NBA Awards Rankings: Jokic vs. Embiid (again), plus Tyrese Haliburton's rise

The Golden State Warriors have hit a potentially major speed bump, losing their last four. Now, Draymond Green is slated to miss five games after placing Rudy Gobert in a headlock, and Curry is on the injury report with right knee soreness. He's expected to miss a few games at least, which could have unavoidable implications on the MVP race once next week's rankings come into focus.

For now, however, Curry remains locked in the top five for reasons the entire NBA world is thoroughly familiar with. There isn't a more impactful offensive guard in the NBA, still. At 35 years old, Curry is putting forth some of his best basketball to date. He's averaging 30.7 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 3.9 assists on .488/.446/.930 splits.

Curry's success comes with a roster that, for the first time in a while, doesn't feel precisely calibrated to match his skill set. The lack of shooting between Kevon Looney, Draymond Green, and an ice-cold Andrew Wiggins has popped in a sorely negative fashion. Chris Paul's arrival has elevated the second unit (and removed some of the playmaking burden from Curry's shoulders), but Golden State has a few kinks to work out in a no-nonsense Western Conference.

Despite the Warriors' overall struggles, however, it's impossible to overstate the impact of Curry's efficient shooting and relentless off-ball movement. His usage rate is up slightly compared to last season, despite the CP3 factor, and his 139.4 points per 100 shot attempts lands in the NBA's 100th percentile, per Cleaning the Glass. He is quite literally the most potent scorer in the NBA on a shot-for-shot basis.