NBA MVP rankings: Luka Dončić is rising, but can anyone take the trophy from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander?

We have examined the NBA’s MVP race in great detail over the last few weeks, but now it is high time for another look at this year’s candidates.

The list is not so dissimilar to our top candidates since the regular season’s one-third mark, when Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Nikola Jokić, Jalen Brunson, Luka Dončić and Victor Wembanyama — in that order — were our leading candidates. It is just a bit jumbled now, and with Cade Cunningham in Brunson’s stead as the Eastern Conference’s sole representative on this ballot. His Detroit Pistons, who hold a four-game lead for the No. 1 seed, earned him that right.

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It is weird now how the MVP ballot reflects a position-less All-NBA First Team. Will any of the 100 voters’ top-five MVP candidates look different from their All-NBA First Team? I suppose it is possible. It would not be here, if I had a vote, because of course the five most valuable players should make up your position-less All-NBA First Team.

That is, of course, if they qualify for the NBA’s 65-game rule, which requires players to participate in that many games in order to be considered for end-of-season awards.

(Bruno Rouby/Yahoo Sports Illustration)

Kawhi Leonard can miss only one more game before he is disqualified. He may not appear on anyone’s MVP ballot, since his Los Angeles Clippers are below .500, but his production should absolutely be in play for a spot on the All-NBA Second Team.

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Cunningham’s MVP case is the one that is in most danger. He has missed nine games, and he is expected to miss at least the next six with a collapsed lung. To rush him back from that injury, just to qualify for end-of-year awards, might be a mistake.

Cunningham’s absence could leave the door open for Boston Celtics forward Jaylen Brown to make his way onto a ballot. Before we reveal too much, our MVP rankings …

Honorable mentions: Jaylen Brown, Boston Celtics; Jalen Brunson, New York Knicks; Anthony Edwards, Minnesota Timberwolves; Donovan Mitchell, Cleveland Cavaliers.

5. Luka Dončić, Los Angeles Lakers

Dončić has…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/nba/article/nba-mvp-rankings-luka-doncic-is-rising-but-can-anyone-take-the-trophy-from-shai-gilgeous-alexander-164929283.html

Author : Ben Rohrbach

Publish date : 2026-03-23 16:49:00

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