Luka Doncic Is Early Betting Favorite to Win 2021 NBA MVP Award

The NBA’s 2020 champions have just been crowned and there is no definite date yet as to when the 2021 season will start. However, that has not prevented the sportsbooks from putting up the betting lines for the 2021 season.

The odds to win the 2021 NBA title went up even before the Los Angeles Lakers made official their 17th NBA title. We know that the Lakers are the early betting favorites to repeat as champions while their L.A. rival Clippers are right behind them in the odds boards.

Next to go live are the odds to win the 2021 NBA MVP award. And as expected, the familiar suspects are in the mix. Reigning Giannis Antetokounmpo is looking to make history with a third straight NBA MVP award. First-time NBA champion Anthony Davis is out to win his first MVP award while teammate LeBron James is gunning for a fifth Maurice Podoloff trophy.

Former MVPs Steph Curry and Kevin Durant will return from injuries and are also in the running for the league’s highest individual honor. But the man on top of the current MVP odds board is a player looking to continue his ascent as one of the game’s all-time greats.

Doncic Is Odd on Favorite

Luka Doncic followed up his Rookie of the Year season by earning his first All-Star appearance. He finished the season by being selected to the All-NBA First team, the third-youngest player in NBA history to accomplish such a feat. He also had an MVP-type season although he was not named among the finalists for the 2020 MVP award.

Doncic averaged 28.8 points, 9.4 rebounds, and 8.8 assists per game last season. He joined Oscar Robertson and Russell Westbrook as the only players in the history of the NBA to average at least 28 points, 9 rebounds, and 8 assists in a single season. He also became the youngest player to lead the NBA in triple-doubles.

The Slovenian wonder kid also made the playoffs for the first time in his NBA career. Doncic scored 42 points in his postseason debut, the highest ever for a rookie. He also became the youngest player to record a 40-point triple-double in the playoffs and the youngest to hit a playoff buzzer-beater at 21 years and 177 days. With the way Doncic’s learning curve has progressed, the oddsmakers have installed him as a +450 odds on favorite to win the 2021 MVP award at Bovada.

Year of the Brow?

Anthony Davis became a first-time champion in 2020 after a trade during the previous offseason sent him to the Los Angeles Lakers. With Davis and James leading the charge, the Lakers clinched the top spot in the Western Conference and made the playoffs for the first time since 2013. With a strong postseason from their two superstars, the Lakers went on to clinch their 17th NBA title earlier this month.

LeBron James took Finals MVP honors although Davis also played a stellar series. Davis is expected to opt-out of his current contract and seek a supermax deal that will cement him as the Lakers’ new franchise player. With LeBron James turning 36 next season, 2021 could be the year of the Brow and Davis is second to Doncic in the MVP odds board at +550.

Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo is third on the odds board at +650 and he too is coming off another spectacular season where he showed vast improvement from the previous year. The Greek Freak though is attempting something that has never been done before, and that is to win the MVP three straight times.

Returning Former MVPs

Two-time MVP Stephen Curry is also listed on the odds board at +650. Curry played in only five games last season due to a hand injury. Although he returned to action last March 6th, the season was suspended. Curry is expected to be 100% when the 2021 season returns and with Kevin Durant now gone, he is expected to return to his old MVP form.

Speaking of Kevin Durant, KD is next to former teammate Curry in the odds board at +900. Durant missed the entire 2020 season with an Achilles injury and with the extra rest brought about by the delayed postseason, KD should be at full strength when the 2021 campaign begins. KD is now with the Brooklyn Nets and it remains to be seen how a ball-dominant point guard like Kyrie Irving will affect his MVP chances.

Listed at +900 along with Durant is the man who won 2020 Finals MVP honors. LeBron James was a finalist for the 2020 NBA MVP voting where he finished a distant second to Giannis Antetokounmpo. James will be 36 next season, his 18th in the NBA. But given how he takes care of his body, James is still expected to be among the top players in the league next season.