- Doncic still a +400 MVP favorite despite lackluster start
- Antetokounmpo, James, Curry among MVP favorites struggling early in 2020-21
- Jokic (+1200) emerging as potential MVP dark horse
Things could be going better for Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks right now. The third-year guard entered the season as the consensus favorite to capture the NBA’s Most Valuable Player Award this year. Given the star power that populates the league nowadays, that’s no small feat for a player that won’t turn 22 years old until February.
However, the beginning of the 2020-21 campaign has been anything but smooth for Doncic. The former No. 3 overall pick is averaging 23.8 points, 6.3 assists, and 5.8 rebounds per game as the Mavs have started the new season just 1-3. Those individual numbers would be outstanding for about 98 percent of the NBA, but they’re underwhelming for the standard that has been set for Luka early in his career.
New Low for Mavericks
The Mavs’ lone win was an impressive 51-point demolition of the Clippers in LA earlier this week, but they reached a new low in their home opener against Charlotte. The Mavericks let a mediocre Hornets team storm into the American Airlines Center on Wednesday and cruise to a 118-99 win. Doncic wound up contributing just 12 points, five assists, and a couple of rebounds in 24 underwhelming minutes of action.
It’s a long season, of course. Doncic and the Mavs still have 68 regular-season games left to figure things out. Perhaps that explains why NBA betting sites aren’t panicking about Luka’s MVP odds just yet. The Slovenian sensation is still a +400 favorite to take home the trophy at BetOnline.
However, the slump extending much further would likely cause Doncic’s odds to take a dive. Luka came into the season hoping to improve his rather lackluster three-point percentage, but through four games he has converted on a paltry 9.5 percent of his triples. That’s down from his career mark of 31.7 percent, which is rather underwhelming in its own right.
Doncic Not the Only Struggling Superstar
Fortunately for Doncic, several other MVP hopefuls have gotten off to fairly underwhelming starts, too. Two-time reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo is averaging 22.6 points, 11.6 rebounds, and 5.4 assists on 47.6 percent shooting from the field. His numbers are way down in every statistical category through the Bucks’ first five games. You have to imagine Giannis will right the ship moving forward, but he hasn’t staked an early claim to a third straight trophy despite entering the season as a slight +450 ‘dog.
LeBron James and Anthony Davis have both had their early-season minutes monitored with the Lakers having had a shorter offseason than the vast majority of teams. Neither player ranks in the top-18 in the league in scoring through the first handful of games this season, and there isn’t much reason to think the Lakers will start going all-out until mid-January at the earliest. James finished as last year’s MVP runner-up, and his current +1200 odds are admittedly appealing given his track record.
Davis was a popular preseason bet at +1200, and his start to the season has been even worse than LeBron’s. Still, given the likelihood that the Lakers continue to take it easy on LeBron’s regular-season minutes, AD does stand out as a slightly better option at the very same odds as James.
James Harden (+2200) may or may not be in a different uniform within a matter of weeks. Steph Curry’s (+1600) Warriors look primed for another appearance in the draft lottery. Damian Lillard (+1600) has struggled to replicate his form from the bubble. Kyrie Irving (+6000) and Kevin Durant (+800) may eat into each other’s production too much to build a legitimate MVP case for themselves.
Jokic off to a Blazing Start
One player that should be attracting plenty of early-season betting interest is Nikola Jokic. The Nuggets’ big man has seen his MVP odds improve from +1600 to +1200 early on thanks to a series of outstanding performances. Through Denver’s first four games, Jokic is averaging a triple-double with 24.5 points, 13.5 assists, and 11.5 rebounds per game. The seven-footer is actually leading the league in assists per game while averaging over 38 minutes.
If Jokic winds up averaging a triple-double over the course of the entire season while helping the Nuggets to one of the best records in the Western Conference, he’ll surely garner his fair share of MVP buzz. It’s early, but the +1200 odds on the Joker look awfully interesting given the way he’s playing to begin the year.
Taylor Smith
Taylor Smith has been a staff writer with GamblingSites.org since early 2017. Taylor is primarily a sports writer, though he will occasionally dabble in other things like politics and entertainment betting. His primary specialties are writing about the NBA, Major League Baseball, NFL and domestic and international soccer. Fringe sports like golf and horse racing aren’t exactly his cup of tea, bu …
