ESPN's NBA Rank revealed a great deal about how some of the top players in the game are viewed. Luka Doncic, for instance, was ranked at No. 4 in the Association—and a follow-up piece on the NBA Rank revealed that there was a "noticeable gap" between the top three players and the Los Angeles Lakers superstar.
Despite that bold claim of separation between Doncic and his peers, he's a realistic candidate to crash the MVP party and prevent the crown from being shared between heavy favorites Nikola Jokic, Victor Wembanyama, and Gilgeous-Alexander.
Gilgeous-Alexander and Jokic have combined to win five of the past six MVP awards and Wembanyama is already viewed as an inevitable eventual winner. As such, it's understandable to a degree for that trio to be favorites for MVP.
One executive wasn't quite as skeptical of Doncic as an MVP candidate, however, as they told Ben Golliver of ESPN in the aforementioned follow-up that they believe the trophy is headed to Slovenia next summer.
“With LeBron [James] gone, the weight and expectations of the [Los Angeles] Lakers will push Luka to reach his full potential,” he said. “He will take the MVP trophy home to Slovenia next summer.”
It's a bold projection considering how many elite players are going to be competing for the MVP award, but Doncic has felt like an inevitable eventual winner himself for many years now.
Anonymous exec: "[Luka] will take the MVP trophy home to Slovenia"
A simple look at what Doncic has already achieved at 27 years of age should be all the proof one needs to believe that he can win MVP. He's a six-time All-NBA First Team honoree and a two-time scoring champion who has been the No. 1 player on an NBA Finalist and a second Conference Finalist.
He's also one of the most statistically prolific players in history, ranking No. 3 all-time in career scoring average and No. 12 all-time in assists per game.
Furthermore, Doncic has been a walking 50-win season. He helped guide the Lakers to that mark in 2024-25 and 2025-26, and achieved the same with the Dallas Mavericks in 2021-22 and 2023-24. If Los Angeles can clear 50 and push for 60, his case for MVP will check all of the boxes voters typically aim for.
If he does all of that while maintaining averages in the range of his 2025-26 marks of 33.5 points, 8.3 assists, 7.7 rebounds, 1.6 steals, and 4.0 three-point field goals made on .476/.366/.780 shooting, then arguing against him will be far more difficult than making a case for him.
There are admittedly factors working against Doncic, including the fact that players like Gilgeous-Alexander, Jokic, and Wembanyama benefit from roster continuity. The Lakers, meanwhile, parted with LeBron James and have all but completely overhauled their rotation.
Regardless of how the top four players in the NBA are structured in the minds of basketball fans, however, one thing is clear: MVP is a realistic goal for Doncic, no matter how far ahead some might want the top three to be.
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