NBA MVP Odds Update: Jayson Tatum Leads the Pack Over Giannis Antetokounmpo, Luka Doncic

NBA MVP Odds Update: Jayson Tatum Leads the Pack Over Giannis Antetokounmpo, Luka Doncic

During the early part of the season, the MVP race was between just two men. It was Giannis Antetokounmpo and Luka Doncic battling for position and often switching off the lead every night. Now neither holds the top spot, as Celtics star Jayson Tatum has shot into a stratosphere all his own.

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Tatum is given +250 odds, or an implied 28.6% chance to win his first MVP award. He’s just ahead of Giannis who’s given +300 odds, or an implied 25% chance to win his third in four years. Luka, also looking for his first MVP, is given +350 odds or an implied 22.2% chance.

Doncic being at the top of the market makes sense. He was the preseason favorite at +425, and he was the preseason favorite the year before too. Giannis was right behind him at +650, tied with Joel Embiid for second on the market. Tatum was a little more of a longshot, he was sixth on the marker at +1350. That’s less disrespectful when put into context that Tatum was tied with Steph Curry.

It’s rare in the NBA for a player in the modern era to win just one MVP. Over the last decade, Lebron James, Steph Curry, Giannis, and Jokic have all won it twice. The only players who’ve won it once are Russell Westbrook and James Harden. That means either the books expect Tatum is expected to explode onto the scene as one of the faces of the NBA, or that he’s just so talented that you can overlook fatal flaws, like Westbrook’s inefficiency or Harden’s defense. That’s why it’s so hard to go against past winners like Giannis, even when guys like Tatum pull out in front.