhi Leonard: 3 Dwight Howard: 2 Chris Paul: 2 Anthony Davis: 2 Giannis Antetokounmpo: 2 Dwyane Wade: 1 Derrick Rose: 1 Tony Parker: 1 Carmelo Anthony: 1 Blake Griffin: 1 Joakim Noah: 1 Isaiah Thomas: 1 Damian Lillard: 1 Paul George: 1 Nikola Jokic: 1 Luka Doncic: 1 Most Top-10 Finishes: LeBron James: 10 Kevin Durant: 9 James Harden: 8 Chris Paul: 6 Russell Westbrook: 6 Stephen Curry: 6 Kawhi Leonard: 5 Kobe Bryant: 4 Dwyane Wade: 4 Anthony Davis: 4 Damian Lillard: 4 Giannis Antetokounmpo: 4 Dwight Howard: 3 Blake Griffin: 3 LaMarcus Aldridge: 3 Carmelo Anthony: 2 Dirk Nowitzki: 2 Steve Nash: 2 Amar'e Stoudemire: 2 Rajon Rondo: 2 Tony Parker: 2 Tim Duncan: 2 Paul George: 2 Nikola Jokic: 2 Deron Williams: 1 Derrick Rose: 1 Manu Ginobili: 1 Kevin Love: 1 Joakim Noah: 1 Al Jefferson: 1 Marc Gasol: 1 Klay Thompson: 1 Draymond Green: 1 Kyle Lowry: 1 Isaiah Thomas: 1 John Wall: 1 DeMar DeRozan: 1 Jimmy Butler: 1 Joel Embiid: 1 Luka Doncic: 1 Pascal Siakam: 1 Most MVP shares: 1. LeBron James: 8.813 2. James Harden: 3.655 3. Kevin Durant: 3.209 4. Steph Curry: 2.207 5. Giannis Antetokounmpo: 1.965 6. Chris Paul: 1.666 7. Russell Westbrook: 1.615 8. Dwight Howard: 1.249 9. Kawhi Leonard: 1.159 10. Derrick Rose: 0.981 11. Anthony Davis: 0.680 Highest Pair of Teammates: 2015–16: Steph Curry (1) and Draymond Green (7) 2019-20: LeBron James (2) and Anthony Davis (6) 2015–16: Russell Westbrook (4) and Kevin Durant (5) 2010–11: LeBron James (3) and Dwyane Wade (7) 2013–14: Blake Griffin (3) and Chris Paul (7) 2011-12: LeBron James (1) and Dwyane Wade (10) 2012-13: LeBron James (1) and Dwyane Wade (10) 2014-15: Stephen Curry (1) and Klay Thompson (10) 2012-13: Kevin Durant (2) and Russell Westbrook (9) 2018-19: Paul George (3) and Russell Westbrook (10) 2018-19: Stephen Curry (5) and Kevin Durant (8) 2012-13: Tony Parker (6) and Tim Duncan (7) 2011-12: Kevin Durant (2) and Russell Westbrook (12) 2014-15: Chris Paul (6) and Blake Griffin (8) 2016-17: Stephen Curry (6) and Kevin Durant (9) 2017-18: Kevin Durant (7) and Stephen Curry (10) 2009-10: Carmelo Anthony (6) and Chauncey Billups (12) 2009-10: Steve Nash (8) and Amar'e Stoudemire (10) 2011-12: Tony Parker (5) and Tim Duncan (14) 2010-11: Manu Ginobili (8) and Tony Parker (12) 2014-15: Tim Duncan (10) and Kawhi Leonard (10) 2012-13: Stephen Curry (11) and David Lee (12) 2013-14: Tim Duncan (12) and Tony Parker (12) Top-Five Finishers Who Were Not Previous or Future MVPs: 2019-20: Luka Doncic (4), Kawhi Leonard (5) (Luka is a future MVP) 2018–19: Paul George (3), Nikola Jokic (4) 2017–18: Anthony Davis (3), Damian Lillard (4) 2016–17: Kawhi Leonard (3), Isaiah Thomas (5) 2015–16: Kawhi Leonard (2) 2014–15: Anthony Davis (5) 2013–14: Blake Griffin (3), Joakim Noah (4) 2012–13: Carmelo Anthony (3), Chris Paul (4) 2011–12: Chris Paul (3), Tony Parker (5) 2010–11: Dwight Howard (2) 2009–10 — Dwight Howard (4), Dwyane Wade (5) Wildest Single Vote-Getters: 2009-10 Stephen Jackson 2012-13 Ty Lawson 2012-13 David Lee
We need those MVP who gets champion before not those good statistics MVP. I think KD, CP3 and Butler who can change the result and come back. The problem of Houston is that the players abilities are limited. Houston can try to recruit some bench players from clippers and get back a good center and power forward. Existing 5 starters should make a change. Stop playing small ball.