2018-19 NBA MVP Ladder: New Year edition

As the calendar turns to 2019, it’s time for the latest edition of NBA Awards Watch. Who sits atop the 2018-19 NBA MVP Ladder heading into the new year?

Approaching the halfway mark of the 2018-19 NBA campaign, we’ve officially crossed out the “2018” portion of the season. With the calendar flipping to 2019, it’s time for an update to our monthly MVP ladder.

Last time around, Giannis Antetokounmpo was the early frontrunner, with Joel Embiid and Kawhi Leonard rounding out the top three. While the trio cracks the top 10 once again for this end-of-December edition, the order has changed up quite a bit.

Over the last month, we’ve also seen James Harden and Paul George make strong cases for themselves thanks to red-hot scoring streaks and impressive records for their respective teams. The question is, how does the top 10 shake out in a year where no one candidate has seized control?

In such a wide open MVP race, it’s important to remember that it’s still early in the season. One injury, one player’s hot streak or one team’s losing skid could drastically alter these end-of-2018 rankings. It’s also worth noting how close these candidates are to each other, with Kyrie Irving failing to even crack the top 10 in a career year.

Bearing all this in mind, here’s a look at the leading candidates for the 2018-19 MVP award as the new year arrives.

Honorable Mentions: Kyrie Irving, Damian Lillard, Kyle Lowry, Blake Griffin, Russell Westbrook, Kemba Walker, DeMar DeRozan