Building the first NBA MVP ladder of the season is always difficult. This year is no different.

Working with small samples lends itself to second guesses galore. How do we separate fact from fiction? How much value do we assign to team success fewer than 15 games into the season? And how much weight do we place in absences, both those in the rearview and scheduled to come?

There is no exact answer. At its core, the MVP race is a matter of interpretation and preference. These early-season shindigs are merely subject to more variability.

The framing here will be as follows: If the season ended right now, entering games on Nov. 13, which players have established themselves as the biggest, most valuable difference-makers?

Let's find out.

10. Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks

Placing Giannis Antetokounmpo is flat-out impossible.

On the one hand, the numbers remain alien. He is basically averaging 30 points, 12 rebounds, five assists and one block while hitting 63 percent of his twos. Some more mid-rangers have crept into his shot profile, but that's a symptom of Khris Middleton's absence and a lack of alternatives beyond Damian Lillard to generate offense, and these looks have not come at the expense of rim pressure.

On the other hand, the Milwaukee Bucks are just...sad.

It is early enough to overlook their atrocious record. At what point leeway becomes ignorance is debatable.

Milwaukee is losing the minutes Giannis plays. That does not change when isolating lineups that don't feature Lillard.

And while Giannis is not the root cause of the Bucks' bottom-five defense, which improves dramatically when he plays without Dame, he is not blameless. Too many possessions have seen him stall out and deliver slower reactions or total non-reactions.

Reconcile all of this as you will. Really, it comes down to this: Do you believe Giannis is suddenly no longer one of the 10 most valuable players in basketball and instead spitting out empty-calorie lines? Or is Milwaukee's failure more about the roster construction around him?

Honorable Mentions: Paolo Banchero, Orlando Magic; Domantas Sabonis, Sacramento Kings; Pascal Siakam, Indiana Pacers

9. Darius Garland, Cleveland Cavaliers

Pinning down the most valuable player on the still-perfect Cleveland Cavaliers is incredibly tough. And pleasantly so.

Darius Garland has the best case. Donovan Mitchell edges him out as a scorer, but not by much. And Garland is doing more to drive the offense as a playmaker. The 24-year-old averages roughly 20.0 points and 6.5 assists per game while downing 59.1 percent of twos and nearly 46 percent of his threes.

This efficiency is ridiculous no matter which way you slice it. But Garland's downhill shot-making and decision-making stand out above everything else.

Among the 99 players averaging at least seven drives per game, his 66.7 percent shooting trails only T.J. McConnell. Everything from his floater to his finishing at the rim is on the come-up, and he's kept defenses guessing with where he's spraying the ball.

Trae Young is the only other player who has scored as many points and dished as many assists off drives.

8. Anthony Edwards, Minnesota Timberwolves

People seem split on whether Anthony Edwards uncorking threes en masse is a good thing. It doesn't need to be that complicated.

When he's drilling more than 45 percent of his 11-plus triples per game, his long-range volume is a great thing—until it isn't.

Lamenting his dip in rim pressure and the free-throw attempts to which it leads is fine. But Edwards has upped his scoring and efficiency. His 28.1 points per game and 61.6 true shooting are both comfortably career highs.

This wholesale adjustment of the 23-year-old's game would also be worth more discussion if it wasn't so essential.

Reliable wing shooting has not been a strength for the Minnesota Timberwolves. Going from Karl-Anthony Towns to Julius Randle only diminishes off-ball gravity around him. The situation reaches critical mass when Jaden McDaniels is still hovering below 30 percent from beyond the arc on barely three attempts per game, and when neither Mike Conley nor Donte DiVincenzo has buried even 33 percent of their triples.

It is not like the frenzied-finisher in Edwards has vanished, either. Fewer than 15 percent of his looks come at the rim when playing alongside Randle and Rudy Gobert, according to PBP Stats. That share jumps to around 25 percent when he's beside just one of them.

If you're going to worry about anything, concern yourself with the transition defense, from both Ant and the Wolves. Overall, though, Edwards deserves credit for reading the room on offense and reacting accordingly—and then still having a superstar's impact.

7. Stephen Curry, Golden State Warriors

Pretty much every conversation about the early-season success of the Golden State Warriors comes back to their defense. Deservedly so. They are equal parts disruptive, teeming with capable depth and just plain ol' locked in.

Somewhat quietly, though, the Dubs are sporting a top-six offense, a mark they hold when operating in the half-court. That is a huge deal and feels anomalous when they don't have a traditional second option to break down set defenses

Then again, who needs one of those when you have Stephen Curry.

Averaging around 24 points and 6.5 assists on otherworldly outside volume and efficiency is standard fare for the two-time MVP. But the performance itself is galaxies from conventional.

He compiles video-game numbers in under 30 minutes per game while continuing to fly all over the court. His exhaustive workload is made even more ridiculous when you remember he's 36.

Enviable depth has not left the Warriors any less dependent on his services. Their offensive rating plunges when he sits by over 13 points per 100 possessions—the difference, in their case, between an attack that places in the 97th percentile and the 35th percentile.

No other player delivers more daggers as a pure concept. Sure, Curry rips out opponents' souls as a scorer. But the defense bends, often breaking, even when he's off-ball, not always because he's moving, yet simply because he exists.

6. Luka Dončić, Dallas Mavericks

Luka Dončić is not off to the most efficient start of his career, and nor are his Dallas Mavericks. The offense is less than thermonuclear, and at this writing, the team is below .500.

Quite frankly, I can't remember feeling much better about a squad that sports a losing record more than 10 games into the season. Dereck Lively II's absence has impacted the way Dallas operates, and more notably, for our purposes, Dončić continues to drive elite returns.

The Mavs are outscoring opponents by 8.0 points per 100 possessions when he's on the court, and both their offensive and defensive performances drop off when he's not. This is bonkers when you consider he has not been anywhere near the best version of himself.

Churning out 28.5 points and 7.9 assists per game is objectively great. It's also less than we have come to expect from the 25-year-old. Ditto for his struggles from the floor. His percentages away from the rim have plummeted, he ranks inside the 35th percentile of scoring efficiency out of the pick-and-roll, and he's 4-of-12 from the floor with zero free-throw attempts through 22 minutes of crunch time.

Dončić deserves credit for leading the offensive charge anyway. His trips to the foul line are down, but he's the only member of his team getting there with any regularity. He is also spending noticeably more time away from the ball, an adjustment that enables Dallas to play faster than iterations dating back before last season.

Projection isn't a part of this exercise. But understanding what Luka has done so far while also knowing he's not yet at the peak of his powers makes including him rather easy.

5. Kevin Durant, Phoenix Suns

A left calf strain represses what is an otherwise airtight Kevin Durant MVP case. He has already slid outside the top 50 in total minutes played.

This hangup can drag him only so low. He's been that good.

Durant's 27.6 points per game on 67 true shooting is, honestly, just stupid. If the season ended right now, it would be the fourth time someone notched 25-plus points on this efficiency. And this year's version of KD already accounts for one of those times. (Stephen Curry in 2017-18 and...Norman Powell in 2024-25 are currently the others.)

The Phoenix Suns under head coach Mike Budenholzer have done a pretty good job streamlining Durant's existence on the more glamorous end. He is getting the ball in more advantageous positions. But the singular devastation remains intact. His 1.16 points per isolation possession rank fifth among everyone who's attempted 20 or more shots out of those plays.

This all says nothing of his defense, which should be turning heads. His floor navigation in base lineups belies someone in their age-36 season—who, by the way, leads the league in minutes per game—and he's the driving force that permits Phoenix to downsize for stretches at a time.

4. Jayson Tatum, Boston Celtics

Jayson Tatum remains subject to more turbulent shooting nights from the floor. Such is life when you're jacking over 11 three-point attempts per game. But there should be no quibbling over the end results.

For so long, the (implicit) knock on the 26-year-old has been that his supporting is too talented, that it might even prop him up—that he, essentially, is not Luka Dončić or Nikola Jokić. The latter sentiment remains true. Just like Dončić and Jokić, Tatum now paces his team in both points (29.7) and assists (5.3).

The playmaking jump is real, folks, and has been for a while. The scoring package can be frustrating, but it's also working.

It is difficult to lament declining rim pressure when Tatum is averaging a career high in free-throw attempts and connecting on over 58 percent of his twos without enjoying outlier efficiency from anywhere outside the restricted area.

Yes, the Boston Celtics have a couple of frustrating losses under their belt—none more so than Tuesday night's letdown against the Atlanta Hawks. But their offensive dominance is inarguable, their championship pedigree undeniable. And Tatum, more so than anyone else, is the force driving it all.

3. Anthony Davis, Los Angeles Lakers

After years of hearing Anthony Davis would be more central to the Los Angeles Lakers offense, it is finally happening.

The nine-time All-Star has seen his frontcourt touches per 36 minutes climb from 41.9 last year to around 46.5 this season. Drives and momentum, in particular, are fueling his league-leading 31.2 points per game on what would be career-best true shooting.

The 31-year-old is averaging over six drives per 36 minutes, up from 3.9 last season. L.A. is giving him more room to operate from outside-in dead stops, and he's putting more pressure on set defenses with a nifty floater and finishing at the rim.

Away from the ball, the Lakers seem to be doing a better job finding him on the move. In tandem with the additional drives, Davis is parlaying the extra runway into nearly five more free-throw attempts per game compared to last season—while playing fewer minutes.

Mentioning a Lakers player in these ladders is often interpreted as obligatory. This isn't that. Davis remains a generational defensive player—he is not responsible for where L.A. ranks in points allowed per possession—and he has now leveled up his offensive impact in a way that gives this team an immediate window of opportunity, however slim, it wouldn't otherwise have.

2. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City Thunder

The Oklahoma City Thunder exist as hellfire-by-committee. Maybe that's because their defense is an endless well of frantic length, energy and IQ. Or perhaps it's because they do group postgame interviews.

Whatever the case, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's MVP case seems to be flying under the radar.

Last year's runner-up for the award is averaging 27.8 points and 6.5 assists while downing 58.4 percent of his twos. His three-point clip has dipped amid extra volume—from which he feels liable to pivot away—but he offsets the drop with the ability to draw fouls seemingly at will. James Harden and Jayson Tatum are the only players with a higher free-throw-attempt rate among those who have logged as many minutes.

Opinion's of SGA's defense vary. He provides enough disruption to be mentioned on the periphery of All-Defense talk, but he's not Oklahoma City's driving force. Still, he is part of the success. Pay no mind to topsy-turvy splits. The Thunder's secondary units are just that stymying. The team has a defensive rating in the 90th percentile with SGA in tow.

More than anything, though, his importance to their offense cannot be overstated. Oklahoma City isn't yet equipped with the contingency creators to prop up efficient machines without him. Climbing into the top 10 of points scored per possession is almost entirely owed to the minutes he spearheads.

1. Nikola Jokić, Denver Nuggets

Nikola Jokić has, for now, turned this into the only decision. The Denver Nuggets are riding him harder than ever, because even as the "kids" provide promising glimpses, they have no damn choice.

The reigning—and three-time—MVP is averaging over 38 minutes per game. That is by far and away a career high. He has already racked up five appearances north of 39 minutes, a benchmark he cleared seven times all of last season.

Jokić's numbers in the face of Denver's total dependence are appropriately ridiculous. His 29.7 points per game trail only Anthony Davis, Giannis Antetokounmpo and LaMelo Ball, and he leads the league in both rebounds (13.7) and assists (11.7).

You might expect the 29-year-old's overall efficiency to be down. It's not. His two-point percentage has dipped but is still north of 55 percent, and he's banging in a wild 56.4 percent of his triples on extra volume.

Denver somehow feels less convincing than ever...but only because Jokić isn't playing 48 minutes. The Nuggets are outscoring opponents by almost 14 points per 100 possessions with him on the court (94th percentile). That net rating plunges to minus-29.8 when he sits—a swing that ranks as the absolute largest in the league.

Dan Favale covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter (@danfavale), and subscribe to the Hardwood Knocks podcast, co-hosted by Bleacher Report's Grant Hughes.

Unless otherwise cited, stats courtesy of NBA.com, Basketball Reference, Stathead or Cleaning the Glass. Salary information via Spotrac. Draft-pick obligations via RealGM.