NBA MVP Power Rankings Week 2: Luka magic takes the stage

Luka Magic, baby.

The Dallas Mavericks are 4-0, complete with a competent wing rotation and a starting center that profiles as both a rim deterrent and a lob threat. Wild times. After last season's 11th seed debacle, Dallas looks to be back on the winning track. It's way too early to write anything in stone, but it's generally difficult to build a loser around Doncic. So long as he's playing at his current level, the Mavericks faithful should feel good about the season to come.

Through four games, Doncic is averaging a patently absurd 33.8 points, 10.5 rebounds, and 9.8 assists on .511/.422/.722 splits. That is precisely why the Doncic MVP campaign has always felt like a matter of time. He is more capable of absurd stat lines than any NBA player. At some point, Doncic is going to overwhelm the voting body with sheer volume of production.

Of course, Doncic is not an empty-calories star. That production gets funneled into channels conducive to winning. Dallas is playing fast and free, allowing Doncic to attack downhill before defenses can set their feet and organize their forces. The king of gear shifts and speed changes, Doncic can stop-start his way to favorable shot attempts at will when the defense is out of rotation.

It's only the second week of the season, but Doncic leads the NBA in scoring and he's not far from the top in assists. That figures to stay about the same. Doncic will have some competition in the points department from Embiid and others, but he's going to average north of 30 per game on solid efficiency while ranking near the top in usage rate. He handles quite possibly the heaviest workload in basketball and right now, it's difficult to argue with the results.

If the Mavs continue to win games, it's going to be impossible to keep Doncic out of the conversation. He's a one-man wrecking crew, capable of absurd highlights that serve as fuel to the fire in a narrative-driven awards race. Doncic will continue to dance his way to explosive stat lines, and maybe his first MVP award.