It's still way too early to predict who will win the 2020-21 NBA Most Valuable Player considering there are still a lot of games to be played this season. Still, no one can deny that Portland Trail Blazers superstar Damian Lillard has already presented a strong case for the individual award.

Earlier, injured Blazers center Jusuf Nurkic claimed that Lillard should win MVP if the season ended right now. Most pundits scoffed at the notion at first thinking that he's just being a good teammate. But regardless of his biases or not, it's pretty clear that the Bosnian Beast actually has a good point.

When you think about it, no other player in the league is more valuable to their team than Lillard is to the Blazers right now. Sure, we're used to seeing big numbers from the 30-year-old supreme scorer in the past.

Plus, there are two bigger names who are considered front runners for the recognition at the moment. Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James' name is again up there in the conversation for possibly the fifth MVP plum of his storied career. The things that he's capable of doing in his 18th season in the league at 36 years old are just nothing short of spectacular.

Joel Embiid is another rightful candidate, as his dominant play has elevated the Philadelphia 76ers right at the top of the much-improved Eastern Conference. One quick look at these two players' averages shows that they are indeed MVP worthy, at least at the start of the season.

But Lillard and the Blazers have been on a tear as of late, raising the question if the 6-foot-2 playmaker has already surpassed LeBron and Embiid in the MVP race.

The short answer? Yes. Absolutely. Here's why.

Damian Lillard was already named the NBA Bubble MVP last year after singlehandedly leading Portland to the eight-seed in the West in the first-ever playoff play-in tournament. While that plum was a one-off trophy, it's clear that Lillard is more deserving than ever for the real hardware after the season.

He solidified that claim against the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday, leading his team to a 126-124 win. Lillard put up 43 points on 14-for-28 shooting from the field and 7-for-16 from 3-point range in 38 minutes. Moreover, he silenced critics who continue to tag him as a trigger-happy, shoot-first guard, tying his career-high with 16 assists in the process.

As far as clutch goes, Dame Time is still the gold standard in the league. He capped off that remarkable performance with a game-winning and-one drive to seal the victory.  It's not his first one of the season either, as Lillard has already bailed out his team several times already. For sure, we'll see more heroic plays from Dame for the rest of the campaign. It's just another day at the office for him.

In 27 games so far, Lillard is norming 29.8 points on 45.1 percent shooting from the field and 38.4 percent from deep, along with 4.4 rebounds, 7.7 assists, and 1.1 steals in around 35 minutes a night.

While these numbers are nothing out of the ordinary for the Oakland native, the Blazers are actually winning despite the unfavorable circumstances they've faced. Most people expected the Blazers to cool off after Nurkic and CJ McCollum were sidelined indefinitely due to injuries.

The defiant Lillard, however, has refused to let that happen, leading Portland to the fourth-best record in the West with an 18-10 slate. They also hold the second-longest active winning streak at six games.

Sure, it's been a total team effort for Rip City in their latest resurgence. But remove Lillard from the equation, and there's a high chance this team would flounder at the bottom of the standings. If Damian Lillard can keep his team near the top of the standings and add to his already extensive list of big-time performances throughout the season, the MVP votes should come piling in.