With the NBA season tipping off today, it’s absolutely 100 percent way too early to prognosticate on who could win the major NBA awards at the end of the season. Despite all the information we have on offseason moves, player stats, award history, etc., we still have no idea how the season will play out or what storylines will rise to grip the nation and the MVP voting panel.
But that doesn’t mean you can’t get odds on it.
The NBA’s awards are deep, with titles for Most Valuable Player, Rookie of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Sixth Man of the Year, Clutch Player of the Year and more. Two of those categories have favorites with better than 50-50 odds to win it: Cooper Flagg -225 for ROY and Victor Wembanyama -190 for DPOY.
But of course, the award everyone cares most about, Most Valuable Player, is more of a toss-up.
Let’s get into the odds for NBA MVP and other top awards as the season tips off.
NBA MVP live odds
The reigning NBA MVP is favored to win it again and become only the 14th player to win the award in consecutive years. (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and LeBron James did it twice!) Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is, as of publishing, tied on BetMGM with Nikola Jokić at +275 to win the 2025-26 NBA regular-season MVP award.
Jokić opened as the strong favorite after the close of the 2024-25 season with +250 odds, with SGA in second behind him at +450. By last week, SGA had jumped Jokić and shortened his odds to +250, with the three-time MVP dropping slightly to +300. At +275 now, they both have an implied probability of a little over 26 percent.
Right below them, and essentially neck-and-neck, is Luka Dončić at +375, which is an implied probability of a little over 21 percent. SGA and Jokić were the only two players with first-place votes last year. Dončić has been in the MVP conversation for most of his NBA career and has finished top-five in MVP voting three times in those seven years. But injuries last year, and being on teams that didn’t truly contend for the championship title, hurt his chances.
The same could be the case this year. The Oklahoma City Thunder and Denver Nuggets are the top two favorites to win the NBA Finals this year, while the Lakers are seventh in futures odds.
A tier forming below the top three
After this tier of three, the odds drop off a bit with Wembanyama next at +1100 and Giannis Antetokounmpo at +1200.
Antetokounmpo (+1200) will be the main reason his team is good … if they are good. He’s a nearly unparalleled player on a team that may not be able to return the favor.
Wembanyama is still somewhat of an unknown in terms of this award, as he’s never made the playoffs, and his team is likely going to be grateful for a Play-in spot. But if they get there, it’ll be thanks to his greatness.
Of the top five favorites on the odds board, three have already won the award at least once (Jokić, Gilgeous-Alexander and Antetokounmpo), but two would be clinching their first if they win it: Wembanyama and Dončić.
Just below the top five, Anthony Edwards is in sixth with +1900 odds. There hasn’t been a U.S.-born MVP since James Harden in 2018. The guy who is often celebrated as the hoped-for “next face of the NBA” has had flashes of great and a lot of good. His Minnesota Timberwolves should be contenders in the Western Conference this year, which would help his case.
NBA Rookie of the Year odds
Welcome to the NBA, being the face of a new (ugly?) New Balance shoe, and the top of the NBA ROY odds, Cooper Flagg! The phenom out of Duke was the star of this year’s March Madness and the first overall pick in the NBA Draft. He is far and away the favorite to win ROY this year.
But another player is getting most of the bets for this award, as the public sees talent and an opportunity to get a big payday. Former Rutgers star and fifth overall pick Ace Bailey has 16.3 percent of the tickets on BetMGM and 21.6 percent of the overall handle (total amount bet).
Bailey is tied at +1000 odds with No. 6 overall pick Tre Johnson and No. 3 overall pick V.J. Edgecombe.
NBA Defensive Player of the Year odds
Wemby is the strong favorite for DPOY this year. The Athletic’s Zach Harper estimates his talent: “There’s going to be a year when he averages 25 points, 10 rebounds, five assists, and five blocks. Just not yet.”
Last season’s winner, Evan Mobley, is third at +1300.