NBA MVP Award Betting: The best value play plus a major longshot

No different than an NBA GM, when you “invest” in the NBA awards market, you’re looking for players who provide good value. 

For the MVP this season, that player for me is Cade Cunningham. (+7000 Fanduel/+6000 BETMGM) 

The former top overall pick had a breakout season last year, averaging 26.1 points, 9.1 assists and 6.1 rebounds per game. He finished seventh in the MVP vote and was named third-team All-NBA. There’s no reason to believe the 23-year-old, 6-foot-6 point guard won’t take his game to a higher level this season. 

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Nikola Jokic are rightfully the betting favorites, but there isn’t great value there. Cunningham not having ever won the award works in his favor along with not having the supporting cast of SGA and Jokic. 

The third betting favorite, Luka Doncic, has yet to win an MVP, but has a second star running mate in LeBron James, which can make it tougher to win the award. Keep in mind that Steph Curry won his back-to-back MVP awards prior to the arrival of Kevin Durant in Golden State.

Meanwhile, KD won his only MVP in the 2013-14 season when his star running mate, Russell Westbrook, missed 36 games. And Westbrook won his lone MVP after Durant left Oklahoma City.

And how about one really fun, low-risk/huge-reward selection? Then go with Evan Mobley +40,000 at FanDuel. Kenny Atkinson unlocked Mobley’s offensive game in his first year as head coach and with what I’ve seen in the preseason so far and looking at Mobley’s workout video, I think we’ll see another leap this year. 

And if you don’t believe me, read the words of his trainer, Olin Simplis, via rg.org.

“I may sound crazy, but I feel justified in thinking this. My goal for Evan is for him to be in the MVP conversation every year,” Simplis said. “Is he definitely going to be an MVP? No. But he’s so dynamic and he does so many different great things. There is no reason his name shouldn’t be mentioned. What these things are going to do is it’ll have him be one of the guys in the league that’s always in that MVP conversation.

“It’s not just about how much he scores. It’s about the level of force that he plays with and the level of tenacity he plays with offensively. Defensively, it’s about him being more vocal with his teammates.

He’s that quiet kid, and it is OK to be quiet. But there are still moments that he has to say, ‘Hey, I’m here.’ That’s what I want to see him come out with a little bit more. I think it’ll help in the win column.”

If you’re new to wagering, a $1 bet would return a profit of $400 and a $10 bet would give you a profit of $4,000. Not a bad payday for a small investment.