NBA MVP FUTURES: BEST ODDS AND PICKS – AUGUST 2024

NBA MVP FUTURES BEST ODDS AND PICKS—AUGUST 2024—Greetings, basketball fans. Welcome back to our NBA coverage here at Godzilla Wins. Although we are in the middle of the offseason, it is never too early to start discussing the players and teams who are the frontrunners to win some hardware. We have already discussed the teams with the best odds to win it all in 2024-25. Now, we shift our focus to the players with the best MVP odds for 2024-25.

Nikola Jokic, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and Luka Doncic led the field in the MVP race last season. Is this trio head and shoulders above the field, looking ahead to next season?

Let’s take a look and find out.

Odds courtesy of DraftKings 

Top NBA MVP Odds: Nikola Jokic (+350)

Nikola Jokic won the league MVP award last season and has also won the prestigious honor three times over the past four seasons. Given that fact, it is no surprise that he is the early frontrunner.

Jokic finished the 2023-24 campaign with averages of 26.4 points, 12.4 rebounds, and 9.0 assists per contest. He also shot an efficient 58 percent from the field. Additionally, he converted 35.9 percent of his attempts from beyond the arc, which represents the fourth-highest conversion rate of his career.

In a league where the three-point shot has become king, Jokic and Embiid are both proof that the center position still has value in today’s game.

Second-Best NBA MVP Odds: Luka Doncic (+370)

Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic finished third in the MVP race in 2023-24. He was the league’s top scorer, averaging 33.9 points per game, the highest scoring average of his career.

Furthermore, Doncic posted career highs in three-point shooting (38.2 percent), rebounds (9.2), and assists (9.8). Based on these numbers, one could easily have built a case for him winning last season. But if the Mavericks manage to finish with one of the top four records in the conference, this could tip the voting in Doncic’s favor.

3. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (+600)

He also posted career highs in several categories, including overall shooting (53.5 percent), rebounds (5.5), and assists (6.2). Gilgeous-Alexander also shot a respectable 35.3 percent from 3-point range.

The Thunder have improved their win total by 16 and 17 games, respectively, in each of the last two seasons, and Gilgeous-Alexander has played an integral role in the team’s ascent to the top of the Western Conference in 2023-24. Taking that into consideration, he should be a contender in this category in many years to come.

4. Joel Embiid (+600)

Embiid is the only player to capture the award during Jokic’s dominance over the past four seasons. He was on track to win it again last season, but injuries limited him to just 39 games.

But in those 39 regular season contests, Embiid was nothing short of remarkable. He averaged over 30 points per contest for the third consecutive season, as he finished with 34.7 points per contest.

Additionally, the Sixers big man also averaged 11 boards and 5.6 assists per game on 52.9 percent shooting from the floor. Despite the slight uptick in attempts (3.6 last season vs. 3.0 attempts in 2022-23), Embiid shot a career-high 38.8 percent from deep. Given that number, Embiid has proven to be a tough cover regardless of where he operates on the court.

Durability has been an issue during Embiid’s career, as he has yet to play 70 games during his eight seasons in the league. If he can avoid the injury bug next season, you would have to place him in the top three of the MVP conversation.

5. Giannis Antetokounmpo (+650)

Last but certainly not least, Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo rounds out the top five players with the best odds of winning the league MVP award. Antetokounmpo finished fourth in the MVP race last season, garnering only one first-place vote.

He is the only other player to win the award over the past six seasons (2018-19 and 2019-20), along with Jokic and Embiid. Giannis has also been named the league’s top defensive player and was Finals MVP when the Bucks won it all back in 2021.

Last season, he averaged 30.4 points, 11.5 rebounds, and 6.5 assists per contest. Antetokounmpo shot the ball very efficiently, converting 61.1 percent of his overall attempts. The 2023-24 campaign marked the sixth straight season that he has averaged at least 27 points, 11 rebounds and five assists per outing. Talk about a model of consistency.

Despite finishing with the third-best record in the eastern conference last season, Milwaukee’s title contention window is on its last leg based on how the team has been ousted from the playoffs over the past two years. With that being said, unless injuries become a huge factor, it is difficult to foresee a scenario in which Antetokounmpo captures his third MVP trophy.