Philadelphia 76ers big man Joel Embiid won his first NBA MVP award on May 2. Embiid had +650 NBA MVP odds prior to the start of the 2022 – 2023 season. Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo and Nuggets star Nikola Jokic were finalists for the top individual award in pro basketball.
Next year NBA MVP odds will soon be available.
NBA MVP odds
Next season NBA MVP odds will soon be available.
NBA Finals MVP odds
Here are the current NBA Finals MVP odds from DraftKings Sportsbook:
Nikola Jokic (-160)
The Nuggets (-210) are now heavily favored to win the title and Jokic continues to put up staggering numbers during another incredible postseason run. He has seven triple-doubles in these playoffs and is averaging 30.4 PPG on 55% FG shooting through 13 games.
Jimmy Butler (+240)
Butler is averaging 31.5 PPG, 6.5 RPG, and 5.5 APG during a historic playoff run, leading the Heat to two series wins without home-court advantage and posting some incredible lines in the process. He nearly carried Miami to a title in 2020 and could be the brightest star in the Finals once again.
Jamal Murray (+700)
With the Nuggets struggling in Game 2, Murray put his team on his back with 23 points in the fourth quarter to finish with 37 points in another huge outing at home. The electric PG is fully recovered from ACL surgery and ready to dominate alongside Jokic.
Jayson Tatum (+1600)
Tatum came up clutch in Game 6 and dropped 51 points in Game 7 to dispatch the 76ers, which marks the most points ever in a Game 7. He carried the Celtics to two similar wins over the Bucks in the conference semifinals last year and was given the first Larry Bird trophy as the first ECF Finals MVP before struggling in the NBA Finals against the Warriors.
Bam Adebayo (+2800)
Adebayo’s impact isn’t always seen in the stat sheet. He’s a perfect complement to Jimmy Butler in pick-and-roll and a versatile defender.
LeBron James (+4500)
LeBron has picked up his output with Anthony Davis showing some inconsistencies in the later rounds of the playoffs. James is dealing with a foot injury and he turned his ankle during a Game 2 loss in Denver.
Anthony Davis (+5000)
While LeBron won Finals MVP in 2020, Davis might be the most valuable player for the Lakers in this playoff run. His defensive presence has been immense in some deciding games through the first two rounds.
Jaylen Brown (+6000)
Brown was Boston’s most consistent player in the NBA Finals last June with Tatum struggling against Andrew Wiggins and the Warriors. He’s taken a backseat so far in these playoffs with Tatum and Malcolm Brogdon carrying an increased load on offense.
How NBA MVP odds changed
Below we will examine how NBA MVP odds changed over the course of the season.
| Player | NBA MVP Odds October 18 | NBA MVP Odds December 1 | NBA MVP Odds March 30 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Luka Doncic | +425 | +270 | OTB |
| Giannis Antetokounmpo | +600 | +280 | +450 |
| Joel Embiid | +650 | +1500 | +115 |
| Kevin Durant | +800 | +1700 | OTB |
| Nikola Jokic | +900 | +2200 | +115 |
| Stephen Curry | +1200 | +800 | OTB |
| Jayson Tatum | +1400 | +250 | +20000 |
| Ja Morant | +1500 | +2500 | OTB |
| Zion Williamson | +2200 | +13000 | OTB |
| LeBron James | +2500 | +20000 | OTB |
| Devin Booker | +3000 | +2500 | OTB |
| Trae Young | +3500 | +10000 | OTB |
| Damian Lillard | +4500 | +10000 | OTB |
| Jimmy Butler | +5000 | +20000 | OTB |
| Karl-Anthony Towns | +5000 | +30000 | OTB |
| Anthony Edwards | +6000 | +50000 | OTB |
| Anthony Davis | +6000 | +10000 | OTB |
| James Harden | +7000 | +20000 | OTB |
| Donovan Mitchell | +8000 | +3500 | OTB |
| DeMar DeRozan | +8000 | +20000 | OTB |
| Paul George | +8000 | +30000 | OTB |
| Kyrie Irving | +9000 | +40000 | OTB |
Futures Betting on NBA MVP
The NBA MVP award is usually fairly easy to predict, but with the league currently loaded with super-duper-stars, we saw a relative longshot win in 2021. Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokic captured his first league MVP award, as he averaged 26.4 points, 10.8 rebounds and 8.3 assists per game that season. The Joker had the 12th lowest odds to win the award at FanDuel Sportsbook ahead of the season at +3600.
Jokic wound up going back-to-back, as he won the pro basketball Most Valuable Player award again in 2022. The Serbian sensation had around +1400 NBA MVP odds prior to the start of the 2021-22 season. Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid narrowly missed out on winning the award. Embiid had around +1000 MVP odds prior to the start of the season. Luka Doncic was the consensus favorite to win in the pre-season last year with +400 odds.
NBA Over or Under Win Totals
Betting on the MVP winner is one of the more popular options for outright bets known as “Futures,” which are usually wagers on a season-long outcome such as the NBA champion, NBA division winner, or individual award winners. It’s also possible to bet Over or Under on Team Win totals, i.e. the number of games a team is expected to win during the regular season.
If you’re looking to bet on NBA lines for today go here.
Best NBA MVP betting site
Where you can bet on the MVP legally
Online sports betting is currently legal at a regulated sportsbook in the following states:
| State | Law Passed? | Launch Date | Mobile Launch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arizona Sports Betting | Yes | September 2021 | September 2021 |
| Arkansas Sports Betting | Yes | July 2019 | NA |
| Colorado Sports Betting | Yes | May 2020 | May 2020 |
| Connecticut Sports Betting | Yes* | September 2021 | October 2021 |
| Delaware Sports Betting | Yes | June 2018 | Pending |
| Florida Sports Betting | Yes* | Pending | Pending |
| Illinois Sports Betting | Yes | March 2020 | August 2020 |
| Indiana Sports Betting | Yes | September 2019 | October 2019 |
| Iowa Sports Betting | Yes | August 2019 | August 2019 |
| Louisiana Sports Betting | Yes | October 2021 | January 2022 |
| Maryland Sports Betting | Yes | Pending | Pending |
| Michigan Sports Betting | Yes | March 2020 | January 2021 |
| Mississippi Sports Betting | Yes | August 2018 | September 2021 |
| Montana Sports Betting | Yes | March 2020 | March 2020 |
| Nevada Sports Betting | Yes | 1949 | 2010 |
| New Hampshire Sports Betting | Yes | August 2020 | December 2019 |
| New Jersey Sports Betting | Yes | June 2018 | August 2018 |
| New Mexico Sports Betting | No* | October 2018 | NA |
| New York Sports Betting | Yes | July 2019 | January 2022 |
| North Carolina Sports Betting | Yes | March 2021 | NA |
| Ohio Sports Betting | Yes | January 2023 | January 2023 |
| Oregon Sports Betting | No* | August 2019 | October 2019 |
| Pennsylvania Sports Betting | Yes | November 2018 | May 2019 |
| Rhode Island Sports Betting | Yes | November 2018 | September 2019 |
| South Dakota Sports Betting | Yes | September 2021 | NA |
| Tennessee Sports Betting | Yes | November 2020 | November 2020 |
| Virginia Sports Betting | Yes | January 2021 | January 2021 |
| Washington, D.C. Sports Betting | Yes | May 2020 | August 2020 |
| Washington Sports Betting | Yes | September 2021 | NA |
| West Virginia Sports Betting | Yes | August 2018 | August 2019 |
| Wyoming Sports Betting | Yes | September 2021 | September 2021 |
Legislation is on the table in a number of states with more states sure to legalize sports betting in the upcoming years.
Residents of Arizona, Colorado, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia have access to online sportsbooks, including the platforms created by industry titans DraftKings and FanDuel. William Hill and other online books also offer great opportunities to bet on NBA games and Futures.
In order to bet on MVP, users can click on the NBA tab and find the tab labeled “Futures” and move to “Player Futures.” Regular Season MVP should be one of the categories along with Rookie of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, and more postseason awards.
Previous winners and trends
Only three MVP winners in the “modern era” have come from teams that won 50 games or fewer. This past season’s winner, Jokic, was one of them as his team won 48 games. Additionally, since 1985 only three MVPs have come from teams that failed to finish at least second in their conference.
So the starting point for choosing a good bet is finding the best player on a winning team. Denver was not one of the top two teams but Jokic more or less single-handedly willed them to the playoffs. The Nuggets were a top 6 seed in the West as were the Sixers in the East.
Remember that the MVP is a regular season award, so players that historically have come up short in the postseason, like Jokic and Harden will always still have a seat at the MVP table.
That said, because the award is voted upon by sportswriters, a players’ body of work tends to put them over the top. Only four MVP winners were younger than 23 and the last rookie to win the MVP was Wes Unseld back in 1969.
Scoring is Critical to win NBA MVP
Scoring is a key criteria for MVP, as the NBA’s leading scorer has won the award in four of the past five years.
While the Center position is fading in today’s small-ball NBA, that position leads the way in MVP awards with 27, although 22 of those came in the first 28 years of the award.
Over the last 15 years, guards have won the award eight times, signifying how the NBA has transitioned to a faster-paced, higher-scoring game. The past four guards to win (James Harden, Russell Westbrook, Steph Curry, and Derrick Rose) are not particularly renowned defenders. Posting gaudy offensive numbers can be enough to sway voters.
Shooting guards have won the fewest awards (eight) in the history of the MVP and Michael Jordan snagged five of those trophies.
Since the 1975-76 season, only three players have been named MVP in a season where their team failed to win 50 games. That includes Russell Westbrook in 2016-17, but it has become a rarity for a player from a mediocre team to win the award.
The Most Valuable Player (MVP) award is voted upon by a panel of 100 media members who are not affiliated with any NBA franchises. Each member of the panel casts a vote for first to fifth place selections. Each vote counts incrementally towards a players’ total, with first-place votes netting 10 points and fifth-place votes counting for only 1 point.
In the history of NBA MVP voting, only Curry (2015-16) has received every first-place vote from the entire panel to be named MVP unanimously. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar won the award a record six times and LeBron has won four MVP awards, which makes him the leader among active players.