Northwest Notes: SGA MVP Race, Hartenstein, Pullin, Gordon, Johnson

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has a chance to win Most Valuable Player honors for the second straight season. He’s battling the Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic, the Spurs’ Victor Wembanyama and the Lakers’ Luka Doncic — the league’s top scorer — for that distinction.

However, SGA declined to argue his case, according to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin. He’s the league’s second-leading scorer at 31.6 points while averaging a career-high 6.5 assists as well.

“No, I’m good. Thanks for asking, though,” he said. “Yeah, I’m good. I let my game do the talking.”

SGA does believe the MVP talk is a benefit to the NBA.

“I think it’s good for the league. I think it’s good chatter,” he said. “It gives people something to talk about. There’s a lot of good players in this league and a lot of guys in the conversation because of that.”

Here’s more from the Northwest Division:

• Isaiah Hartenstein‘s decision to bolt the Knicks in free agency during the summer of 2024 has proven to be a wise one, Stefan Bondy of the New York Post writes. Hartenstein collected a three-year, $87MM payday and he’s become the Thunder’s defensive anchor while also getting more offensive opportunities. “I think [the playmaking] has always been there,” Hartenstein said. “I think before I got to the Knicks, it was one of the main things I was doing with the Clippers. But I think as an NBA player you just have to put your ego aside and kind of do what’s best for the team. I think when I was with the Knicks, I kind of had to change the role I was playing. And so, again, I’m just here to help the team whatever way I can, and I think with the Knicks it was more doing stuff differently.” He’s averaging 9.4 points, 9.7 rebounds and 3.7 assists in 24.8 minutes per game this season.
• Timberwolves two-way player Zyon Pullin has been named the NBA G League Player of the Week, the NBA office tweets. The award covers games played from March 23-28. In two games, Pullin averaged 37.5 points and 5.5 assists while making 75 percent of his 3-point attempts. The undrafted 25-year-old has appeared in two Minnesota games this season.
• The Nuggets got some good news on the injury front, Vinny Benedetto of the Denver Gazette reports. After missing Sunday’s win over the Warriors due to a calf issue, starting power forward Aaron Gordon returned to practice Tuesday ahead of Wednesday’s game in Utah. “’AG’ looked good today. His comfort level seemed like it was in a good place with the calf. I’m hoping he’ll play (Wednesday),” Nuggets coach David Adelman said. Cameron Johnson, who left Sunday’s game with back spasms, also practiced. “They just kind of popped up on me, maybe after a little bit of contact or something,” Johnson said. “I’m fine now, though. It goes away.”