Mavs' Luka Doncic Falls on NBA MVP Ladder; Remains in Top 5
The Dallas Mavericks have been one of the most injured teams in the NBA this season, but despite that, they find themselves sitting in sixth-place in the Western Conference standings with a 24-18 record.
One big reason for that has been the play of superstar Luka Doncic, who is averaging 33.6 points, 8.3 rebounds and 9.2 assists while shooting 48.5 percent overall, including a career-high 37.6 percent from 3-point range. Those are MVP-worthy numbers, especially when considering the amount of injuries Dallas has had to navigate through, but they're apparently not enough to move Doncic up on NBA.com's MVP Ladder.
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"Doncic returned from a three-game hiatus and dropped 33 points to go with 13 rebounds and 10 assists, scoring 14 of his 33 points in the second quarter. The showing marked Doncic’s seventh triple-double this season and 63rd of his career," Michael C. Wright wrote after dropping Doncic from No. 4 to No. 5 on the list.
"Did we mention Doncic is just 24 years old? He was scheduled to face off with Stephen Curry on Friday at Golden State, but the matchup was postponed after the passing of Warriors assistant coach Dejan Milojevic."
That doesn't necessarily sound like an assessment that would warrant moving Doncic down the MVP Ladder, does it? With all due respect to the players in front of Doncic – Milwaukee Bucks' Giannis Antetokounmpo, Oklahoma City Thunder's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Denver Nuggets' Nikola Jokic and Philadelphia 76ers' Joel Embiid – all of them have better supporting casts and none of them have had to go through the adversity Doncic has this season.
A lot can change in 40 games, though, and we'll see if the Mavs can compile enough wins to give Doncic a real chance to take home the first MVP award of his career when the dust settles.
