“I think you meant to say MVP”: Nikola Vucevic declares his Chicago Bulls teammate DeMar DeRozan as the most valuable player in the league

Former Raptors All-Star DeMar DeRozan might be the Most Improved Player in the league but Nikola Vucevic believes he is the MVP.

DeMar DeRozan was the heart and soul of the only Canada-based team in the NBA, the Toronto Raptors, for almost a decade. He then spent three years with the San Antonio Spurs.

Teaming up with Zach LaVine and his new-look Bulls in this off-season, the 32-year-old guard might be having a career year with the Chicago Bulls.

DeRozan recently hit a three-pointer at the buzzer for the second straight game to give the Bulls a 120-119 win over the Washington Wizards on Saturday night, becoming the first player in NBA history to hit buzzer-beaters on consecutive days.

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The only other player ever to win consecutive games at the buzzer was Larry Bird in 1985. It has been that kind of season for the 4-time All-Star, who has by far been the most improved player in the NBA.

DeRozan might become the oldest player to ever win the Most Improved Player award. This season, the former Raptors guard is averaging 26.9 points, 5 rebounds, and 4.5 assists.

DeRozan is a candidate for both MIP and MVP

Although DeRozan’s not averaging career-best in any of those categories individually, his consistency in every game and 58.4% true shooting (TS) separates this season from every previous one. He has won Chicago several games already, even in the presence of 2021 All-Stars like Zach LaVine and Nikola Vucevic.

The latter believes that his teammate should rather be getting the Most Valuable Player award who last made an All-Star appearance in 2018.

Vooch isn’t slightly wrong here, but this year’s MVP race might be the tightest the league has ever seen. With Nikola Jokic, Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, and Giannis Antetokounmpo exchanging top-4 spots, DeRozan might have to put up more game-winning performances to take over any one of them. And at the same time, there should be a dip in the form for any of those four for DeMar to make it to the top.

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Let’s see how the craziest run to MVP race ends, as of now the Bulls are the top team in the East again.