With the regular season just days away, it’s time to look at the players with the best odds to win the 2022-23 NBA MVP. This list is absolutely filled with legit superstars and dominant forces. It also included three MVP winners, with two winning it back-to-back in 2019 and 2020 as well as 2021 and 2022. There’s a lot of hype heading into this season with new faces in new places and teams with big expectations and we can’t wait for it to get underway.
Best Odds to Win the 2022-23 NBA MVP
Luka Doncic (+450)
For the second consecutive season, Luka Doncic is the favorite to win the NBA MVP. He’s been phenomenal in each of his first four seasons. He averaged 21.2 points per game in his rookie season and then took off after that, averaging just over 27 points per game each of his last three seasons, including 28.4 last season.
Not only did Doncic rank third in scoring but he ranked fifth in assists so he’s not only putting the ball in the hoop but he’s distributing it, which is the key to success. He led the Dallas Mavericks to the Western Conference Finals, ultimately falling to the Golden State Warriors. At just 23 years of age, Doncic has a great chance to win the 2022-23 NBA MVP and a lot more in the future.
Giannis Antetokounmpo (+600)
Most Improved Player, Defensive Player of the Year, six-time All-Star, All-Star Game MVP, two-time league MVP, NBA Champion, Finals MVP, NBA 75th Anniversary Team, First-Team All-Rookie, five-time All-Defensive Team, and six-time All-NBA Team. That’s the impressive list of accomplishments that Giannis Antetokounmpo has gathered over his nine seasons in the league, all with the Milwaukee Bucks. In fact, he won back-to-back MVPs in 2019 and 2020 so he knows what it takes to win the award.
Last season, Antetokounmpo was second in the league in points per game with 29.9, sixth in rebounds per game with 11.6, eleventh in both blocks per game with 1.3, and filed-goal percentage with 55.3%. He’s highly regarded as probably the best player in the league and is only getting better with each year. The Greek Freak might be fighting with Doncic for that honor and go head-to-head for the 2022-23 NBA MVP.
Joel Embiid (+650)
Joel Embiid could easily be higher on this list or at least have better odds but that just goes to show you the talent on display throughout the league. He’s been dominant the past two seasons, averaging 28.5 points per game in 2020-21 and a league-high 30.6 points per game last season. These numbers were why he finished second in the MVP voting back-to-back years in 2021 and 2022.
Embiid also has a good list of accomplishments himself, being First-Team All-Rookie, a five-time All-Star, a four-time All-NBA, and a three-time All-Defensive player. There might’ve been even more if he stayed healthy throughout his career. Embiid comes into this season with even higher hopes with the Philadelphia 76ers adding around him and feeling completely healthy to go after the 2022-23 NBA MVP.
Nikola Jokic (+800)
Following up Antetokounmpo’s consecutive MVPs in 2019 and 2020, Nikola Jokic decided to replicate that by winning the NBA MVP in back-to-back years in 2021 and 2022. In 2021, Jokic almost averaged a triple-double for the season as he put up 26.4 points per game while tallying 10.8 rebounds and 8.3 assists. As impressive as these numbers are, last year might’ve been the best of his two MVP seasons. Jokic averaged 27.1 points per game in 2022 while putting up 13.8 rebounds and 7.9 assists. Almost every statistical category from his 2021 season improved last season, including field-goal percentage, steals, and blocks.
What might be more impressive is that he put the Denver Nuggets on his back and won the MVP without having Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. With those two due to be back this season, this trio will be a force in the west and might even bolster Jokic’s chances to win MVP with his teammate’s talent and playmaking ability. He comes into this season with the fourth-best odds to win the 2022-23 NBA MVP and his third-consecutive award.
Only three have won three consecutive MVP awards in NBA history: Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell and Larry Bird.
Will Denver’s Nikola Jokic win this third consecutive this season? Seems unlikely, @JeffZillgitt writes. https://t.co/saOJNbdRqj pic.twitter.com/XRomVwYEVn
— USA TODAY Sports (@usatodaysports) October 13, 2022
Kevin Durant (+800)
After a wild offseason that included Kyrie Irving trade talks and Kevin Durant wanting to be moved, both stay on a team that still has high hopes to make noise. Despite of what people think of Durant’s tactics or demeanor, he is simply one of the best players on the planet and history of the game when he’s on the court fully healthy and that’s why he has among the best odds to win the 2022-23 NBA MVP.
Durant tore his Achillies and missed the entire 2019-2020 season only to come back the next season and average 26.9 points per game in only 35 games in his first season with the Brooklyn Nets. Last year in 2021-22, Durant averaged an impressive 29.9 points per game in 55 games. For many, an Achilles injury would slow you down and start the career decline but the 34-year-old is just a different breed. With even more pressure on the Nets this season, Durant is expected to rise to the occasion and show why he might still be the best player in the league.
