As the title mentions, I am curious if Luka is now the odds-on favorite to secure the spot as the season PPG scoring leader. As it stands today, the PPG leaders are as follows:
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Embiid - 35.3 pts
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Luka - 34.2 pts
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SGA - 31.1 pts
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Giannis 30.8 pts
Though things can definitely change in the latter half of the season, both Luka and Embiid have separated themselves from the rest of the league, as 3 points is a pretty fair gap this far into the season.
Now where it gets tricky is that I don't think Luka approaches the ~35 point mark where Embiid currently sits. This is especially true as with the Mavs new-look roster, he has taken a slightly less-involved roll, averaging around 28 points since the trade. Also considering this is a REALLY small sample size of 3 games. Based on this, I'd project Luka to finish the season in the 33-34 point average. This would still place him above SGA/Giannis and others, but a decent chunk below Embiid.
For Embiid, I thought he would need to play in at least 58 games to qualify for the scoring title. However, it does seem that if he plays under 58 games, his points for the season are apportioned to fit the 58 games, resulting in a small PPG reduction for each game under 58. . Embiid has currently played in 34 games, and if he returned today would have the ability to play in 62 games (giving him a cushion of 4 games above the 58 game minimum).
Considering the facts above and Embiid's current return timetable, it seems Luka is a strong favorite to secure the scoring title this year. However, I wanted to make sure my logic here wasn't flawed.
PS - fully understand this title really doesn't matter to many people (especially Luka) at the end of the day.