NBA MVP Ladder: Chris Paul Is Coming for Steph, Giannis, Embiid and Jokic

Eventually, at some point this season, the NBA's MVP ladder may not require us to agonize over the order and the ultimate winner of the Maurice Podoloff Trophy.

Now, as it turns out, is not that time.

There is some semblance of stability at the top, which remains populated by the same names from our last MVP huddle. But the hierarchy has still shifted near the peak of the field, ever so slightly, and it stands to undergo more extensive facelifts over the next few weeks in no small part thanks to fallout from the NBA's trade deadline.

Fresher faces, meanwhile, are staking their claim to top-five consideration overall. And after circling the outskirts of this discussion for a while, one of them has forced entry into the meat and potatoes of the landscape.

As always, this pecking order represents a snapshot in time, aiming only to look at who should win it all if the season ended right now. Foundational arguments will be laid for newcomers, but explaining away any recent developments, dips or ascensions is the priority for any MVP mainstays.

Previous Ranking: 4

Brace yourselves, because I've got some shocking news: Stephen Curry is, in fact, still good.

Are we all doing OK? I know that was a lot to digest. Who knew what he was going through was just a slump rather than an all-out decline? (Hopefully, everyone.)

Curry has by and large recaptured incandescence since the previous meeting of the MVP minds. Over his last eight games, he's putting up 25.1 points and 7.1 assists while converting almost 40 percent of his 10.4 three-point attempts.

This return to volcanic has coincided with Draymond Green's back injury. Curry has never received enough credit for reading the room. Few megastars have ever been so complementary, and he's first and foremost among the most lethal scorers in NBA history. But he has the bandwidth to run an offense without supplementary, let alone primary, playmakers alongside him. His assists have jumped since Jan. 1 from 5.9 per game to 7.3, and Golden State is throttling opponents on the season whenever he plays without Green.

Whatever rut Curry found himself in for a minute dampens his case relative to peers that follow. But the stage is set for him to rocket back up the standings. He remains the most valuable player to what's still the league's second-best team, and his resume only strengthens with each win the Warriors scoop up sans Green.

Bouncing DeMar DeRozan from the fifth spot was not taken lightly. The Chicago Bulls aren't winning the minutes he plays as decidedly, but he's allowed them to tread water near the top of the Eastern Conference despite a mounting list of injuries on the perimeter.

Truthfully, Nos. 3 through 7 in this exercise may come down to matters of taste and recency bias. Choosing between DeRozan, Curry, Ja Morant and the player to follow is like splitting already-split hairs. Keep an eye on Luka Doncic, too. He is playing inspired basketball, and a strong close to the season without Kristaps Porzingis, now a member of the Washington Wizards, may be his launching pad into the mix.

Honorable Mentions: 10. LeBron James, 9. Trae Young, 8. Luka Doncic, 7. Ja Morant, 6. DeMar DeRozan

Previous Ranking: 8

There exists a school of thought that it's perfectly fine for the Phoenix Suns to run roughshod over the rest of the league without having a top MVP candidate. "It is a testament to the collective value of Devin Booker and Chris Paul, and of the team's overall depth," the logic goes. "And as an added bonus, it prevents us from having an uncomfortable discussion that leads us to an awkward, icky conclusion on the subject of whether Booker or CP3 is more important to Phoenix's success."

I'm kind of, sort of, most definitely done pretending the Suns can steamroll just about everyone in their path and not have someone in the top five of this shindig. The Book vs. CP3 topic is, indeed, a toughy. And Booker too often gets the short shrift of it all. The scalability of his stardom and efficiency with which he scores still, somehow, remains underrated.

But there is a certain inseparability between Paul and Phoenix's should-be-the-title-favorite performance not shared by his co-star. He has appeared in every one of the Suns' games and, since we last met, is at once averaging far too many and roughly the same number of minutes (36.1) as Booker (36.2).

It is also Paul who gives the offense its shape and structure, mostly because defining control optimizes what he does, but also because he elevates the play of everyone around him, at all times, virtually beyond exception.

His crunch-time efficiency is unfathomable; he's draining 64 percent of his twos outside the restricted area (16-of-25), in addition to 42.9 percent on the above-the-break threes (3-of-7), all while assisting on an absurdly high 46.3 percent of Phoenix's clutch buckets. The Suns are outscoring opponents by 56.1 points per 100 possessions of crunch time with him in the fold, the league's fattest mark among 216 players with at least 12 appearances.

Paul's entry into the top four isn't meant to be a delayed epiphany. It is longstanding, just like his indispensability to the Suns at large. They're obliterating teams when he runs solo. A recent stretch of averaging 13.0 assists to 2.4 turnovers per game has merely magnified his importance—and, perhaps, unearthed flaws in how we previously evaluated this race.

Previous Ranking: 2

Giannis Antetokounmpo has not tumbled down a peg through any fault of his own. His averages since the previous MVP check-in remain as typo-esque as ever: 30.6 points, 10.6 rebounds, 6.0 assists, 1.1 blocks, 66.4 percent shooting on twos. He has also, quietly, drilled 35.6 percent of his treys over the past month (16-of-45).

And yet, the Milwaukee Bucks have appeared uncharacteristically human since the start of the new year.  They are hovering around the bottom 10 in points allowed per possession over the past month, and nearly every part of its rotation feels a body or two short.

Picking up Serge Ibaka at the trade deadline should help up front, but Brook Lopez's absence still looms as a void. The Bucks' perimeter depth has been thrown for a whirl following Pat Connaughton's right hand injury, and George Hill remains out with a back issue.

Maybe that takes away from Giannis' appeal—even if subconsciously, even if just a smidge. But he alone papers over so much of the Bucks' concerns.

This is a two-time MVP who has beefed up his offensive feel, as both a passer and scorer, both on and off the ball. He is at his defensive apex when allowed to roam but has continued to warp opposing offenses even as the primary big. Milwaukee ranks in the 81st percentile of points allowed per possession with him at the 5 and is inside the 89th percentile when he plays next to Bobby Portis.

To that end, there is no case against Giannis. There are only viable alternatives—along with the notion that the next time we meet, he could be both the MVP and, given availability hangups for Rudy Gobert, Draymond Green and Bam Adebayo, the Defensive Player of the Year front-runner. 

Previous Ranking: 3

Joel Embiid's MVP argument has crescendoed into a loud, unassailable roar. His knack for uplifting an imperfect Philadelphia 76ers squad is beyond comprehension. He is the rare star tasked with anchoring everything his team does at both ends, the irreplaceable hub for both its offense and defense.

If the season ended today, Embiid would actually win the scoring title. His 29.5 points per game are not only a career high but come on league-high usage that has seen him sacrifice very little in the way of efficiency.

Changes to how offenses are officiated have not impacted his free-throw volume, his turnover rate is at an all-time low, and he's notching the second-highest true shooting percentage of his career. It's a marriage of volume and efficiency the likes of which we've never seen.

Literally.

No player in league history has ever turned in a true shooting north of 60 with a turnover rate below 11 and usage percentage above 37. Embiid is on pace to become the first.

Skeptics looking to poke holes in his case will bemoan that he forces Philadelphia to defend a certain way. Except, really, the phrasing you're looking for is "enables them to defend and survive a certain way." Pointing out that he's more likely to go 8-of-25 or 7-of-17 from the floor than Giannis Antetokounmpo doesn't diminish his credentials, either. The level of difficulty on his jumpers is through the roof. That he's draining 44 percent of his long mid-rangers and 37 percent of his above-the-break threes is a minor miracle.

Wondering aloud how James Harden's arrival will impact Embiid's candidacy is more legitimate. Will a fully healthy, locked-in Harden cannibalize or neutralize Embiid's MVP mystique? Will he garner more credit for helping the Sixers navigate Ben Simmons' empty roster spot and then successfully integrating one of the most ball-dominant players ever? Time, as ever, will tell. For now, though, Embiid is where he belongs.

Previous Ranking: 1

Steady is the complete and utter dominance of Nikola Jokic.

Finding new ways to portray his MVP defense is getting difficult. So many avenues have already been exhausted by the resistance he faces from the "But look at his team's record!" and "Doesn't actually watch the Denver Nuggets" crowds.

Catch-all metrics still love him. Times infinity. No player in the league owns a larger net-rating swing. Still. His numbers are silly. In the nine outings he's made since the last MVP ladder, he's averaging 24.2 points 12.8 rebounds and 9.3 assists while downing 69.5 percent of his twos and 38.9 percent of his triples and delivering a game-saving block against Toronto, and it all seems very ho-hum.

Perhaps that's the next frontier of Jokic's value: acknowledging the endurance of his mastery has fomented indifference to it. That is, in a way, the highest form of flattery, one that has over the years affected everyone from Peak LeBron James and Fully Engaged James Harden to Healthy Kevin Durant and Every Version Ever of Stephen Curry.

Or maybe we just need to revisit the idea he's a one-way player, and how that concept is on life support. He ends possessions with his rebounding and has the hands and IQ necessary to play more aggressive or non-traditional styles than other bigs. Among everyone who has logged at least 1,000 minutes this season, he ranks 20th in deflections per 75 possessions, just behind Jrue Holiday, and 10th in value added as a help rim protector, per BBall Index.

The most ardent believers will insist he's one of the most valuable defensive players in the game. Let's pump the brakes.

There is a middle ground. And Jokic has never straddled it more effectively—or for longer.

Unless otherwise noted, stats courtesy of NBA.com, Basketball Reference, Stathead or Cleaning the Glass and accurate entering Monday's games. Salary information via Spotrac.

Dan Favale covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter (@danfavale), and listen to his Hardwood Knocks podcast, co-hosted by NBA Math's Adam Fromal.