Question no. 1: If you replaced each MVP candidate with a decent player at his position for the entire season, what would be the hypothetical effect on his team’s records? You can’t define the word “valuable” any better. Say you switched Rasual Butler for Kevin Durant during the summer of ’09. How would Oklahoma City’s 2009–10 season have turned out? They grabbed the eighth seed in a wicked conference thanks to Durant, a beloved leader, teammate, spokesman and crunch-time guy for the youngest roster in the league. Switch him with Butler and the Zombie Sonics probably finish 23–59 instead of
...more