NBA MVP Fourth Place: Luka Doncic
Like many stars this year, Luka Doncic started the season slowly and battled conditioning issues for the first month or so. He started to perk up in November before a December ankle injury and bout with COVID caused another setback.
But from February on, Doncic has been as potent a force as anyone. His season averages of 28.5 points, 9.1 rebounds, and 8.7 assists somehow undersell how important he’s been to a Dallas team that will have home-court advantage in the first round.
An injury to, and subsequent trade of, Kristaps Porzingis added more spacing and ballhandling to a Dallas lineup that suddenly became significantly more flexible. Jalen Brunson and Spencer Dinwiddie’s shooting and off-the-dribble bounce have opened up space for Doncic to attack defenses from different angles.
Doncic has always been a master of the screen and roll, of course, but now he has a more varied style. Per Synergy Sports, he’s posting, spotting up, and isolating more while running the pick and roll slightly less, granting the Dallas offense a little more unpredictability. He’s made the blind over-the-head pass his trademark (in a related note, Doncic could improve his passing by aiming to hit his shooters in their shot pocket a little more consistently).
Coach Jason Kidd has Doncic buying in on both sides, and the Mavericks have somehow constructed the seventh-best defense in the league (those Rudy Gobert rumors must have Dallas fans salivating). He’s exerting far more effort despite carrying a Herculean load on offense.
Doncic is clearly destined for future MVPs. It just won’t be this year.