Entering Week 4 of the NBA, Tyrese Maxey and Cade Cunningham have entered the MVP chat as long shots with Philadelphia and Detroit as two of the hottest teams in the NBA, while Victor Wembanyama‘s 38 point night versus Chicago kept him in the top five of the MVP rankings. Luka Doncic, Nikola Jokic, and Giannis Antetokounmpo continue to jostle one another for the top spot of who can rival the reigning MVP on the best team in the NBA.
Be sure to check out DraftKings for all the latest game odds & team props for every matchup this week on the NBA schedule!
Vaughn Dalzell’s Week 4 MVP Rankings
1. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City Thunder (+180)
Points Per Game: 32.8 (3rd)
Assists Per Game: 6.4 (19th)
Rebounds Per Game: 5.2 RPG (T-83rd)
The Oklahoma City Thunder continue their run for back-to-back champions opening the season at 11-1 over the first 12 games. In that dozen, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (SGA) has scored 30-plus points 10 times with 28 and 23 in the two that went under. SGA’s dished at least five assists in 9 of those 12 and grabbed five or more rebounds in seven contests to go along with only six games of 35 or more minutes.
Despite the 33.3% usage rate (5th) to start the season without Jalen Williams, SGA hasn’t played the minutes that you’d assume with his numbers. If Cade Cunningham needs 45 shots and 18 free-throw attempts to score 46 points, how many does SGA need?
Well, SGA scored 35 points on 22 field goal attempts and 11 free-throw attempts two games ago versus Minnesota. SGA is one of the most efficient and prolific scorers we will see this decade and it’s a consistent night to night basis. It’s hard to argue he isn’t defending his MVP the correct way through 12 games. SGA is a safe bet to go back-to-back from everything I’ve seen.
2. Luka Doncic, Los Angeles Lakers (+350)
Points Per Game: 37.1
Assists Per Game: 9.1
Rebounds Per Game: 9.4
SGA is the safe bet, but my favorite pick to win the MVP was the new slim-thick version of Luka Doncic! Through seven games with him on the court, the Lakers have gone 5-2 and he’s averaged a near triple-double of 37.1 points, 9.4 rebounds, and 9.1 assists with the second-highest usage rate (37.8%).
Doncic has only triple-doubled once this season, but double-doubled in five others. His latest outing versus Charlotte, a 38-point performance in 38 minutes, Doncic failed to record his first double-double of the season with seven assists and six rebounds.
The Lakers look great and so does Doncic. I think he will be a top-three contender all year for the award and still put up 30-7-7 at the least with LeBron James back in the mix. For the first time in my life, a team that LeBron is on, doesn’t quote feel like it’s his team, although he is still the leader and shot-caller, but you get what I’m saying. Luka is the face of the Lakers, but LeBron is the voice. There I got it.
3. Nikola Jokic, Denver Nuggets (+300)
Points Per Game: 25.2 (T-15th)
Rebounds Per Game: 13.0 (2nd)
Assists Per Game: 11.9 (1st)
For the fourth time in the last five games, Nikola Jokic topped the 30-point mark as Denver is on a five-game winning streak. The Joker is doing it all, leading Denver in points, rebounds, assists, and minutes per game.
Jokic lead the Nuggets in scoring all five games during this winning streak and in fact, Denver is 6-0 when he is the leading scorer this season. When he triple doubles, Denver is 5-1 this season with the lone loss coming in OT during the season-opener to Golden State (137-131). Denver is tied for the third-best record in the NBA and will need to keep up the pace if Jokic wants to win MVP.
At this impressive rate, Jokic will likely finish third or fourth in MVP voting despite averaging a 30-point triple-double on a top-four team in the West. Unless Denver has a better record than Oklahoma City, or the best in the NBA for better words, I don’t know Jokic gets the necessary votes over SGA or Doncic if Jokic didn’t last year.
4. Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks (+550)
Points Per Game: 33.4 (1st)
Rebounds Per Game: 11.9 (6th)
Assists Per Game: 6.2 (17th)
Giannis Antetokounmpo leads the NBA in scoring (33.4) and top 10 across the board in so many categories, it would take too much time to list them all. The Greek Freak has had to take his game to a different level, including fadeaway game-winners, but more impressively, becoming Point-Giannis.
Antetokounmpo has the third-highest usage rate (35.3%), or the second-best if you don’t include Luka Doncic. He’s directed the Bucks offense to the 10th-best offensive efficiency and 11th-ranked assist to turnover ratio to go along with the 10th-quickest pace. At 7-4, Milwaukee has continued to surprise and with the limited help from his role players. Antetokounmpo is playing like an MVP through 11 games.
5. Victor Wembanyama, San Antonio Spurs (+600)
Points Per Game: 25.7 (12th)
Rebounds Per Game: 12.8 (3rd)
Blocks Per Game: 3.9 (1st)
The Spurs have won three straight games and are tied with the Nuggets for third-best record in the NBA (OKC, DEN) and second-place in the Western Conference behind the Thunder. Not many people expected this start from the Spurs, that included a 5-0 record over the first five games.
Victor Wembanyama averaged 30.2 points, 14.6 rebounds, 4.8 blocks, and 3.4 assists in the first five games of the season. However, in the second five-game sample size, Wemby averaged 21.2 points, 11.0 rebounds, 3.4 assists, and 3.0 blocks per game. Teams have started playing him differently to limit his impact, but the win-loss column hasn’t been impacted, which is what keeps Wembanyama in the race.
When the Spurs start losing, Wembanyama’s odds will start dropping, but will they start losing? San Antonio just received a boost when De’Aaron Fox returned and the Spurs are 2-0 so far as he’s scored 21 and 24 points and shot 60.7% from the field! Maybe not this year for Wemby MVP, but an entire year of chemistry with this young Spurs team could lead to a MVP trophy for Wemby sometime in the next three seasons.
Stock Up
Tyrese Maxey, Philadelphia 76ers (+5000)
Points Per Game: 33.2 (2nd)
Rebounds Per Game: 4.9 (T-92nd)
Assists Per Game: 8.2 (6th)
Tyrese Maxey has continued to take control of the 76ers’ high-tempo offense ranking second in the NBA with 33.2 points per game. Maxey turned in a season-low 21 points against the Celtics in his previous game without Joel Embiid, but Philadelphia won, so his odds stayed put at 50-to-1, better than the 70-to-1 last week.
As long as the 7-4 Philadelphia 76ers are winning, Maxey will be in the small second-tier to long shot contenders for MVP. The first tier is made up of SGA, Doncic, Jokic, Giannis, and Wemby. Then the second tier to long shots would be Maxey, Cade Cunningham, Anthony Edwards, Jalen Brunson, Kevin Durant, Paolo Banchero, and Jaylen Brown.
Cade Cunningham, Detroit Pistons (+3500)
Rebounds Per Game: 5.4 (T-76th)
Assists Per Game: 9.9 (2nd)
Cade Cunningham was 150-to-1 before the Pistons seven-game winning streak and now he’s 35-to-1. Detroit owns the league’s longest winning streak, but only one of those teams have a winning record, so it’d say hold your horses on any Cunningham MVP chatter.
However, his 46 points, 12 rebounds, and 11 assist triple-double in an 137-135 OT win over Washington on Peacock certainly gave us a glimpse of what Cunningham can be. Cunningham went 14-of-45 from the field (31.1%), 2-of-11 from three (18.2%), and 16-of-18 (88.9%) from the free-throw line in the win for one of the more inefficient 46-point outings.
Stock Down
Victor Wembanyama, San Antonio Spurs (+600)
Points Per Game: 25.7 (12th)
Rebounds Per Game: 12.8 (3rd)
Blocks Per Game: 3.9 (1st)
There aren’t many players with their stock dropping besides Anthony Edwards (+10000), so I won’t write about him again, but Victor Wembanyama has watched his drop.
Over the last five games, teams have started implementing defensive fronting strategies with help to limit his scoring impact. It worked with four straight games of 22 or fewer points, outside of the last game when Chicago allowed him to go off for 38 points. Wemby is averaging fewer points (-9.0), rebounds (-3.6), and blocks (-1.8) per game over the last five opposed to the first five.
Wemby has now put himself into the fifth position for MVP for every sports book, but we can write him in as Defensive Player of the Year as long as he stays healthy.
Follow my plays for the season on X @VmoneySports, Instagram @VmoneySports_ and Action App @vaughndalzell.
Be sure to check out DraftKings for all the latest game odds & team props for every matchup this week on the NBA schedule!
How to Watch the NBA on NBC and Peacock
Peacock NBA Monday will stream up to three Monday night games each week throughout the regular season. Coast 2 Coast Tuesday presents doubleheaders on Tuesday nights throughout the regular season on NBC and Peacock. On most Tuesdays, an 8 p.m. ET game will be on NBC stations in the Eastern and Central time zones, and an 8 p.m. PT game on NBC stations in the Pacific and often Mountain time zones. Check local listings each week. Both games will stream live nationwide on Peacock. NBC Sports will launch Sunday Night Basketball across NBC and Peacock on Feb. 1, 2026. For a full schedule of the NBA on NBC and Peacock, click here.
