Like NBA Championship Futures, there’s a clear cut favorite to win the NBA MVP. While the Golden State Warriors are less than even money favorites to win their third set of rings, Houston Rockets player James Harden is a -250 favorite to win his second straight NBA MVP.
Harden’s definitely deserving of the award, but there’s a lot of basketball left to play while some MVP voters, fair or not, might be turned off by Harden’s recent comments about officiating. Also, Harden tends to play the type of style that turns off some voters.
Check out 5 players offering great odds to win the NBA MVP not named James Harden.
5 Players With the Best Odds to Win 2019 NBA MVP
Who is your current NBA MVP?
— ESPN (@espn) 21 de febrero de 2019
Giannis Antetounkempo
- 2019 NBA MVP Odds: +350
Everybody believes the Milwaukee Bucks will come back down to earth. However, they’re 44-14 right now and it doesn’t look like they’ll slow down anytime soon. Don’t be fooled by Giannis leading the Bucks in points per with 27.2, and leads Milwaukee in rebounds and assists per game. He’s definitely not a ball hog. He’s just the best player on the court no matter who the Bucks face.
Antetounkempo offers great odds. Not only that, there’s the feeling voters might want to give it to someone other than Harden and Curry. The Greek Freak deserves the most attention to win MVP.
Joel Embiid
- 2019 NBA MVP Odds: +1400
Philadelphia’s top player is a center and when was the last time the NBA MVP went to a center? Embiid’s the best center in the league, means the most to his team, and is the main reason the 76ers are legitimate contenders to win the NBA Championship.
LeBron James
- 2019 NBA MVP Odds: +1400
A lot of time LeBron is so great that we tend to take it for granted. Not this season. LeBron missed a ton of games in the first half of the season. The Lakers were awful without him. Now that King James is back, they’re beating teams like the Houston Rockets. If LeBron takes the Lakers to the NBA Championship, thereby beating the Golden State Warriors, Houston Rockets, and Oklahoma City Thunder, forget it.
He’s the league MVP.
Kawhi Leonard
- 2019 NBA MVP Odds: +1600
Kawhi leaves San Antonio and his new team, the Toronto Raptors, becomes a real contender to win the NBA Championship? Not only that, but after saying he didn’t want to go to Toronto, Kawhi sucked it up and decided to have his best season ever. He’s averaging 27.2 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 3.3 assists per game.
Paul George
- 2019 NBA MVP Odds: +1800
Paul George and Russell Westbrook have great chemistry. Wesbrook’s become a much better point-guard, still averaging a triple-double, but yielding to George as the top option when he can. George is having a phenomenal season averaging 28.7 points, 8 rebounds, and 4.1 assists per.
PG-13 might not win the award because some don’t believe he’s the best player on his team. An argument can be made, though, that the best player on your team makes everyone better and George has made Russell better. Consider if you’re in that camp.
