5 Players With The Best Odds To Win 2017 NBA MVP

When it comes to the 2017 NBA MVP award, apparently, former MVP winners like Kevin Durant, Steph Curry and LeBron James, to a lesser degree – are all now clearly contenders as opposed to being favorites like they are in almost every other season. Thanks to my expert analysis on the five players with the best odds to win this season’s MVP award, you’re going to find out why James, Durant and Curry are all looking like also-rans at this late juncture in the 2016-17 regular season. Tind the latest NBA betting odds here.

5 Players With The Best Odds To Win 2017 NBA MVP

 

NBA MVP Odds

James Harden -160

The Houston Rockets are currently 40-18 and in second place in the Southwest division behind first place San Antonio and the vast majority of the Rockets’ success this season can be directly traced to James Harden’s move from shooting guard to point guard. Harden is averaging a career-high 29.2 points per game and league-high 11.3 assists per game, all in his first season after moving to point guard, but the most important thing is that he’s gotten his Houston Rockets teammates to overachieve in a big way in what was expected to be a bit of a rebuilding campaign.

Russell Westbrook +110

Westbrook may have lost superstar teammate Kevin Durant, but he certainly missed lost a beat in putting up a league-high 31.1 points per game to go along with 10.1 assists and 10.5 rebounds per game. Westbrook could become the first player since the legendary Oscar Robertson to finish an entire regular season by averaging a triple double. The ‘Big O’ accomplished his now historic feat in 1961-62, in just his second year in the league by outing up 30.8 points, 12.5 rebounds, and 11.4 assists per game for an entire season. Whether Westbrook accomplishes the seemingly impossible task or not, he’s in a virtual two-man race with Harden, although his Oklahoma City Thunder are a modest 32-25 heading into the post all-star break stretch run.

LeBron James +400

James is averaging 25.9 points per game, 7.7 rebounds and 8.8 assists per game, but I suspect he’d be the first person to tell you that either Westbrook or Harden are clearly more deserving this season. James has averaged over 25.9 points per game in 10 different seasons and will get only modest MVP consideration this season.

Kawhi Leonard +1200

I absolutely love San Antonio Spurs forward Kawhi Leonard and I believe he’s a legitimate MVP contender as he puts up 25.9 points, 5.9 rebounds and 3.3 assists and 1.8 steals per game. Leonard has led the Spurs to a fine 43-13 mark at the time of this writing in the first season without Tim Duncan and is undeniably a legitimate MVP contender. It’s just bad timing that he’s playing MVP caliber basketball in the same season that Westbrook and Harden are pretty much going off on a nightly basis.

Isaiah Thomas +1600

While I absolutely love the Boston Celtics’ Isaiah Thomas and believe he’s now the best little man in the game today, I have to say that he’s a bit of a longshot – although he probably should be the third-best favorite. Thomas is putting up a whopping 29.9 points per game this season while averaging an insane 10.5 points per game in the fourth quarter, which as all Bostonians will tell you, is now ‘IT’ time. Thomas is also averaging 6.3 assists per game while shooting 46.7 percent from the field, 38.7 percent from beyond the arc and a blistering 91.2 percent from the free throw line.

The Others

Kevin Durant +2000 Stephen Curry +6000 Analysis: I don’t expect either of Golden State’s superstars to win this season’s MVP award, but here are their odds anyway.