Entering Week 4 of the NBA, Tyrese Maxey And Cade Cunningham 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 against Chicago kept him in the top five in the MVP standings. Luka Doncic, Nikola JokicAnd Giannis Antetokounmpo continue to jostle for the top spot of who can compete with the reigning MVP of the best team in the NBA.
Be sure to check DraftKings for all the latest game odds and team props for every game 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 match: 6.4 (19th)
Rebounds per game: 5.2 RPG (T-83e)
The Oklahoma City Thunder continue their quest for back-to-back champions by opening the season 11-1 through the first 12 games. In this dozen, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (SGA) scored more than 30 points 10 times, including 28 and 23 in the two losses. SGA dished out at least five assists in 9 of those 12 and grabbed five or more rebounds in seven games to go along with just six games lasting 35 minutes or more.
Despite posting a 33.3% usage rate (5th) to start the season without Jalen Williams, SGA hasn’t played the minutes one would 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 against Minnesota. SGA is one of the most efficient and prolific scorers we’ll see this decade and he’s a consistent staple night in and night out. It’s hard to argue that he didn’t defend his MVP the right way over the course of 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 match: 9.1
Rebounds per game: 9.4
SGA is the safe bet, but my favorite choice to win the MVP was the new thin and thick version of Luka Doncic! In seven games with him on the court, the Lakers went 5-2 and he averaged a triple-double of 37.1 points, 9.4 rebounds and 9.1 assists with the second-highest usage rate (37.8%).
Doncic has only a triple-double once this season, but a double-double in five others. In his last outing against 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 for the award all year and will always be at least 30-7-7 with LeBron James back in the mix. For the first time in my life, a team that LeBron is on doesn’t feel like it’s his team, even though he’s still the leader and the shooter, 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 match: 11.9 (1st)
For the fourth time in the last five matches, Nikola Jokic surpassed the 30-point mark as Denver is on a five-game winning streak. The Joker does it all, leading Denver in points, rebounds, assists and minutes per game.
Jokic has led the Nuggets in scoring all five games during this winning streak and in fact, Denver is 6-0 while he is the leading scorer this season. When achieving a triple double, Denver is 5-1 this season, the only loss coming in overtime in the season opener against 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 the MVP award.
At this impressive rate, Jokic will likely finish third or fourth in MVP voting despite averaging a triple-double of 30 points 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 votes needed 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 match: 6.2 (17th)
Giannis Antetokounmpo is leading the NBA in scoring (33.4) and in the top 10 across the board in so many categories that it would take too long to list them all. The Greek Freak had to take his game to a different level, including winning match-winners, but more impressively, becoming Point-Giannis.
Antetokounmpo has the third highest usage rate (35.3%), or second if not including Luka Doncic. He led the Bucks’ offense to the 10th-best offensive efficiency and 11th-best assist-to-turnover ratio, to go along with the 10th-fastest pace. At 7-4, Milwaukee continued to surprise and with limited help from its 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. Few expected this start from the Spurs, which included a 5-0 record through 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, 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 has not been impacted, which keeps Wembanyama in the race.
When Spurs start losing, Wembanyama’s chances will start to drop, but will they start losing? San Antonio just got a boost when De’Aaron Fox came back and the Spurs are 2-0 as he scored 21 and 24 points and shot 60.7% from the field! Maybe not this year for Wemby MVP, but a full year of chemistry with this young Spurs team could lead to an MVP trophy for Wemby in the next three seasons.
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Tyrese Maxey, Philadelphia 76ers (+5000)
Points per game: 33.2 (2nd)
Rebounds per game: 4.9 (T-92nd)
Assists per match: 8.2 (6th)
Tyrese Maxey continued to take control of the 76ers’ fast-paced offense, ranking second in the NBA with 33.2 points per game. Maxey scored a season-low 21 points against the Celtics in his previous game without Joel Embiidbut Philadelphia won, so its odds remained at 50 to 1, better than last week’s 70 to 1.
As long as the 7-4 Philadelphia 76ers win, Maxey will be a distant second tier of MVP contenders. The first level is made up of SGA, Doncic, Jokic, Giannis and Wemby. So the second level for long shots would be Maxey, Cade Cunningham, Anthony Edwards, Jalen Brunson, Kevin Durant, Paolo BancheroAnd Jaylen Brown.
Cade Cunningham, Detroit Pistons (+3500)
Rebounds per game: 5.4 (T-76e)
Assists per match: 9.9 (2nd)
Cade Cunningham was 150 to 1 before the Pistons’ seven-game winning streak and now it’s 35 to 1. Detroit has the longest winning streak in the league, but only one of those teams has a winning record, so you’d have to hold your horses on any Cunningham MVP chatter.
However, his 46 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists triple-double in a 137-135 overtime win over Washington on Peacock certainly gave us a glimpse of what Cunningham can be. Cunningham made 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 most inefficient 46-point outings.
Stock falling
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 whose stocks are falling apart from Anthony Edwards (+10000), so I won’t write about him anymore, but Victor Wembanyama saw his fall.
Over the last five games, teams have started to implement defensive strategies to limit its impact on the score. It worked with four straight games of 22 points or less, aside from the last game where Chicago allowed him to score 38 points. Wemby is averaging fewer points (-9.0), rebounds (-3.6) and blocks (-1.8) per game over the last five games compared to the top five.
Wemby now sits in fifth place for MVP across all sportsbooks, but we can list him as Defensive Player of the Year as long as he stays healthy.
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Be sure to check DraftKings for all the latest game odds and team props for every game this week on the NBA schedule!
How to watch the NBA on NBC and Peacock
Peacock NBA Monday will broadcast up to three Monday night games each week throughout the regular season. Coast 2 Coast Tuesday features doubleheaders on Tuesday nights throughout the regular season on NBC and Peacock. Most Tuesdays, an 8 p.m. ET game will air 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 weekly. Both games will be stream live nationwide on Peacock. NBC Sports will launch Sunday Night Basketball on NBC and Peacock on February 1, 2026. For a complete NBA schedule on NBC and Peacock, Click here.
