2023 NBA Finals MVP Odds: Nikola Jokic Still Favorite for Betting on Jimmy Butler and Jamal Murray – Jugo Mobile

With the Nuggets stamping their NBA Finals ticket for the first time in franchise history earlier this week and the Heat and Celtics still battling it out in the Eastern Conference Finals, it’s a perfect opportunity to check out the latest odds on who could win the NBA 2023 Finals MVP.

Last season, Golden State superstar Stephen Curry won his first Finals MVP, averaging 31.2 points, six rebounds and five assists per game against the Celtics. He also shot 48.2% from the field and 43.7% from three-point range as the Warriors brought home their fourth championship since 2015.

Nuggets center Nikola Jokic was the betting favorite (+325) to win Finals MVP a couple of weeks ago and that hasn’t changed with Denver winning the Western Conference Finals. Jokic currently has odds of -185, but we know he could change depending on who wins the East and how the first game or two of the finals play out.

Below, we’ll look at BetMGM’s latest odds for the Finals MVP before discussing a couple of sleepers punters should consider

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2023 NBA Finals MVP odds

All odds courtesy of BetMGM

2023 NBA Finals MVP Odds: Favorites

Nikola Jokic, Pepite (-185). To no one’s surprise, Jokic is the favorite to win Finals MVP following his stellar performance in the Western Conference Finals. He averaged 27.8 points, 14.5 rebounds and 11.8 assists and added the WCF MVP trophy to his decorated resume.

In the Nuggets’ four games against the Lakers, the two-time league MVP had three games with a triple-double and recorded eight playoff triple-doubles. Jokic has been arguably the best player in the playoffs this year, with the possible exception of Jimmy Butler, who has played way out and has Miami on the verge of making it back to the NBA Finals. The last time a “pure center” won Finals MVP was Shaquille O’Neal in 2001-02, but big men Dirk Nowitzki (2010-11) and Tim Duncan (2004-05) also won the award for the last 20 years.

If Jokic can lead the Nuggets to their first NBA championship in franchise history, his performance this season and the postseason will become one of the best we’ve seen in recent memory. While there isn’t much value on Jokic, bettors may want to bet now because his Finals MVP odds will go up if he has a 20- or 30-point triple-double in a Game 1 win of the NBA Finals.

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2023 NBA Finals MVP Odds: Sleepers

Jamal Murray, Pepite (+1400). It’s strange to view Murray as a sleeper to win Finals MVP, especially since he had a strong Western Conference Finals and currently has the fourth-best odds of winning it behind Jokic, Butler and Tatum.

In the Western Conference Finals against the Lakers, the dynamic point guard averaged 32.5 points per game on 52.7% shooting from the field and 40.5% from three-point range. He also had three games with 30+ points, which was nearly the same amount of 30-point games Murray had in the first two rounds (4). If the Nuggets are to cap off this magical season with an NBA title, they need Murray to play his absolute best because whoever they face will be trying to limit Jokic’s scoring opportunities. It’s possible that he will come out and lead the offense like he did in the second half of Game 2 and the first half of Game 3 of the WCF, thus giving him an advantage over Jokic.

We mentioned Tatum earlier in this section, who is surprisingly more likely to win Finals MVP (+550) over Murray despite the Celtics losing 3-1 to the Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals. Even if Tatum has the third-lowest odds to win it, Boston needs to win four straight games (and four more in the NBA Finals), which remains unlikely. Tatum’s odds will only go down as Boston keeps winning, so his current odds of +550 are the best you’re going to get, but we still think it’s a waste of money to bet on him at this point.

Bam Adebayo, Calore (+2500). With the Heat still leading the Celtics 3-1 in the Eastern Conference Finals, we will launch Adebayo into the sleeper category for Finals MVP. The young center will have to be Butler’s Robin to his Batman if the Heat are to bring down their second No. 1 seed in the NBA playoffs. Adebayo is averaging 16.3 points, 8.3 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game in the ECF, which is a slight difference from the Eastern Conference Semifinals, where he had 18.7 points and 9.7 rebounds a match.

The Heat can’t afford Adebayo to have a game off in the NBA Finals if they get there because Jokic and Murray can easily go out for 30+ points each. Even more, if the Heat were to upset the Nuggets, it would likely be because Adebayo restricted Jokic and controlled the paint on Murray drives. Butler will score more and more, but Adebayo’s two-way play could potentially be considered more valuable.

If punters aren’t feeling like Adebayo and more of them want a long-range Heat ticket in their wallet, Gabe Vincent (+25000) is someone to watch out for. Vincent produced four 20-point games and knocked down at least four threes six times in the NBA playoffs. However, the 26-year-old guard is dealing with an ankle injury he sustained in the third quarter in Game 4. Vincent is back in the game, but it will be interesting to see if the injury persists in Game 5.