The Finalists:

3) Bradley Beal:

After a disappointing .500 finish last season, the Wizards won 49 games this season. Bradley Beal has been a driving force behind the turnaround. Beal has missed significant chunks of the season in three of the past four years, but has managed to stay on the court playing a career-high 77 games.

Beal has finally broken 20 points per game, increasing his scoring average by over five points from last season, and improving his efficiency in every category. In fact, he is having his most efficient year ever. Beal is shooting a career-best 48.2 percent from the field, and after a down year from deep last season, he is shooting over 40 percent from beyond the arc again.

His jump in efficiency can be attributed partially to Scott Brooks’ new offensive system, but also Beal’s willingness to cut down on his pull-up jumpers. Over a third of his shots this season have been catch and shoots, and Beal’s effective field goal percentage on them is a blistering 61.6 percent. Beal’s efficiency is what nudged Barnes out, as one of the finalists.

Staying healthy has helped Beal develop a rhythm on the court and his confidence has grown with it. He is getting to the free throw line more than ever and has already made twice as many free throws as he did all of last year. Just this season, Beal has scored 40 points four different times. His previous career-high was 37 points three years ago.

From a scoring perspective, Beal is enjoying a breakout year and living up to the max contract he signed this past offseason, but other areas of his game still lag behind. While Beal has improved as a facilitator this season, his passing hasn’t made the same jump as his scoring.

The Wizards are also waiting for Beal to turn the corner defensively. Opponents score over half the time when they put Beal in isolation. His defensive rating overall has regressed this season by four points from last year and his -2.4 defensive box score is the worst mark of his career. Despite that, Beal has improved his pick and roll defense. Opponents are hovering around 40 percent shooting, when Beal is guarding the primary ball handler.

In the end, the passing and defense might not even matter. Beal has been so explosive on offense that for the first time in his career his net rating will be positive at plus five. That is a full 10-point swing from his career-worst minus five last season. In year five, Beal is finally making the transition from an All-Star caliber player to one of the league’s best shooting guards. He also has a knack for taking things up a notch in the playoffs and who wouldn’t want to see Beal go at the Cavaliers in the second round the way he did earlier this season, when he dropped 41 on the defending champions.

2) Nikola Jokic:

In 24 games, since the All-Star break Nikola Jokic has turned the league on its head, averaging 17.7 points, 11.6 rebounds, 6.1 assists, and 1.0 steal all while shooting 57.5% from the field. Oh, and in that span he’s had 16 double-doubles and 4 triple-doubles, as a center! While, Russell Westbrook can probably feel safe about his new triple-double record, it is impossible not to wonder what Jokic could have done if the Nuggets hadn’t wasted the early parts of the season messing around with the Jokic-Nurkic lineups.

Jokic is arguably already the best passing big man in the NBA, and once the Nuggets decided to run the offense through him they began an earnest, but ultimately doomed run at the eight seed. Jokic has missed eight games this season and only started in 59 averaging less than 28 minutes a night. Despite the limited action, Jokic has been devastating when he’s been on the court. Check out these per 36 minutes stats for Jokic compared to a future Hall of Famer big man’s second year.

Stats courtesy of Basketball Reference

Per 36-minute projections, Jokic would be a better scorer, rebounder, passer, and more efficient player. On the surface, Player B seems to be a better defender, but when examining defensive rating over 100 possessions, that difference is marginal as Jokic’s defensive rating is 109 and Player B’s is 108. Can you guess Player B?

It’s Chris Webber in his second year, when he played for Washington. That season Webber started 52 games compared to Jokic’s 59, and while big men certainly did not shoot threes as frequently as big men do in today’s NBA, Webber attempted 145 shots from beyond the arc compared to Jokic’s 139 this season.

Webber also makes for a good comparison based on how similar their usage rates are with Webber posting a 25.5 percent usage rate and Jokic at 23.5 percent. Webber is regarded as one of the most polished offensive big men of his generation for his ability to post up, stretch the floor, and pass the ball, but here’s the kicker- Webber’s offensive rating per 100 possessions was 105. Jokic’s offensive rating is a whopping 126! That puts Jokic’s net rating at an absurd plus 17, whereas Webber’s was a minus three.

As dynamic as Jokic has been, especially after All-Star Weekend, his candidacy is impacted by the time he’s missed and the fact that he didn’t start in 14 games. What Jokic has accomplished in limited time is impressive, and it is very possible that this season is just the beginning of what is to come. Just ask the Warriors, there’s no way they’ve forgotten his 17/21/12 evisceration of the best team in the league.