LeBron James' MVP Odds Come in at Laughably Great Value

The latest odds for this upcoming NBA season’s MVP award are out. As always, there are some great bets to be placed. But it has been a bit since one has been this glaringly obvious. LeBron James is coming in at +700 behind three other players and tied with two players who are being way overvalued:

Given how open the NBA and the West will be next season, we should see the most motivated regular-season version of LeBron we have in years. Anthony Davis and Danny Green will help him rack of extra assists resulting in some monstrous stat lines. The teams that could and should finish ahead of the Lakers in the West will not have an MVP candidate.

The Nuggets and Jazz do not have that player yet. Kawhi Leonardtakes too many nights off and his numbers will go down sharing the load with Paul George, who puts the ball in the hole at a high volume. This makes James and Leonard sharing the same odds awfully puzzling. Davis also is tied, which makes even less sense. Davis’ numbers will go down with the Lakers and won’t even sniff MVP consideration.

Vegas believes James Harden is a good MVP bet, but he faces a hard road to even be in consideration, despite the video game numbers he put up last season. Harden and Russell Westbrook are going to be a mess chemistry-wise. They will have to share the ball and both will sacrifice their usual otherworldly statlines to win games. It will take time, and the Rockets’ record will suffer, counting as another point against Harden.

Giannis Antetokounmpo and Steph Curry have a case to be first and second respectively, but LeBron is the better pick. It’s become nearly impossible to win back-to-back MVP awards without clearly topping your first award-winning season. And that is going to be a rather large challenge for Antetokounmpo. Curry is going to turn back into NBA2K-Steph with Kevin Durant gone, but the team isn’t going to be nearly as good with Klay Thompson on the mend for at least half the season. Could Curry win the award with the Warriors as the fifth or sixth seed?

None of this even mentions the fact that LeBron has had a full six months to rest and recover after not making the NBA Finals for the first time since 2010. LeBron James should be the MVP favorite, and his current +700 odds laughable. Unless you just placed a bet on it…