Mavs MVP at the 5% Mark (sans Luka)

[fifteenth]

I think it has to be Lively.

1.  The numbers say so.  His on-court time is just dominant.  
2.  He’s arguably been at his best when the team has needed it the most.
3.  He makes the rest of the O work.  You have to account for him, but you can’t leave any of GWill, Josh, Kyrie, Timmy (and apparently DJJ too).  
4.  There are guys who can fill in for the other guys on your list.  There isn’t a replacement for all that Lively does.  It makes him…what’s the word…Valuable.
5.  The D numbers when he’s playing are really good
6.  It was unexpected (as was a 4-0 start)

Kyrie hasn’t played enough.  Josh hasn’t played well enough (though his time on the court has been very positive).  Tim has been great, but he could be back-filled by someone else.  I’d put Grant at #2 mainly because of D and that incredible ‘season-long’ shooting percentage through this critical juncture in the year.

Thanks for playing! Good analysis, good points. 

I'm sure you're probably right to choose Lively. No complaints here. I think I leaned towards Grant because he's played a good bit more minutes and, by all accounts, has given the team some leadership that they apparently have been missing for most of the Luka era. Plus, I wanted to poke the board a bit because of all the opening night starting lineup consternation. But don't tell anyone that!

My prediction about the impact of the players I listed in particular is this: 

Grant and Lively will still be on the short list of non-Luka MVPs at the end of the year but I have no clue whether the others will.