NBA Season Predictions: Anthony Davis MVP Candidate With LeBron James, Derrick Rose After Strong Summer

The NBA season has started for 2014-15 and the MVP award is going to be hotly contested this year, as names like Pelicans star Anthony Davis, LeBron James, Derrick Rose and Carmelo Anthony all could be options over last year's winner Kevin Durant, as he is injured to start the season and Davis aka the Eyebrow is a sleeper candidate after the way he developed this summer while playing for Team USA.

Davis is considered to be the next "great" player in the NBA, as scouts and team execs see him as a player that can do anything. Davis can score and he is a strong rebounder along with a top notch defender and this season he is expected to take a major step and so are the Pelicans. Davis averaged a double-double for a bad team last year and now he comes in with more experience and a full simmer of Team USA basketball under his belt.

Davis may not win MVP this season because his team isn't great, but David Aldridge and others have predicted that the Pelicans can compete for a playoff spot. Last season the Suns won 48 games and they came in as a team many expected to be in the lottery and instead they missed the playoffs by one game. Davis averaged 20 points and 10 rebounds last season and he should be even better this year and he could be a sleeper for the MVP.

Davis showed in his first game of the season that he can be a major factor, as he was one block away from a triple double in his opening performance. Davis had 26 points with 17 rebounds and nine blocks in the game against the Magic and he is a player to watch all season, as he has shown he is a leader for his franchise and now the team has started off with a win to get things going. The Pelicans should be better than last season, as they have added Omer Asik and have both Ryan Anderson and Jrue Holiday back after injuries.

Davis is a young player and he is in his third season and that is when the development really starts to kick in and many scouts already see him as a top five talent. Davis is a strong shot blocker and defender and he has shown that he can be an offensive weapon as well. Durant likely will miss too much time to factor in, while James is the favorite coming into the season. If Rose stays healthy and the Bulls are one of the top teams in the east, he could win another MVP and it looks like it will be James vs. Rose this season as long as nothing happens injury-wise to those players.