End of the 2024-25 NBA Cup quarterfinals got you down? Pick yourself up with this fresh-out-of-the-oven MVP ladder.

Players will be ranked relative to everything we have seen entering games on Dec. 11. Sample sizes have expanded enough for us to place more stock in court time, so someone like Kevin Durant, who landed in the top five last time, will drop accordingly.

Interpretations of MVP candidates continue to differ from person to person. There is no overcoming that variability. But this exercise will use a single question to guide the results: If the season ended right now, which players have established themselves as the biggest, most valuable difference-makers?

10(t). Anthony Davis, Kevin Durant and Anthony Edwards

Previous Ranking

Anthony Davis: 3

Kevin Durant: 5

Anthony Edwards: 8

The latter 60-70 percent of this year's MVP field is wonky enough that I'm not inclined to settle on a primary last-on-the-ballot option. Kevin Durant would simplify the process by placing in the top five if he didn't miss so many games, but giving him sole ownership of a spot when he's logged fewer than 500 minutes feels wrong.

Including him anyway does not. He has, arguably, been the Phoenix Suns' MVP at both ends of the floor. Plus, the team is 11-2 with him and 1-9 without him, and it's getting outscored by 18.4 points per 100 possessions when Devin Booker and Bradley Beal attempt to go it alone.

Anthony Davis' case is losing luster as the Los Angeles Lakers continue retreating into overall mediocrity and defensive haplessness. He is somewhat culpable in their leaky and apathetic transition defense, but his 27.5 points and 3.5 assists on 61.0 true shooting are coming as the team's hub.

Anthony Edwards deserves a statue for knowing how and when to call out the Minnesota Timberwolves, and he's not receiving enough credit for how his three-point volume is salvaging an otherwise cramped offense.

More defensive consistency and better crunch-time decision-making are his tickets to rocketing back up the ladder.

9. Evan Mobley, Cleveland Cavaliers

Previous Ranking: Unranked

Darius Garland, Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley invariably cannibalize consideration from one another. That's a compliment to their star-power depth.

Garland received the nod last time around and is responsible for driving more of the offense as a playmaker. Mitchell is the Cleveland Cavaliers' premier scorer—and the name catch-all metrics tend to favor.

Mobley does the best job blending elite value at both ends of the floor, a somewhat unconventional case to which I'm drawn. His defense remains 11-out-of-10. He is a harrowing presence as a rim protector, helper, perimeter checker—you name it.

Offensive improvement seals the deal. The 23-year-old is doing a much better job getting downhill off dead stops as well as handling and delivering physicality.

Settling on a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers is all sorts of nauseating. Depending on the day, and on the MVP ladder, you can make the case for any of them.

Right now, Mobley is doing enough on offense (18.3 points on 63.3 true shooting) for his two-way impact to get the edge over his teammates.

8. Jalen Brunson, New York Knicks

Previous Ranking: Unranked

Karl-Anthony Towns' offensive performance has prompted some to declare him the New York Knicks' primary MVP candidate. With all due respect, that is erroneous, captive-of-the-moment stuff.

Jalen Brunson remains the team's only primary engine. And his workload reflects as much.

Among 168 players averaging at least 25 minutes per game, only Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, James Harden, Damian Lillard and Tyrese Maxey see a larger share of their made buckets go unassisted. SGA, meanwhile, is the lone name who has nailed as many self-created twos and threes as Brunson, per PBP Stats.

Attach the weight and difficulty of the Knicks star's role to his 25.2 points and career-high 7.8 assists on personal-best 62.5 true shooting, and you've got a top-10 MVP case that's flirting with becoming a top-five MVP case.

7. Luka Dončić, Dallas Mavericks

Previous Ranking: 6

Luka Dončić tumbles down a peg through no real fault of his own.

A sweeter-shooting start to open the year could have cemented his case closer to the top five or top three, but the 25-year-old is still trending in that direction.

His 28.1 points and 7.9 assists on the season standout in a vacuum, but he went on a more traditional Luka-like tear entering the quarterfinals of the NBA Cup following his five-game absence with a right wrist injury—a stretch that includes drilling 42.9 percent of his 10.5 three-point attempts per game.

His energy and apparent effort can still wax and wane, particularly on defense, which is frustrating. But he's, arguably, more active than ever when locked in. His steal rate is sitting as a career high, and he's taken on tougher matchups while generally covering more ground.

The Dallas Mavericks have also gravitated further away from their strictly heliocentric style. Dončić's off-ball usage is at an all-time high, an adjustment that has adversely impacted his counting stats but upends the notion he's functionally intractable.

6. Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks

Previous Ranking: 10

Giannis Antetokounmpo's placement the first time around was muddied by the Milwaukee Bucks tottering on the edge of implosion and his own (incremental) role in their performance.

So much for that.

It isn't always pretty, but Milwaukee has taken strides toward righting the ship since falling to 2-8. His production during his 13 games since is its usual amount of brain-bending: 33.6 points, 10.4 rebounds, 6.5 assists and 1.8 blocks on 62.5 percent shooting inside the arc. His in-between touch has remained intact, too. He's canning 47.4 percent of his mid-range jumpers over this stretch.

Continuing to climb this ladder feels like an inevitability. Antetokounmpo is not quite as effective as we're used to on the defensive end, but his activity level should increase now that Khris Middleton is back and capable of lightening his workload at the other side.

5. Stephen Curry, Golden State Warriors

Previous Ranking: 7

Stephen Curry continues to be an offensive lifeline unlike anyone else we've ever seen.

The numbers, as usual, are great. He's averaging 23.0 and 6.6 assists while downing 41.7 percent of his 10.0 three-point attempts per game. For good measure, he's even swishing more of his twos (57.6 percent) than last year (57.3 percent).

And yet, the numbers, also as usual, fail to do him justice. The very concept of this Steph functions an entire system. Defenses treat him like a 50-alarm inferno...even when he doesn't have the ball.

The difference between the Golden State Warriors' offensive efficiency with him (90th percentile) and without him (4th percentile) is mind-melting—and topped only by Nikola Jokić.

This type of transcendence is worth recognizing, and it's substantial enough to give Curry priority ranking over a handful of players with a couple hundred more minutes under their belts.

4. Franz Wagner, Orlando Magic

Previous Ranking: Unranked

Suffering a torn oblique will inevitably sideline Franz Wagner long enough to strip him of MVP eligibility, but at this writing, he has racked up just two absences—and still ranks in the top 15 of total minutes.

There is no overstating the job he's done keeping the Orlando Magic afloat following Paolo Banchero's own oblique injury five games into the season.

Averaging 24.4 points, 5.7 assists and 1.7 steals on league-average-ish efficiency does not turn as many heads these days. In this case, it must. Not only is Wagner an active participant for one of the league's top defenses, but he's also leveled up his initiation in meaningful ways.

Orlando's offense has hovered around the 60th percentile in efficiency when he plays without Banchero. Also, according to BBall Index, Wagner ranks in the 98th percentile of both true usage (which factors in playmaking) and passing quality. Luka Dončić and Trae Young are the only other players who can say the same.

3. Jayson Tatum, Boston Celtics

Previous Ranking: 4

Jayson Tatum no longer has ownership of the "Best player on the team with the best record" justification so many used to prop him up last year. That's fine. His case transcends the win-loss success of the Boston Celtics.

Averaging 28.2 points and 5.7 assists on nearly 60 true shooting grants you auto-entry into this discussion. He boosts his credentials even further by channeling the most dynamic offensive version himself yet.

Few can subsist on the tough looks he routinely fires off. His three-point shot quality is among the 15 worst out of everyone who has logged at least 250 minutes, per BBall Index. And only Anthony Edwards has put down more unassisted three-pointers, according to PBP Stats.

Tatum is complementing this perimeter package with personal-best passing and the second-highest free-throw-attempt rate of his career. People will still ding him for not being a Luka Dončić heliocentric-type, but the overall completeness of his game speaks for itself—at deafening volumes.

2. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City Thunder

Previous Ranking: 2

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is on track to churn out his third season clearing 30 points and five assists per game on better than 60 true shooting. That would tie him with James Harden for the most in NBA history.

Producing at this level for what is no worse than the Association's third-best team lays the groundwork for an unimpeachable argument. His case gets even stronger when you consider the Oklahoma City Thunder, as deep and talented as they are, see their offensive rating plummet into the 10th percentile when he's catching a breather.

Placing the Kentucky product in front of Jayson Tatum can come down to a matter of preference. The margins are that close. But SGA shoulders a measurably heavier two-way workload when you factor in his defensive activity and breadth of his matchups, according to BBall Index.

1. Nikola Jokić, Denver Nuggets

Previous Ranking: 1

Nikola Jokić's numbers are bonkers. They get even more absurd when you consider he's within sniffing distance of completing the NBA's version of the Triple Crown: leading the Association in points, rebounds and assists per game.

Here are his averages in each category, with his leaguewide rank in parentheticals:

• 32.3 points per game (second)
• 13.6 rebounds per game (first)
• 10.2 assists per game (second)

Still, the most convincing, potentially uncatchable part of Jokic's argument remains the extent to which he lifts up the Denver Nuggets.

They have a plus-12.9 net rating with him on the floor. That mark is in lockstep with how the Boston Celtics fare during Jayson Tatum's minutes (plus-12.9). And Jokić is doing this with a supporting cast that may not include another top-50 player, let alone a co-star.

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.