“Jokic is mind-boggling how he can post better numbers than previous MVP seasons but there is a strong possibility that voter fatigue will finally catch up to him,” SuperBook head NBA oddsmaker Jeff Sherman told Only Players via text. “SGA holds a strong position as a healthy favorite, mainly due to the Thunder’s dominance in the West.”

We're past the midway point of the 2024-25 NBA season with the Thunder sitting atop the Western Conference. Here's how OKC graded out in the first half of the season.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has his 27th 30 point game of the season. Most 30 point games in the NBA. SGA has scored 30+ in 61.4% of his games.Source: Twitter @BrandonRahbar

This stretch of January around Martin Luther King Jr. Day is usually peak evaluation time in the NBA front-office world. It’s one of the milestone points where teams will have full-staff pow-wows and talk things out,

In mid-December, Denver’s Nikola Jokic had a healthy lead on Gilgeous-Alexander in ESPN’s MVP straw poll, conducted several times over the course of each season by Tim Bontemps.

Pierce believes SGA has elevated his performance to a whole new level this season, positioning him as a strong contender for the MVP title.