Denzel Valentine's Amazing Regular Season, Charted

Denzel's first two games back after the injury weren't so great. Since then? 13 straight games with (points + rebounds + assists) equal to 30 or more.

And he's been at his best against the best.  His low scoring games have come almost exclusively in games in which the team didn't need him to score in order to put away weaker opponents. Seven of his eight games with less than 15 points were against opponents with a KenPom rank below #140.  He scores when he wants needs to.

This is the highest offensive rating for any player with a usage rate of at least 28% since 2005.

Buddy Hield is a great 3-point shooter. But Denzel is almost as good at that AND he dominates games with his passing.

Last, but not least.

If that isn't a National Player of the Year season, I don't know what is.