A glance at Nikola Jokic’s stats line and it seems like it’s a no-brainer that the Nuggets all-star center should be candidate for the NBA’s most valuable player award this season.
Entering Tuesday’s game, Jokic is putting up career high averages in points (26.3), rebounds (11.0), assists (8.6), steals (1.5), 3-point field-goal percentage (42.7%) and free-throw percentage (86.3%). His PER (31.0) is second only to Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid (31.4) and his 10.9 win shares is more than three over the next closest players: Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo (7.7) and Rudy Gobert (7.7).
But entering the season, he had average odds of +2,500 — meaning a $100 bet would win $2,500 — to win the MVP award as compiled from several sportsbooks, according to covers.com. As of March 30, he emerged as the favorite with those odds improving to -113 — meaning a $113 bet would win $100. According to the odds, the implied probability of him winning the award is 55.6%.
He made a big jump from March 16 (+450) to March 23 (-105) after Lakers forward LeBron James suffered a high right ankle sprain on March 20 against the Hawks. James had been the favorite among sportsbooks.
It’s also helped that the Nuggets have gone 10-3 since the all-star break and climbed to No. 4 in the Western Conference standings.
Oddsmakers aren’t the only ones that have Jokic at the top. NBA.com’s Kia MVP ladder has ranked the 7-footer at No. 1 in each of its last three rankings. “A triple-double machine … The big man might even be on the way to finishing the season in the elusive 50-40-90 club,” NBA.com’s Michael C. Wright writes.