Early 2024-25 NBA MVP rankings, Nikola Jokic primed for 4th Michael Jordan Trophy?

The dust has barely settled from the 2023-24 NBA season and the offseason has barely even begun. But that’s not stopping pundits and media members from diving into predictions for next season. Beyond ranking the teams and positing about records, seedings, power rankings, and title predictions, nothing creates more discourse than the league’s MVP award.

Nikola Jokic of the Nuggets is fresh off winning his third MVP award in four years, cementing an amazing run that had a championship and Finals MVP mixed in (the one year he didn’t win MVP). But there’s no reason to think that run is coming to an end. Despite the Nuggets falling short of the Finals, there is plenty of reason for optimism and the team will surely enter next season as one of the favorites to win it all again.

Can Jokic win another MVP Award?

But what about the Joker and his pursuit of a fourth MVP award? At this point, it seems safe to say that he’ll be squarely in the conversation until further notice, but a second back-to-back MVP Award would be nothing short of remarkable. It’s almost impossible to fathom him retaining his levels of consistency and the voters continuing to acknowledge his brilliance.

So, while he has to be one of the favorites, the voters are always looking for the hot new thing and some shiny new toy to latch onto. Now that Jokic has won three times, the bar will be even higher for him - perhaps set at a level that isn’t even attainable.

Bleacher Report ranks Jokic 2nd in MVP predictions

Bleacher Report is one of the first publications to hop in the 2024-25 MVP mix as Andy Bailey released an article, ‘Way-Too-Soon 2024-25 NBA MVP Rankings and Predictions’. Bailey ranked his top 10 candidates and predicted the order of finish based on what we know and projecting forward.

Bailey predicted that Luka Doncic of the Mavericks, fresh off winning the Western Conference and reaching his first Finals, will unseat Jokic and win the MVP Award next season. Bailey still had the Joker ranked 2nd, but he believes the time is right for the 24-year-old Doncic and the narratives are in his favor after a Finals run.

The logic makes sense and it’s certainly not a knock on Jokic - who seemingly cares not at all about individual awards. If the Mavs can carry over their late season and playoff success and secure a top seed in the West, everything will be lined up for Doncic to win the award for the first time. 

Things are all coming together for the Nuggets to be a relative afterthought entering next season and that might be perfect for them. Surely, they’ve heard all the noise and seen everything happening around them, and hopefully, they’ll come into next season with extra motivation and all the tools they need to get back on top of the NBA world.