2018-19 NBA MVP Ladder: October edition

Two weeks into the 2018-19 NBA season, it’s time to take an extremely early look at the MVP ladder and examine who’s leading the way through October.

Generally speaking, what happens in October in the NBA has little bearing on what really matters in April and May. Teams that get off to slow starts can find their rhythm at the perfect time (like the Utah Jazz last year), while teams getting off to hot starts can quickly cool and fall apart (like the Orlando Magic).

However, when it comes to the NBA’s biggest individual honor — the MVP award — it’s never too early to examine the leaderboard to keep an eye on an ever-changing ladder featuring the league’s biggest names and brightest stars.

Through the first two weeks of the 2018-19 campaign, we’ve already seen four 50-point performances, a few teams putting together impressive starts and a slew of eye-popping stat lines that are probably unsustainable, but still plenty exciting.

Although it’s a small sample size to work with, many of the players at the forefront of the early MVP picture should be expected to still be in the conversation as the season moves toward the new year, the All-Star break and the playoffs.

Names like LeBron James, James Harden and Russell Westbrook have to be left off this first MVP ladder due to their teams’ poor records and time missed, but they’ll no doubt join the debate at some point in the future. Bearing all this in mind, here are the top five candidates in this extremely early look at the MVP pool.

Honorable Mentions: Joel Embiid, DeMar DeRozan, Kevin Durant, Nikola Jokic, Kemba Walker and Damian Lillard