2026 NBA MVP Rankings Update (March)

I update my NBA MVP rankings based on games played, win shares, team record, and the 65-game threshold that can erase even elite seasons. I make the case for SGA at No. 1 while still wrestling with Jalen Brown’s team context and the chaos created by injuries. 
• Removing Cade Cunningham and Victor Wembanyama due to the 65-game threshold 
• Adding Knicks candidates and reshaping the full ladder 
• wWeighing defense and secondary scoring with Chet Holmgren 
• Comparing Jalen Brunson’s lead-guard load with Karl-Anthony Towns’ efficiency 
• Rewarding Jamal Murray’s production when Jokic sits 
• Boosting Tyrese Maxey for carrying a shorthanded roster 
• Dropping Nikola Jokic because eligibility risk outweighs stat dominance 
• Slotting Kevin Durant high on near 50-40-90 efficiency 
• Pushing Anthony Edwards into the top five for winning impact 
• Making the bold Jalen Duren top-four argument through win shares and team rank 
• Elevating Luka Doncic with usage and a team surge 
• Deciding SGA over Jalen Brown using two-way win shares and efficiency 
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Transcript

Welcome And MVP Rankings Refresh

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What's up everybody? It's your favorite show's favorite show Get a Bucket. I'm your host, Trey, as usual. Hope you're all having a wonderful, wonderful day. Today we're gonna talk about the NBA's MVP updated rankings. And it's a it's a few updates, it's a few tweaks. Alright, I don't know if y'all listened to the last episode that I dropped about last month. You heard my thoughts thus far. So with that being said, let's give y'all the updates, right? So off top, I had to remove two players off my list. I had to take out Cade Cunningham because he's now injured, and he's not he is no longer gonna be able to hit that 65 game threshold. Unfortunately, if he had just been able to play FOMO games, we could have kept him into the MVP listings, but we have to take him off. But he was number two, to be clear, at one point in time. Also, we got to take out Victor Women Yama. Because the man's not gonna be able to mathematically, unless my math is not mathing, he's not gonna be able to hit that 65-game threshold. So we're gonna have to give him the boot from the listing as well, too. He had 46 games right now. The Spurs have played 70 games thus far, 82 games in the season. Sorry, Wimby, we can't count you. So with that being said, my last list had about 11, right? And back then it went as follows SGA, Cade, Jalen Brown, Kevin Durant, Nicola Jokic, Tyrese Halliburton, Victor Wimayama, Jamal Murray, Anthony Edwards, Luka Donchick, Jalen Duran. Well, I'm sorry, uh, Chet Homer, I'm sorry. Now I had to add in a couple extra players. And I had to give the Knicks some love, right? So I threw in Kat and Jalen Brunson. Jalen Duran almost made the list back then. He's made the list now for me. I think he's made the list now for me, ladies and gentlemen. So let's figure out where everybody's rated now. We're gonna start off bottom, work our way up top. So I got Chet at number 12, right? He's not the best if we're talking about offense, but he's one of the best if we're talking about defense. And because of that, that does help vault him upwards. But here's the thing he's pretty potent on the offensive end as well, too. He's been their number two option behind SGA. Okay, so he's a solid squad for sure. He's been doing his thing. So I put him in a number 12. All right, if you're talking about win shares, he's at 7.8, that's not bad. He's doing good, he's he's doing good, but number 12 nonetheless. I can't put him in that upper echelon because there are other players who are just outperforming him. Jalen Brunson, while he has, and I have him, I have Jalen Brunson at number 11, while he has a lower win share rate, keep in mind, okay? He's doing pretty solid. 26 points, seven assists, 46, 38, 85 splits. I can't be mad at that. Chet's giving me 17 and 9, I hear you, with two blocks. Jalen Brunson's always an MVP candidate. He's always in the lead, so he's usually that one option on the Knicks. And as an undersized guard, I kind of put more stock in Jalen Brunson. If you got Chet higher than him, I'm I hear you. But I personally have JB, Jalen Brunson at number 11. Now, his counterpart, Carl Anthony Towns, you can say that he's the number two in the Knicks organization. This season, he's actually having more win shares than Jalen Brunson. They've both been playing around the same amount of games, 65 to 64, and they got 12 games left. So they met the threshold, same with Chet. But Carl Anthony Towns is gavaging 20 points, 12 rebounds, three assists. I would love to see him up ticket on the blocks, but here's the crazy thing. He's getting 52 from the field, 40% from the three, and 84% from the free throw line. Those are solid splits. Because of that, yes, I would love to see Carl scoring a little bit more, but their team is pretty solid, pretty established. He's doing his role. He's doing, he's playing his part. And because of that, I have Carl Anthony Towns in my top 10 ahead of Jalen Brunson when it comes to the MVP voting. If you want to talk about leadership, I do hear you, you could throw JB into the mix ahead of him because of that. But let's keep in mind, too, Carl Anthony Towns, he does get slighted quite often. So because of that, I think there's a lot of mental fortitude that as a teammate you can look at and say, that's decent. That's quality leadership, and because of that, I keep him at number 10 ahead of Jalen Brunson. It could be a flip of a coin at times, but for right now, today's date, I have Carl Anthony Towns ahead of Jalen Brunson. Number nine, I have Jamal Murray. Again, when Nicola Jokic went out, ladies and gentlemen, Jamal Murray actually impressed me, boasting his first all-star appearance this season. He has met the game's threshold. He's given me 25 points, seven assists on 48, 42, 88 splits. That's not bad, especially given the fact that I've been a little critical about Jamal Murray. So again, this season has really shown me he still is Jokic's second option. His Robin, right, to the Batman. But still Jamal Murray does have more of a ownership, a more higher legacy now, if you will, just by my estimations personally. Because again, he proved that he can at least do something, carry, uplift his team without both Nicole Jokic and Aaron Gordon. I tip my cap to Jamal Murray on that one. But again, I have him at number nine. Now, this is where it starts to get a little interesting because if you're looking at individual talent, him and Tyree, Jamal Murray and Tyrese Maxie are very similar. I have Tyrese Maxie at number eight simply because he has higher win shares, right? Even though his team is rated lower, he's been playing with much less. I just talked about Nicola Jokic and Aaron Gordon being out. Joel MB's been out longer than Nicola Jokic. Paul George got a little hiccup, right? He played similarly to Aaron Gordon, but he's been out for quite some time, too. And Tyrese Halliburton has been the almost lone wolf, if you will, on this 76ers squad. They got good talent for sure, but Tyrese boasting 29 points, seven assists with two steals and a block. The defensive numbers are really what helped me put Tyrese over Jamal. He also has solid splits 46, 38, 37, 89 splits. That's not bad. So again, where his team was ranked while they're 16th in the league compared to Jamal Murray's 10th, I look at what Tyrese Halliburton has done and has had to work with in comparison. They both have played similar games. Jamal Murray has played more, in fact. But again, I personally think that Tyrese Halliburton has had to deal with more than Jamal Murray. So that's why I put him at number eight. But if you want to flip a coin with it too, I hear that as well. Both have been hooping this season. Now, number seven. This could be a little controversial. I have Nikola Jokic. While he is winning or second in win shares, which is a large criteria, his team ranking does drop down, and that does go to him being injured. All right. Now, his numbers, 28, 13, 11 with 1.5 steals and one block on 57 from the field, 39 from the three, 83 free throw, those are quality numbers. But respectfully, at 54 games played currently, and there's 12 games left, literally, if he misses two games, he misses the NBA threshold for all these awards. So again, if he misses any games or two games, he's off this list. So that's the reason why I dropped him down. If you want to, if he's up in games played, I may have him a little higher. So before I get to the other names, I just want to make sure y'all understand that's why I have Nicola Jokic so low. It's because of the games play. Stats wise, he could be a little higher. But right now I got him at number seven. Again, second in win shares for sure. Leader in rebounds, assist, probably top ten in scoring. Like, we know what he does. It's just the games played because he's so close to getting out of that game's play threshold. And that's what I did with Wimby, if I'm not mistaken. Now let's move on up to number six. I know y'all got y'all ears perking when I talked about Nicole. Yoke at number seven. I have Kevin Durant at number six. Houston has been on a slight decline. I've acknowledged that. Even still, Kevin Durant is still boasting 26 points, five rebounds, four assists with one steal, one block on 52-40 for 52-40-89 splits. We are looking at almost another 50-40-90 season, ladies and gentlemen. Nobody, I think, except for maybe Luke Kennard, has it has been doing that this league, this season. So we can't acknowledge, we can't overlook that. Yes, they have Alprin Sengoon. Yes, Amin Thompson has been a solid player, especially if you can if you're factoring in win shares. Right? He's been doing his thing. KD is still the leader of the team. The Rockets, while having a little slippage, they're still ninth in the NBA. That's not bad. So I had him at fourth originally. I dropped him down to sixth respectfully. But I still factor in the fact that, well, the Rockets can still vault back up into the thick of things, which means that KD would move up. So I'm noting that as well, too. But again, Kevin Durant, number six, mainly because he's played more games than Jokic. But if you want to put Jokic ahead of KD, I also understand that too, again, because of the numbers. But what happens if Jokic misses two to three games? You got to take him off the list completely. So again, Kevin Durant, number six, he's played the part. Yes, he has some blame for the Rockets struggles, but he's been doing his thing nonetheless. So again, I have him at number six, especially when you look at it. He's still one of the he's still number five when it comes to win share rankings. That's that that's that's nothing to scoff at. Now, number five, I just mentioned number five, that's just why I transitioned. I gotta give Anthony Edwards some love. While we're talking about win shares, right, he may in fact be the lowest person on this list. I think he actually is. Yes. Ah, he almost he's not the lowest, the second lowest. But still, given what his team has had to deal with, he has no all-star, right? And his team is still number eight. He's the only all-star on his team. He's averaging 30 points, five rebounds, four assists, 1.5 steals, 1 block on 49, 40, 80 splits. That's pretty spectacular. He's also on pace to hit the game's threshold as well, too. So again, as long as he comes back and is healthy and is playing well, hits that 65 game marker, he should be in the thick of things. Top five when we're talking about MVP conversation. And again, his team's success is what helps vaulting him upward. Because keep in mind, Kevin Durant has an all-star on his team outside of himself. Has someone in like the top 10 when we're talking about win shares outside of himself. I think Ant got Rudy in the wind share column, and that's it. Talking about top 10, Mina. That's it. Nicola Jokic is on the team with Jamal Murray, an MVP candidate for me. Ant don't have that. But yet his team is rated higher than both Kevin Durant and Nicola Jokic. So again, ladies and gentlemen, I gotta put Ant a little bit higher than them. If you want to drop Ant, I can understand it too. I hear that too. But at the same time, I don't because, again, best player on his team, and he's helping keeping his team afloat. I gotta put Anthony Edwards at number five. Now, number four is interesting because he was kind of a late addition to the top five personally, and I just gotta call a spade a spade. But this is more of a kind of right now, but also a future potential thing, right? Still talking about this season, but we got about 12 games left. 13, I'm sorry, for him. Jalen Duren, listen, if y'all listened to the last episode, y'all know my metrics. One, this is a the MVP is a regular season award. I also would like players to be top four in win shares. I like your team to be top three to six in the NBA. And then again, a nice little wilder storyline if you got it. Well, Jalen Duren is number three in win shares. His team is number three in the NBA. It's a regular season award. Now you can give a lot of love to Cade, but let's be clear too, though, Jalen Duran was also an all-star, if I'm not mistaken. Like he's having a pretty good year. His team was all, I guess, still is the best in the East. But they could be overlooked now because the Celtics looking like they're hot. Cade just got an injured. What happens if Jalen Durin keeps this team afloat? Could we start talking about Jalen Duran as a larger role in the MVP discussion? We could. That's the reason why I have him higher than Ant, KD, Yokick. If you want to look at just pure talent, we're talking about 19 points, 11 rebounds, two assists, one steal, one block on 64% from the field, no threes at all whatsoever, and 73% from the free throw line. While solid stats, especially from a big, they don't eclipse 28, 13, and 11. So it's more so about situation, games played, which keep in mind Jalen Durin has played 59 games to Jokic's 54. So it's not a large disparity, but I expect Jalen Duran to hit that 65-game threshold. So again, based on my criteria, Jalen Durin does actually, in fact, fit this mold. Again, win shares helps bring him up because if he was just on the team, well, I mean, you saw what I did with Chet Holmgren, and his team is number one. But Chet's win shares aren't as high as Jalen Duran, which you can argue that is, you know, because the team is well, too. But still, the way Jalen has been playing, you got to give some love to Jalen. So again, number four, Jalen Duran. Number three. This man has climbed up the ranks and it was it was it was quite impressive. In fact, he was number 10 last time on my list. Gotta give some love to Luka Donczyk, all right, on my Lakers. Hear me out, right? He's pretty up there in terms of win shares. He's actually number four to be exact, right in between Jalen Duran and Kevin Durant, all right? Now my Lakers were number five, if I'm not mistaken, in the league. Not the West no more. The league. We've gone on a little, we've gone on a little surgeons real quick. So if you factor that in, right, he does have quality stats. 33 points, 8 rebounds, 8 assists, 1.6 steals, 0.6 blocks on 48, 37, 77 splits. Those are quality. Can't deny that. He also has the highest usage rate. That does factor in, ladies and gentlemen, to some of these stats. So I'm taking note of that. But the way we've been able to climb up the ranks, forget schedule right now. We've improved. At least in terms of record. And because of that, a large part of that has to do with Luca Doncic. Yes, our team has been doing decently over the last few games for sure. And are the games behind kind of close between us and some other teams in the West? Yes, you are absolutely correct. Can we slip? Well, yeah, we could. But right now, point in time, ladies and gentlemen, I gotta give Luka his flowers. Because again, when we're talking about what my criteria is, he's a top four player in wind shares. My Lakers are between three and six, top three and six in the NBA. His numbers are good. So he got to get some love for MVP. Now, if y'all heard me keep saying my Lakers, you can tell I'm not biased because I got buddy at number three and not number one. So you might be wondering who's number two and who's number one. Well, this is where I just go out and straight up say it. If K won't injured, my I'd be curious. Where I know, I know where I'd put Luca. Still behind the other guys. Because when I look at Jalen Brunson, or Jalen Brown, I'm so sorry. Oh my gosh. Jalen Brown is number two for me. Now he has the lowest win shares out of everybody, which is crazy to think about. So the win share criteria doesn't quite apply to Jalen Brunson. Jalen Brown, why do I keep saying Jalen Brunson? That's disgusting. But the Celtics, and this was before Jason Tatum even came back. The Celtics have been the number four team in the league. Like they have been at the top of the East for quite some time. They've been at the top of the West of the League for quite some time. We didn't just get, they didn't just get there like how my Lakers did. So that consistency keeps Jalen Brown, yes, finally got it right, ahead of someone like a Luka Doncic, whose numbers might be perceived as better. Now JB is given 29 points, seven rebounds, five assists, one steal, 0.4 blocks. That's not bad. On 48, 34, 80 splits, solid splits for sure. I think it actually beats Lucas. Ties Lucas on the field goal percentage, loses at the three, and then beats him at the free throw line. So again, compares with Lucas. Didn't have an all-star, has played a large of the season, he's only missed seven games. We can note that. So again, ladies and gentlemen, when I'm talking about NVP, most valuable player, not a lot of people had the Celtics here. Not a lot of people expected the Celtics to not tank. Because again, imagine a world where you can get Jalen Brown, Jason Tatum, and someone like a Cameron Boozer. Or hell, if you get the number one pick, AJ DeBanza, I don't think they were gonna be that bad. But still, if you have the ability to try, I get it, because the future projections. So again, the fact that we had the Celtics not pegged this high and they've been this high consistently, you got to have Jalen Brown here at number two. Arguably number one, because again, the team, you got to factor in. Obviously, my number one right now is Shea Gildas Alexander. He's missed more games, but he's been fairly efficient. To be clear, 32 points, five rebounds, seven assists, 1.4 steals, one block on 55 from the field, 39% from the three, and 89% from the free throw line. He beats JB in every statistical category except for rebounds. He almost beats Luca in scoring, and Luca has a higher assist rate. Luca's the taller player, so he should get more rebounds. They get around the same assist. And if I want to look at assist-to-turnover ratio, that could be a deciding factor as well. Luca's getting more steals, SGA's getting more blocks, efficiency across the board favors SGA. SGA is also on the best team. Here's why I put SGA ahead of everybody. Again, back then I said SGA was the only player in the top 10 in both offense and defensive win shares. Right now, point in time, SGA is the only player in the top five offensive and defensive win shares. That's kind of disgusting work. Yes, his team success can hurt him, but let's also remember, too, he has not been playing with Jalen Williams. That's his number two. Arguable. You can say Chets is number two, but I personally look at J Dub as a number two. So while Jalen Brown has not been playing with Jason Tatum this entire season, J Dub has come in that time. That's why I may argue JB at number one over SGA. SGA has had more of a complete team than Jalen Brown. We had more, we had higher expectations of SGA and the OKC Thunder than we did of Jalen Brown and the Celtics. But the fact that SGA is doing like he's number one in win chairs. His team is number one. Stats-wise, he's doing his thing. He's the only player in the top five in offensive and defensive win shares. It's very tough to take SGA out of being number one right now. It really is. Like the wilder storyline for Jalen Brown might not be enough to move him ahead of SGA. But again, ladies and gentlemen, these are two, this is a quality MVP race. But I am very curious who you all have. So again, to close out my listing for the MVP right now from 12 to 1, Chet Holmgren, Jalen Brunson, Carl Anthony Towns, Jamal Murray, Tyrese Maxie, Nicola Jokic, Kevin Durant, Anthony Edwards, Jalen Duran, Luka Donchik, Jalen Brown, and Shea Gilders Alexander. We got to show some love to Kay Cunningham and Victor Wimbyama because they would have made this a little bit trickier, especially Wimby, because Wimby's team is number two in the league behind OKC. Cade been hooping all season long. So this would have been real tricky if these boys didn't get injured or didn't hit that games play threshold. But I'm curious, ladies and gentlemen, who's your MVP candidate? We can start off with top five, or even top ten if you want to, but I'm definitely curious about your top three. So, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, this does conclude the end of the episode. So please make sure to like, subscribe, comment, tell anyone who's anyone about the show. My name is Trey, I'm the host of Get a Bucket. I hope you are all having a good one. Take care.