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The 65+ games (with 20+ minutes in each of those) requirement may come into play in this year's MVP race:

• Luka played 66 games last season, but two of those were under 20 minutes, so had this rule been in place, he wouldn't have qualified. The season before he played in 65 games, all of which he hit 20+ minutes. He would've barely qualified had it been in place that season.

• Embiid played in 66 games last season, with one of those under 20 minutes. He'd barely qualify had this rule been in place last season. In his first seven seasons, he has played 65+ games only twice.

• SGA played in 68 games last season, all at 20+ minutes. Prior to that season, the last time he played in 65+ games was in '19-'20.

• Steph only played in 56 games last season. The last time he played 65+ games was in '18-'19.

This is 4 of the top 6 currently who might not even qualify for the MVP, based on recent stats.

Jokic, Tatum, and Anthony Edwards (#1, #4, and #7 respectively in this ranking) have greater chances of not being disqualified:

• Jokic played in 69 games last season, all at 20+ minutes. It was his least amount of games played in his eight year career. He had missed only 28 games total through his first seven seasons.

• Tatum played in 74 games last season, with only one game under 20 minutes. This was his lowest games played in a full 82 game season (i.e. not in '19-'20 or '20-'21).

• Anthony Edwards has missed only 13 games through his first three full seasons.

Edwards is a good dark horse candidate for MVP this season. He can be found at around +3500. If he can lead the Wolves to a #1 or #2 seed in the Western Conference and keep up the numbers he's been putting up (or increase them), I think he could have a shot at winning it.