As November wraps up, the real question in everyone’s mind is, will Nikola Jokic run away with his fourth MVP award in five years? Right now, on our 2025-26 NBA Most Valuable Player power rankings, it’s looking good. Sure, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is playing like a man possessed and wrapping up games in three quarters. Sure, Luka Doncic is leading the league in scoring and having his best-ever start to an NBA season. Sure, Cade Cunningham is showing why the league’s future belongs to him.However, it is hard to deny greatness. The Nuggets are overly reliant on Jokic’s excellence and have looked a little out of shape every now and then. They’re still second in the west, with a 13-4 record, a record that Jokic feels is not worthy of how they’re playing. That’s the standard of excellence the Serbian puts himself and his team to.Enough waxing around, Jokic, let’s recap and see what the best players in the league have been up to.Starting from the East, the Detroit Pistons are sitting on a record 13-game win streak. The last two times they strung this many wins together, they won the title. Cunningham has been a superstar for the Pistons, and the East gauntlet has been first taken up by Motor City. Up north, the winds are cold, but the players are colder. Brandon Ingram has led the Toronto Raptors to a brilliant six-game win streak. The Raptors sit second in a crowded field. Donovan Mitchell continues to show some excellent scoring and is the sole reason why the Cavs are hot on the heels of the top three.Turning our attention west, the Oklahoma City Thunder have strung together another eight-game win streak. They’re now 16-1 and in the last few years, only the 2015-16 Golden State Warriors have had a better start. Gilegous-Alexander is still scoring at an absurd efficiency and will surely be hoping to take home a second MVP award. Not far behind are the Los Angeles Lakers, who are enjoying LeBron James’ return with a four-game win streak. Doncic, however, is having an awful shooting campaign.Who just missed out?6. Tyrese Maxey (Last Week’s Rank: 7th)7. Brandon Ingram (Last Week’s Rank: NA) (NEW)8. Alperen Sengun: (Last Week’s Rank: 10th)9. Austin Reaves: (Last Week’s Rank: NA)10. Giannis Antetokounmpo: (Last Week’s Rank: 6th) Sportskeeda NBA MVP Power Rankings 2025-26 Season: Latest Top 5 After Week 35. Donovan MitchellPrevious Ranking: — 5thPER: 25.12 | 64.3 TS% | Team record: 12-7 | 29.9 PPG, 5.5 APG, 4.8 RPG, 1.4 SPG, & 0.4 BPGDonovan Mitchell continues to light up the scoring charts. He has scored 30 points three times in the last five games. Cleveland won all three games. It is clear that the Cavs are heavily reliant on Mitchell’s firepower. He is also having a career-best year in co-star Darius Garland’s absence.Mitchell is shooting over 50% from the floor and nearly 40% from three-point land. He was also named player of the week alongside Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. That, however, might be the only thing that keeps him on this ladder. Mitchell scored a measly 17 points in a crucial matchup against the Toronto Raptors. With his scoring regressing in that game, the Cavs lost and now slip to fourth in the East.One specific stat that backs his MVP caseDonovan Mitchell scored 31.8 points, grabbed 6.3 rebounds, and also dished out 5 assists per game en route to his first player of the week award for the 2025-26 NBA season.4. Cade CunninghamPrevious Ranking: — 4thPER: 21.38 | 54.5 TS% | Team record: 15-2 | 27.1 PPG, 9.6 APG, 6.0 RPG, 1.3 SPG, & 0.7 BPGThe Detroit Pistons' story is special. Just two seasons ago, they lost 28 games and only had a paltry 14 wins. Right now, they’ve done a full 180. They’re now on a franchise-best 13-game win streak, and they’ve already eclipsed the win total from that dismal season. Leading the line is the league’s newest superstar, Cade Cunningham.So far, in their flawless November, Cunningham is putting up 30-6-10, with two stocks per game!Pistons fans will love this one, despite getting the 13th win, he was not satisfied.His numbers might look a little confusing at times, but in the fourth quarter, Cunningham is a different beast. He is scoring nearly 11 points in the fourth, while shooting over 45% from behind the arc. Clutch monster.One specific stat that backs his MVP caseCunningham’s six-game streak of scoring 25 and dishing out 10 assists is the third-longest such streak since the NBA-ABA Merger.T2. Shai Gilgeous Alexander, Oklahoma City ThunderPrevious Ranking: — 3rdPER: 34.55 | 67.1 TS% | Team record: 16-1 | 32.2 PPG, 6.6 APG, 4.9 RPG, 1.5 SPG, & 0.8 BPGWestern Conference player of the week Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is doing something we have not seen before. He is scoring at will and is sitting out the fourth quarter of games. The Thunder have won all their contests in the last week when he has done that. What’s also curious is his scoring streak. Gilgeous-Alexander is on course to break Wilt Chamberlain’s 92-game streak for scoring 20 points or more. Doing so, he would be second on the list, trailing, well, Wilt Chamberlain.What’s scary is how good he is starting to shoot from deep. In October, the reigning MVP was making only 27.8% of his shots from behind the arc. This month, he has improved that to a staggering 48.3%. He is on pace for a 50-40-90 season thanks to the improvement in his stroke. He has played all 18 games for the Thunder, and in nine of those games, he has scored 30+ in less than 30 minutes. The single-season record belongs to Giannis Antetokounmpo, who did it 11 times.One specific stat that backs his MVP caseThe points total leader this season is also third on the list if you only count his totals through 3 quarters. Efficient pour.T2. Luka DoncicPrevious Ranking: — 2ndPER: 30.14 | 61.6 TS% | Team record: 13-4 | 35.2 PPG, 9.2 APG, 8.8 RPG, 1.9 SPG, & 0.5 BPGLuka Doncic is the current scoring leader and is fourth in the assists chart. Operating at his highest efficiency, the Slovenian has found a rhythm to his game that not a lot of others can match at this point in the season. He became the fastest player in NBA history to reach 400 points and 100 assists.This is the fastest, most lethal start to a campaign by the 2024 scoring champ. What’s more is that this is his best-ever start to an NBA season. Oh, and in the last game, he passed Anthony Davis for most 40-10 games in league history. In the same game, he cracked the top 10 for 40-point games in Lakers history, passing a certain Magic Johnson. He also has the most 30-point halves in the season currently.While both SGA and Luka have a case to be 2, they do not have a case to be No. 1.One specific stat that backs his MVP caseDefensively, too, he’s not the match-up that other teams used to hunt and relish. He’s currently fourth in steals per game.1. Nikola JokicPrevious Ranking: — 1stPER: 36.80 | 72.9 TS% | Team record: 13-4 | 29.6 PPG, 11.1 APG, 12.8 RPG, 1.6 SPG, & 0.8 BPGNikola Jokic is sixth in points, second in rebounds, and first in assists average for the season. He has ten triple-doubles in 17 games this season. The single-season record is 42 by Russell Westbrook. He is also 31 triple-doubles away from passing the 2017 MVP for most all-time.He is scoring the ball at career-best numbers while putting up the most assists in his career. Oh, did we mention how he is shooting the ball at an otherworldly 72.1% TS? Yep. Jokic is shooting 62.6% from the field, 43.4% from three, and is clipping 85.3% of his free throws. There are quite simply no superlatives left for us to describe the Serbian. And while you read and digest the absurdity of the stat line, take a look at this pass he dished this week.Only one player since 2020 has had more games with 15+ assists than Nikola Jokic. Among all centers in NBA history, they have put up 14 such games between them. The three-time MVP has 33 of those.One specific stat that backs his MVP caseWith his latest triple-double, Nikola Jokic has now tied Magic Johnson for the most seasons with at least 10 triple-doubles. Mythical beast.The numbers tell a big story so far, and it is that it would take something historic from our contenders to dethrone Nikola Jokic.