Victor Wembanyama (San Antonio Spurs)
It’s frightening to imagine just how good Victor Wembanyama will one day be. Already, he is a dominant force in the league, and very possibly a top five player – that’s at the age of just 21 and with only a season-and-a-half in the NBA under his belt. His improvement in that time has been dramatic – and he was already pretty good to start – and as we near the All-Star break, he is averaging 24.6 points on decent shooting (though there is plenty of improvement in that area likely to come), 10.9 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 1.1 steals and a ridiculous 3.9 blocks – for context, in second for blocks per game is Walker Kessler with a comparatively measly 2.3.
Wembanyama is already a really imposing presence at the offensive end of the floor, though his offensive production alone wouldn’t have him rated nearly as highly. Combined with the fact that he is by far the most influential defender in the league, however, and you have one of the most impactful overall players going around. The Spurs have gradually accumulated a few decent players and the addition of De’Aaron Fox just prior to the trade deadline will take them up another level or two, but the team as it’s been constructed for the first few months of the season would be one of the worst in the league without Wemby. With him, they are a playoff contender in the Western Conference. His team is not as good as the genuine MVP contenders nor are his numbers – at least offensively – as impressive, so while he will very possibly be winning multiple MVPs in the future, this season is probably a little too soon. His defensive dominance, however, as well as the fact that it’s very feasible for him to dramatically increase his numbers over the remainder of the regular season, means there could certainly be some voters who rate him a lot more highly than the average punter. At extremely long odds, his ceiling makes him a better bet than someone like Tatum.
Bet on Victor Wembanyama to win the MVP @ $251.00 with Unibet
Anthony Davis (Dallas Mavericks)
If Anthony Davis were to win this season’s MVP, he would go into the record books as the first player to ever do that playing for two different teams in the same season. That is, of course, a rank long shot, but hey – who knows what kind of fire being traded mid-season seemingly out of the blue will light in him. The perennially injured former Laker had one of the most consistent seasons of his career in 2023-24, and lo and behold, not being injured appeared to have paid dividends. He flew out of the blocks this season and was one of the most dominant players in the league over the first few weeks, establishing himself as a bonafide MVP contender in that time. It didn’t really last – not that he started playing badly, but the 40-point 15-rebound efforts so prevalent early in the season have been a little fewer and further between for some time now, and he’s gone from a genuine MVP candidate to a very long outsider as a result.
He did, however, put up a 42-point, 23-rebound performance against the Hornets late in January, and as it turned out that was the last full game he played as a Laker. Perhaps the biggest trade in NBA history saw him sent to Dallas just before the All-Star break, and he will now play out the remainder of the season alongside the likes of Kyrie Irving and Klay Thompson instead of LeBron James and Austin Reaves. In the Laker-portion of his season, Davis averaged 25.7 points on 52.8% shooting, 11.9 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 1.3 steals and 2.1 blocks – great numbers, but not really enough to win the MVP. To get close, he’ll need to be the best player in the league in his first 30 games as a Maverick, which it’s safe to say is unlikely. Regardless, he’s had a great season, and one that he nor the NBA will not be forgetting anytime soon.
Bet on Anthony Davis to win the MVP @ $501.00 with Unibet
LeBron James (Los Angeles Lakers)
The MVP discussion is not typically the domain of 40-year-olds, but here we are. Realistically, of course, LeBron James is at $501 to win it for a reason, but even the fact that he is still in the conversation to be a top-ten player is remarkable enough. The leading points scorer in NBA history has seen his points-per-game drop once again this season, something it’s done every year since he averaged 30.3 in 2021-22, but it’s hardly been a notable drop-off. His 24.1 points a night are still coming at an impressive clip – 51.4% from the field and 38.1% from long range – while he’s also grabbing 7.6 rebounds per game and 9.1 assists – the latter of which is, incredibly, the second highest number of his illustrious career.
LeBron had obviously developed a pretty good on-court rapport with Davis by this stage, so it will be interesting to see how he adapts to life a) without his running mate, and b) with one of the most ball-dominant players in the league in Luka Doncic alongside him. But at 40, LeBron is increasingly content to play off ball more often, and he’ll certainly have that itch scratched by Doncic. How it affects his production remains to be seen, but it seems more likely to flatten his numbers out a little rather than boost them, not that he will be all that fussed. LeBron isn’t chasing MVPs at this stage of his career, he’s chasing titles, and while he seems likely to put up decent numbers forever, they won’t be enough to have him legitimately in the mix for the MVP award.
Bet on LeBron James to win the MVP @ $501.00 with Unibet
Donovan Mitchell (Cleveland Cavaliers)
Finally, to the (probably) best player on the team with the best record in the NBA – at least for the time being. The Cavs are being hunted down by the Thunder, but regardless of that they have been extremely impressive this season and Donovan Mitchell is a significant reason why. It’s testament to both the players and Kenny Atkinson as coach that Mitchell has actually been a little down on his usual production this season – his 23.8 points per game are the lowest since his sophomore season, while his 4.4 rebounds and 4.7 assists are also well down on last year’s numbers. But that’s not to say he’s been bad – Darius Garland has improved and taken on a more significant role, while Evan Mobley – who has the highest ceiling on this team – has also taken another step forward.
In fact, a case could be made that Garland has been better than Mitchell this season, and Mobley’s not all that far off either. If you had to pick one, however, it would probably be Mitchell, and that’s why he’s top of the list of Cavaliers in the MVP discussion. But his presence there is really all academic. The best player on the best team is generally going to be at least somewhere in the conversation, though it’s questionable whether he is the Cavs’ best player and whether they are the best team. Mitchell will play a key role in determining how far this team can go in the postseason and probably has the capacity to take his game to another level more than anyone else on his team at this point in time, but he won’t be getting a look in on many, if any, MVP ballots at the end of the season.
Bet on Donovan Mitchell to win the MVP @ $501.00 with Unibet