NBA Preseason MVP Rankings: SGA, Doncic look to end Jokic's reign

With the 2024-25 NBA campaign less than a week away, here's a look at the top 10 candidates to win the league's most coveted individual award.

2023-24 statistics:

The Cavs knew they needed to sign Mitchell to an extension before he headed into a contract year. He led them to a 9-3 mark during a month-long period last season in which fellow starters Darius Garland and Evan Mobley were injured. Cleveland also won just 12 of the 27 games Mitchell missed in 2023-24.

Now tied down through at least 2026-27, Mitchell will get the chance to lead a young Cavs core hoping to return the franchise to the conference finals for the first time since LeBron James did so in 2018.

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The former second overall pick enters 2024-25 ready to erase the memory of last season. Morant was limited to just nine games due to suspension and a season-ending shoulder injury as Memphis finished with its worst record since 2017-18.

The explosive point guard said in September that he believes people have forgotten how good he and the rest of the Grizzlies are, and he may have a point. Memphis was 76-42 with Morant in the lineup in the two seasons combined prior to last year's aberration, a winning percentage of 64.4% that would've made the Grizzlies the fourth seed last season.

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Brunson flirted with superstardom last season, earning himself consideration for MVP, as well as Most Improved Player and Clutch Player of the Year. He ended up with a spot on the All-NBA second team, joining the likes of Anthony Edwards, Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leonard, and Anthony Davis.

Like a few other names on this list, Brunson's MVP chances could take a hit simply because of his surrounding talent. The Knicks have one of the NBA's most lethal starting fives after acquiring Mikal Bridges and Karl Anthony-Towns. However, it's Brunson who powers Tom Thibodeau's side as a 6-foot-2 human battery. New York should be in contention for the East's No. 1 seed if he mimics his 2023-24 All-Star-worthy season.

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The best player on the best team in basketball probably deserves more MVP love. Tatum ushered Boston to its 18th NBA title, leading the Celtics in playoff points per game (25), assists (6.3), and rebounds (9.7), yet the 26-year-old somehow wasn't named Finals or Eastern Conference finals MVP. He also inked the league's biggest contract in the offseason, signing a five-year, $314-million extension with Boston.

Despite winning a gold medal, Tatum had an underwhelming Olympics. He was benched in both matches against Serbia, only tallied 21 points in the entire tournament, and didn't make a single 3-pointer. A motivated Tatum on the most talented roster in the Association is a scary proposition. How will voters be able to deny his candidacy if Boston puts up a 70-win campaign?

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With Towns shipped to New York, there's no longer a debate over Edwards' Minnesota stature: he's the face of the franchise. While he can no longer defer to Towns when the pressure intensifies, Edwards will also garner much more credit for a successful season.

There's reason for optimism that Edwards is up to the task. He didn't look out of place during the Olympics amid one of the most star-studded USA Basketball rosters in some time. Though the 2020 first overall pick was limited in the semifinal and gold-medal game against Serbia and France, he was emphatic against both Puerto Rico and Brazil, leading the U.S. against the former with 26 points on 11-of-15 shooting.

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Antetokounmpo deserves more MVP love as arguably the best two-way player in basketball. He's averaged over 30 points per game in two consecutive seasons and has had a usage rate of at least 30% for seven years in a row.

Antetokounmpo's rim protection also makes him a special talent, as he's finished in the top 10 in DPOY votes each year since 2019. Another run at the award would propel him above our other top candidates.

However, Antetokounmpo's MVP odds will come down to wins. If the Bucks can challenge the Celtics for first in the East during Year 2 with Damian Lillard and head coach Doc Rivers, the Greek Freak will vault up ballots.

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Joel Embiid has the spacing that'll let him thrive. Paul George is a career 38.5% 3-point shooter and an elite self-creator, while Tyrese Maxey is the quickest point guard in basketball. Further, Embiid is one of the league's most effective short-roll bigs and can dominate any team on the block - he led the league in post-ups per game and scored an impressive 1.02 points per possession. When he gets the ball near the rim, Embiid punishes teams and forces his way to the charity stripe. The 2023 MVP has averaged at least 10 free throws per contest in each of the last four seasons.

The main issue with Embiid's 2025 MVP candidacy will be his health and availability. The 30-year-old would've won the league's scoring title last season had he met the NBA's 65-games played threshold. Embiid has already made it clear that his focus is to be healthy for the postseason and that he doesn't care about individual accolades. This, along with a sore left knee, prompted the Sixers to keep him out of Philadelphia's final three preseason contests.

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It'd be truly remarkable if a former second-round pick tied Wilt Chamberlain and LeBron James for fourth all time with four MVPs. The Serbian has won three MVP awards in four years and showed no signs of slowing down at the Paris Olympics. Jokic led Serbia to a bronze-medal finish and nearly knocked off a loaded U.S. squad in the semifinal. He averaged an efficient 18.8 points, 10.7 rebounds, and 8.7 assists in six Paris games.

Last season, Jokic had the highest net rating of any starter in the league not playing for the Celtics and was just one assist per game shy of averaging a triple-double. He's an offensive juggernaut who'll have had another summer to gel with the young wings on this Nuggets roster. The only thing keeping him from No. 1 on our list is voter fatigue.

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Doncic would've captured the 2024 MVP trophy in a normal year. The Slovenian was the driving force for the Mavericks' 50-win season and NBA Finals appearance. Doncic led the league in both usage and scoring and was second in assists behind Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton.

The Mavs have crafted the perfect lineup to let Doncic thrive offensively. They have two rim-running big men (Dereck Lively and Daniel Gafford), a wizard guard next to him (Kyrie Irving), and the second-greatest 3-point shooter the NBA has ever seen (Klay Thompson). Most Mavericks single-season offensive records should be on standby as Doncic once again flirts with being just the third player in league history to average a triple-double.

Doncic also has the added benefit of rest. Of our top seven MVP candidates, he's the only one who wasn't a participant in the 2024 Paris Olympics.

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It's difficult to imagine Gilgeous-Alexander not being the MVP favorite if he replicate's last season's pace, a notion apparently shared by 40% of NBA general managers.

The Thunder star was a distant runner-up to Jokic in last season's award voting but should provide more rigid competition come 2025. Coming off two straight seasons of at least 30 points per game, the Kentucky product's chances will likely be buoyed by not having a bonafide co-star in Oklahoma City but still leading a squad easily capable of finishing atop the West yet again.

It's almost impossible to overstate how valuable the 25-year-old has been throughout Oklahoma City's rise. He ranked in the 100th percentile in points per shot attempt by point guards in 2023-24, per Cleaning The Glass, an approximate marker that tracks total points scored per 100 shot attempts, including free throws. And he did it on a career-high 34.8% usage rate, placing him in the 95th percentile among those same guards.

Where his game will likely most have to adapt is in his distribution; the Canadian ball-handler has never averaged more than the 6.2 assists per game he tallied last season. He'll likely face even stingier defenses and double teams in his seventh NBA season, forcing the ball out of his hands - at least temporarily.