Nevertheless, the award is theirs to lose because the manifested consensus — created mostly by the media that vote on it — affords them that challenge.

If you asked the oddsmakers, the right of first refusal for the season belongs to Luka Doncic. Entering only his third season in the NBA, Doncic is already a reigning All-NBA First Team selection who led the Dallas Mavericks to a somewhat ahead-of-schedule playoff appearance and a feisty six-game first-round exit.

Even if Doncic shows little individual improvement from this past season, his near-triple-double averages from a season ago would be a worthy addition to the list of MVP stat lines.

But his case for hardware in ignores what history tells us about how the award winner is determined.

In a vacuum, Dallas is going to looking really good. Bob Cousy , Boston Celtics. Bill Russell , Boston Celtics. Dolph Schayes , Syracuse Nationals.

George Yardley , Detroit Pistons. Elgin Baylor , Minneapolis Lakers. Wilt Chamberlain , Philadelphia Warriors.

Elgin Baylor, Los Angeles Lakers. Oscar Robertson , Cincinnati Royals. Wilt Chamberlain, San Francisco Warriors. Jerry West , Los Angeles Lakers.

Wilt Chamberlain, Philadelphia 76ers. Nate Thurmond , San Francisco Warriors. Lenny Wilkens , Saint Louis Hawks. Wes Unseld , Baltimore Bullets.

Willis Reed , New York Knicks. Billy Cunningham , Philadelphia 76ers. However, Luka will battle some stiff competition including the two-time reigning champ Giannis Antetokounmpo.

For two straight years, the Milwaukee Bucks dominated the league in the regular season, finishing with the best overall record.

Last season, Antetokounmpo was averaging He also had a block and a steal per contest while making Giannis Antetokounmpo. Luka Doncic. Anthony Davis.

LeBron James. Steph Curry. Injuries are a concern as well. Porzingis has had several. Doncic's ankles have been slightly troublesome.

But no destination offers greater superteam potential than Dallas. Giannis will be 26 next summer. So will Porzingis. Doncic will be That trio, if healthy, could reign as a decade-long dynasty.

No other team offers that sort of promise. Masai Ujiri lost his first superstar when he wanted to go home. There would be a special sort of poetry to him landing Giannis, then, because the Toronto executive helped the Antetokounmpos settle in their home years ago.

He failed then. He'll get his shot again in The Raptors will have the raw talent to earn an audience with Giannis. Toronto's player development program is unmatched.

VanVleet and Terence Davis were undrafted. Siakam and OG Anunoby came late in the first round. Kyle Lowry was barely a full-time starter when the Raptors got their hands on him.

Now he's headed for the Hall of Fame. But Lowry is Marc Gasol is Serge Ibaka is None of them is signed beyond next season.

Neither is VanVleet, though a hefty contract extension is incoming. That shouldn't limit Toronto's ability to get to max cap space.

But there is going to be plenty of roster turnover in the meantime. Some might be needed. Siakam hasn't yet made a single field goal in clutch situations in this postseason, per NBA.

He and Giannis play the same position. There are fit issues here. Nick Nurse is a coaching wizard, but without the sort of closer Toronto had in Kawhi a year ago, recruiting Giannis won't be easy.

But if there is any executive Giannis will feel comfortable entrusting his prime to, it will be Ujiri. No matter his roster concerns, he'd be joining an organization with perhaps the best coach and GM in basketball.

The Raptors would figure it out. They always do. When kids want to scare each other, they tell ghost stories. When small-market GMs want to scare each other?

They tell Pat Riley stories. We've all heard the spookiest. Riley walks into a room with an MVP, pulls out a small velvet bag, and drops its diamond-studded contents onto a table.

Superstars desperate for a single championship ring suddenly have nine staring them in the face. He has so many of them that he literally gave one to Chris Bosh as a keepsake in He's been doing this dance for decades.

There is not a more terrifying recruiter on Earth than Riley. The question financially isn't whether the Heat can afford a star free agent.

The question is whether or not they can afford two star free agents. There are dozens of possible Miami salary permutations, and the one it pursues will depend on the coronavirus' impact on the cap.

That's not two max slots, but it's one and some change. There are sign-and-trade scenarios that get them to two, provided they are willing to pay the tax and give up some of their young talent.

The Victor Oladipo rumors have only intensified since Miami swept Indiana. They could also keep most of the gang together, sign Giannis, and then flank him with some role players of his choosing.

Erik Spoelstra will make it work. He certainly did at Milwaukee's expense in Orlando. The question here is fit.

Adebayo has made five career 3-pointers. Butler only made 29 this season, and he's 30 years old with some injuries to his name.

Teams can maybe get away with two non-shooters in their starting five, but three? Giannis would be driving into a wall on every possession.

It's what makes the Oladipo rumors so strange. Putting aside his injury risk, his 35 percent 3-point shooting is below league average, and his ball-handling and perimeter defense would be somewhat redundant with Butler in tow.

Unless Oladipo is the player he was in , paying him four times as much as Herro and Robinson's cap hold combined seems nonsensical.

Including the two of them in a starting lineup with their three stars is probably the only way to offset that trio's shooting deficiencies.

Trading one or both in the series of moves necessary to fit the two All-Star free agents would be counterproductive on that front, especially with no more cap space to sign replacement shooting.

But bet against Riley at your own peril.