MVP & ROY Odds Change With Major Injuries Around The NBA
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MVP Award
LeBron James has a high-ankle sprain, and his timetable is still up in the air. The early news indicates he will be out a few weeks minimum, and he was already being surpassed by Joel Embiid, who also is going to miss a few weeks. These names with Nikola Jokic have been the main three names talked about this season, but now Jokic is sitting at -110 on DraftKings, leading the way. Embiid is +500, and James is +600. However, Lika Doncic is +1400, and James Harden is +900. If Durant and Irving continue to miss time, Harden is going to continue to rack up numbers. There will be some voters that don’t like Harden’s Houston exit, and that could deter some votes. Doncic is interesting because Dallas has an easy remaining schedule, and his numbers could make him a value at the moment.
Jokic remains the best bet, but all that value is gone now. Futures really have a lot that goes into them, and an injury can derail a bet real quick. Denver has been playing well, and Jokic’s numbers are historical at this point. With the injuries to Embiid and James, they would have to really get back quickly and not miss a beat.
Rookie of the Year Award
Lamelo Ball was -500 to win the Rookie of the Year award, and now news has shown that he might have a fractured wrist. This would cause him to miss the rest of the season, and the award would go out the window. He is still listed as +225 in case the injury isn’t as bad, but it seems unlikely. Anthony Edwards now moves up to -182. Edwards is now averaging 16-4-2 on the season. We knew he wasn’t going to shoot lights out, and efficiency was going to be an issue, but he is a lot of fun.
Coming out of the break, he is averaging 27-6-2, shooting 44% from the field and 39% from three. His minutes are up as Minnesota continues to let him have the keys to the offense. Edwards, Wiseman, and Haliburton have generally been the names within the awards. Haliburton would be interesting at +300, but he would need to have a major jump in production and playing time. He also doesn’t have that media pull that the other two have, where Edwards and Ball have a lot of buzz around him. Overall the value is pretty much gone on the ROY and was either way because Ball was going to win the award. DraftKings is also still paying out futures bet if Ball doesn’t win.
