The homestretch of the NBA regular season is upon us, with fewer than seven weeks left to play before a postseason that can feel like a season unto itself.
But that second season matters not to NBA sports betting futures markets, and there's no better time than now to take a look at some value plays for individual award winners offered by a pair of leading betting apps (ESPN BET and FanDuel).
Nikola Jokic is understandably the favorite (-135 at FanDuel) to win his third MVP award, but if voters have Joker fatigue – and they just may! – Luka Doncic (5/1 at both ESPN BET and FanDuel) offers bettors fantastic value. The Mavs will want to avoid the play-in game to give their star the best shot at winning the honor, but if they come up short, there'd be far dumber bets than getting down on Kawhi Leonard at 140/1 (FanDuel), especially with the resurgent Clippers very much in play for the West's top seed.
It seems a foregone conclusion that Victor Wembanyama (-700 at FanDuel) is going to win this award. And given his multi-pronged statistical freakishness and “never seen anyone like him” factor, it's hard to make a case against him.
But let's try, shall we?
Despite Wemby's best efforts, the Spurs are a horrible basketball team – by record, the third-worst in the entire league. The equally youthful Oklahoma City Thunder, meanwhile, are tied atop the Western Conference, with their improvement largely attributable to the versatile exploits of stickman center Chet Holmgren (6/1 at FanDuel).
If this were a race for MVP, Holmgren would be the favorite by virtue of his team's superiority and his having played many more meaningful games than Wembanyama. That likely won't matter much to ROTY voters, but maybe it should.
Sign Up For The Sports Handle Newsletter!
Similarly to the ROTY race, Minnesota's Rudy Gobert (-750 at FanDuel) is a prohibitive favorite to win his fourth DPOY award. But given how dynamic Wembanyama (16/1 at FanDuel) has been in the stoppage department, could he be the proper Frenchman to take home the hardware? It might be worth a small flyer.
Sacramento’s Malik Monk (-140 at ESPN BET and FanDuel) is the default favorite here, but Tim Hardaway Jr. (5/1 at FanDuel) has been a revelation in the microwave role for the Mavs, while Naz Reid (40/1 at ESPN BET) has done everything that's been asked of him on one of the league's most surprising teams (Minnesota).
This award has been Tyrese Maxey's to lose for awhile now, and the odds (-300 at ESPN BET) reflect that. But if the Warriors finish strong, it's not outside of the realm of possibility for Jonathan Kuminga (16/1 at FanDuel) to snatch the prize should his revelatory second half continue apace.
Oklahoma City's Mark Daigneault is a worthy favorite (-140 at ESPN BET) to win this award, but should Cleveland hold on to the second seed seed in the East, a case could be made for J.B. Bickerstaff (18/1 at ESPN BET). And if the Knicks can get healthy and finish strong to edge out the Cavs, Tom Thibodeau's candidacy (currently 55/1 at FanDuel) could pick up steam.