We may have arrived to the NBA Finals and the regular season is now long in our rear-view mirror, but there’s still massive curiosity as far as who will take home the awards from the 2018-19 campaign — including, but not limited to: Most Valuable Player, Rookie of the Year and Coach of the Year. Vegas has released the odds for each award with a slate of superstars attached along with their numbers to win it all. The NBA is holding its third annual show on Monday, June 24.
The favorite to win the main award with the Most Valuable Player is Giannis Antetokounmpo currently placed by NBA betting sites at -500 odds. When you look at the rest of the list, Rudy Gobert is the favorite to take home the Defensive Player of the Year at -400, while Luka Doncic is deservingly the current top-dog to win the Rookie of the Year with a number of -900. To win the Most Improved Player is Pascal Siakam listed at -1600, and Lou Williams is currently the favorite to win the Sixth Man of the Year at -800. For Coach of the Year, it’s currently Mike Budenholzer and his -400 odds.
Grab your wallets, ladies and gentlemen. There’s a load of prop action in this one.
Giannis Antetokounmpo, known to others as ‘The Greek Freak’, has been absolutely incredible this season — a season that nearly led his Milwaukee Bucks to the NBA Finals, they would lose to the Toronto Raptors in the Eastern Conference Finals in six games, 4-2. Antetokounmpo was just two spots away from leading the league in scoring, he tallied third with a blazing average of 27.7 PPG. In the rebounding game, he would also place himself in the top 10 in sixth with a double-double number of 12.5 RPG. Antetokounmpo would also do his thing in the assist game, collecting a tally of 5.9 APG. Overall, his numbers would bring him a sexy dime-status PER of 30.95. Eclipsing the 30 thresholds would put him at fifth in the league to place him in the top five. When you look at his other numbers, you can’t help but to marvel as well. Just check out his crazy insane shooting percentage at 57.8 FG%, and then when you get to the defensive side of things, Giannis did his thing with numbers of 1.5 BLKPG and 1.3 STLPG. In other words, why shouldn’t this man win the MVP? He showed up in the playoffs as well, check the stat line: 25.5 PPG, 49.4 FG%, 32.7 3P%, 12.2 RPG, 4.9 APG, 2.0 BLKPG, 1.2 STLPG. I can hear the Milwaukee fans now: “MVP, MVP, MVP!”
Though not as balanced as Giannis Antetokounmpo, Houston Rockets fans could certainly make the case for James Harden to win the Most Valuable Player award. In the 2018-19 season, Harden would come away as the scoring champion leading the league with an unbelievable 36.1 PPG. His next top tally would come in the assist market, he would be just 2.5 ticks away from a double-double averaging 7.5 APG. On the glass, Harden wouldn’t have elite numbers, but they would be solid placing a number of 6.6 PPG. Overall, that would put him in the top 10 with the NBA’s PER — his 30.62 ranks seventh in the league. Considering the amount he shot, his 44.2 FG% is quite great, and just shows how consistent of a shooter that Harden has become. He’s also crazy good from the three, hitting 36.8 3P% from behind the arc. He was a solid thief on the defensive side, averaging out at 2.0 STLPG. Harden would still show up in the postseason, though his shooting was a bit down, here are the numbers: 31.6 PPG, 44.2 FG%, 36.8 3P%, 6.6 REB, 7.5 APG, 2.0 STLPG.
There’s a reason why Paul George comes in as the favorite to win the NBA Most Valuable Player award, and it’s incredibly obvious: Though he would do great in the scoring department, let’s be honest here, George just isn’t Giannis Antetokounmpo or James Harden — still a solid season though. In the points department, George was on fire this year with a number of 28.0 PPG which placed him second in the league. In the rebounding department, he would have a solid season nearly averaging a double-double at 8.2 RPG — that would rank 34th in the NBA. Ranking 57th, George would tally 4.1 APG when it came to ball movement. Not a bad season, but he would fail to crack the top 25 with a PER of 23.32, that came in the 28th position. His overall shooting would be a bit low at 43.8 FG%, but he would show up in three point shooting with a percentage of 38.6 3P%. He’s also pretty solid on the defensive side, compiling a tally in the steal department of 2.2 STLPG. George would also be pretty consistent in the postseason: 28.6 PPG, 43.6 FG%, 31.9 3P%, 8.6 RPG, 3.6 APG, 1.4 STLPG. Solid numbers for George, but not enough to take the MVP away from Antetokounmpo and Harden.
Rudy Gobert would already win the NBA Defensive Player of the Year last campaign, and now he comes into this season as the favorite to win the award yet again. Just last week, he was already named to the All-Defensive First Team, and that would eventually lead to being a finalist for this particular award that we’re covering. (On a side note, Gobert was also named to the All-NBA Third Team.) Though his numbers may not separate him too much from Giannis Antetokounmpo and Paul George, you have to make Gobert the favorite when he’s going for a repeat — just an incredible season for the 26-year-old, a season that will deliver him a super-max contract. As far as the numbers are concerned, he would post tallies of 2.3 BLKPG and 0.8 STLPG, and in the playoffs, it would be 2.6 BLKPG and 0.6 STLPG.
Not only is Giannis Antetokounmpo a candidate to win the Most Valuable Player award, but he’s also a favorite to win the NBA Defensive Player of the Year. His incredible defensive play this season had led him to a spot on the NBA All-Defensive First Team, and not only is it just a spot, but he also headlines the team. And not just that: Antetokounmpo, too, is a finalist for this award. When ‘The Greek Freak’ defense fully translates over to postseason play, the Milwaukee Bucks are going to be nearly unbeatable in the playoffs year after year. Overall, both defensively and offensively, Anteotokounmpo has been massively elite — definitely one of the best players in the league at the moment. In my opinion, Anteotokounmpo should get the award, and that’s because he has the most balanced productivity with his stat line of 1.5 BLKPG and 1.3 STLPG. He would also deliver in the playoffs massively with 2.0 BLKPG and 1.2 STLPG. Can we just give this man the award?
Not only did Paul George’s potent offensive play help the Oklahoma City Thunder get to the NBA Playoffs, but his elite defense has well — which is exactly why he’s the third favorite to win the NBA Defensive Player of the Year award. Last week, George would be named to the All-Defensive First Team, and like Gobert and Anteotokounmpo, he would be a headliner on the team. George would also be named a finalist for the award of the Defensive Player of the Year, a nice touch to go along with his already MVP candidacy. In the regular season, George would be magical on the defensive side of the ball with his tally of 2.2 STLPG — that would go along with his tally of 0.4 BLKPG. In the postseason, he wouldn’t be elite, but it would still be a solid performance with 1.4 STLPG and 0.2 BLKPG on the stat sheet.
Mike Budenholzer is a heavy favorite to win the NBA Coach of the Year award, and after what he did with his Milwaukee Bucks this season, it’s easy to understand why — he’s currently at -400, 700 points over the next favorite of Doc Rivers at +300. Budenholzer would lead the Bucks to a crazy elite 60-win season at 60-22, winning the Central Division and grabbing the No. 1 seed of the Eastern Conference. When the playoffs rolled around, Budenholzer would then lead Milwaukee all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals before losing to the Toronto Raptors in six games, 4-2. Just impressive what Budenholzer was able to do with the Bucks this season, I just don’t know how you can give the award to anybody else as a result. And just check out the incredible numbers that he led the Bucks to: In points-per-game, Milwaukee is on top of the league with a steaming average of 118.1 PPG. In rebounding, they’re also ranked in first near the 50 threshold at 49.7 RPG, and then they have another top 10 ranking in seventh with 26.0 APG. On the defensive side, the Bucks would nearly hit the top 10 in that category as well, they would fall just short with an 11th place ranking with a tally of 109.3 PA.
With a limited talent pool, injuries, roster moves, and a little drama here and there, Doc Rivers would still be able to make the 2018-19 campaign a profitable one. In a tough Western Conference, Rivers would put his Clippers just two wins away from a 50-win season — L.A. would place themselves with a 48-34 record. That would lead them to a second place finish in the Pacific Division and a playoff berth after finishing eighth in the Western Conference. They would go on to face the Golden State Warriors in the first round, and even though they would be bounced from the postseason, Rivers would lead his Clippers to two victories against the defending back-to-back champions. Overall, it was a success story for Rivers, but I wouldn’t place him over Mike Budenholzer and the job he did with the Milwaukee Bucks.
I would certainly give the NBA Coach of the Year to Milwaukee’s Mike Budenholzer, but if Budenholzer wasn’t a factor, I would for sure award Mike Malone the honor. The job that he did this season with the Denver Nuggets was absolutely incredible. With a team led by Jokic Nikola and other talents that isn’t known in the average household, Malone was still able to squeeze out maximum effectiveness out of his roster and led his Nuggets to a 50-win season — they would finish with a record of 54-28. That record would lead them to the Northwest Division championship, and also the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference. Malone would then lead Denver to the Western Conference Semifinals, where they would play an unbelievable series against the Portland Trail Blazers. Unfortunately for the Nuggets, however, they would go down in seven games, 3-4. Still though, just an incredible season for Mike Malone and the Denver Nuggets, and with his odds at a high +800, I would certainly take advantage and place a bet. After the season he had, he definitely has a realistic shot of winning the award, and if he does, those +800 odds will be very profitable as you know.
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