Kevin Durant And Luka Doncic 2022 MVP

  • Luka Doncic is the odds on favorite to win the 2022 NBA MVP award.
  • Kevin Durant is tied with Doncic at +400 via SportsBetting.ag but at DraftKings, it’s Embiid at +700 who is second to Doncic.
  • Current MVP Nikola Jokic is 8th in the early oddsboards with odds ranging from +1200 to +1400.

With the NBA’s 2020-21 season down to three game at the max, the best NBA betting sites have started putting up their 2022 futures odds boards.

Earlier this week, the Brooklyn Nets and L.A. Lakers were installed as the top betting favorites to win the 2022 NBA championship. On Wednesday, the odds for the 2022 MVP were released and familiar names were on top of the list:
,

KD, Luka Have Best Odds

According to online sportsbook SportsBetting.ag, Kevin Durant of the Brooklyn Nets and Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks have the best odds to win next year’s MVP award at +400.

Durant made a triumphant recovery from an Achilles injury which he suffered in the 2019 NBA Finals. Although he only played 35 regular season games for the Brooklyn Nets this season due to rest, load management, and minor injuries, KD looked in MVP form during the playoffs where he averaged 34.3 points and 9.3 rebounds per game while shooting better than 40% from three-point range.

Meanwhile, Doncic had another record breaking season. The Slovenian wunderkind averaged 27.7 points, 8.6 assists, and 8.0 rebounds per game in 34.0 of playing time for the Dallas Mavericks and finished 6th in the MVP voting. Doncic and his Mavs nearly toppled the Western Conference finalists L.A. Clippers in the first round of the playoffs.

Luka (+400) is also the odds on favorite at DraftKings but Philadelphia 76ers big man Joel Embiid is second at +700 with Durant third at +800. Embiid finished second in the 2021 MVP voting while averaging 28.5 points and 10.6 rebounds per game for the team that finished with the best record in the Eastern Conference.

Dame Has Better Odds than Jokic

Interestingly, 2021 MVP Nikola Jokic is far off the leaderboard at 12/1 with Damian Lillard having better odds to win MVP honors at 10/1. At PointsBet, Jokic opened at +1400, one spot below Lillard whom they pegged at +1200. But it’s not that Dame is necessarily better than Joker. It’s that repeating as MVP isn’t easy.

In the history of the NBA MVP award, only Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Moses Malone, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Tim Duncan, Steve Nash, LeBron James, Stephen Curry, and Giannis Antetokounmpo have won back to back MVP awards.

Jokic made history this season, becoming the first ever second round pick to win the NBA MVP award and the first player from the Denver Nuggets to be accorded such honors. The 26-year old posted career-high numbers across the board with 26.4 points, 10.8 rebounds, and 8.3 assists in 34.6 minutes of action.

Lillard is coming off a 2021 season where he ranked third in the league in scoring at 28.2 points per game while also averaging 4.2 rebounds and 7.5 assists per contest. He led the Blazers to 6th place in the Western Conference but they were eliminated by the Denver Nuggets in six games.

Giannis Finals MVP Favorite

Among players currently in the 2021 NBA Finals, 2019 and 2020 MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo is the highest ranked played in the 2022 MVP odds board at 7/1. Phoenix Suns’ shooting guard Devin Booker is the only other player playing in the Finals who is in the Top 10 at 20/1. Antetokounmpo is also the new +130 odds on favorite to win 2021 Finals MVP honors after back to back 40 points games in Games 2 and 3.

Looking at the list, LeBron James of the Lakers is the oldest at age 36 and he is listed at 9/1 despite coming off an injury riddle campaign where his Lakers failed to get out of the first round of the playoffs. James’ teammate Anthony Davis, who is also coming off an injury-plagued season, is at 28/1.

Atlanta’s Trae Young is the youngest player in the group at age 22. Young led the young Atlanta Hawks all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals where they lost to the Bucks in six games. Atlanta upset the New York Knicks and the Philadelphia 76ers in the first two rounds of the playoffs.

Former MVP winners and former Thunder and Rockets teammates James Harden and Russell Westbrook are also on the early MVP list at 20/1 and 25/1, respectively. Harden had a tumultuous season where he forced his way out from Houston to Brooklyn. Westbrook also got traded from the Nets to the Wizards whom he helped make the playoffs

Sub Categories:
NBA
Shane Acedera profile picture
Shane Acedera

Content covered on TSG: Blog and News

Shane turned a childhood love of the NBA into a successful writing career as he’s been covering basketball and other sports online since high school. Acedera branched out into sports betting over a decade ago and has been a reliable contributor to TheSportsGeek for the last five years. Shane loves to talk sports whether it’s with other enthusiasts or with his wife and three dogs.

mail Click to Contact Shane Acedera More From Shane Acedera

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.