Following an offseason marked by controversy and uncertainty, James Harden has opened the NBA season on a torrid pace, averaging a league-leading 39 points per game. Despite that fast start, however, the Houston Rockets star continues to lag behind the favourites on the 2021 NBA MVP odds as a +2500 wager at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
Harden’s strong season debut comes on the heels of a tumultuous month. In addition to requesting a trade out of Houston, and arriving a week late to Rockets training camp, Harden was also slapped with a hefty fine for violating the NBA’s COVID-19 protocols. However, Harden’s strong start could help the Rockets find a trade partner for the 31-year-old, who is reportedly eager to reunite with former teammate Kevin Durant in Brooklyn.
Sidelined by injury for all of last season, Durant sits near the top of the NBA MVP odds as a short +550 wager at sports betting sites. The 32-year-old has not missed a beat in his Nets debut, averaging 28.3 points per game, capped by a 33-point, 11-rebound performance in Wednesday’s 145-141 win over Atlanta.
But it’s Luka Doncic who continues to lead the way on those NBA odds as a +300 favourite to win MVP. The 21-year-old Dallas Mavericks star is coming off a breakthrough campaign, and particularly shone in the NBA playoff bubble, racking up 31.0 points, 9.8 rebounds, and 8.7 assists per game. However, Doncic has yet to duplicate that effort during the Mavericks’ 1-3 start, averaging just 23.8 points per game to date, and going 2-for-21 on three-point attempts.
The Milwaukee Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo sits second to Doncic at +450 on the 2021 NBA MVP odds, while the Los Angeles Lakers duo of Anthony Davis and LeBron James round out the front of the pack, each sporting +900 odds.
The reigning two-time NBA MVP, Antetokounmpo has produced mixed results in the early going, failing to top 15 points in consecutive outings while leading the Bucks to a middling 2-3 start. However, Antetokounmpo closed out 2020 on an impressive note, recording his first triple-double of the season in Wednesday’s 119-108 loss in Miami.
Davis and James have a tough act to follow after leading the Lakers to their first NBA title in a decade last summer. While James has led the Lakers in scoring in three of their first five outings of the season, it has been a slower start for Davis, who has topped 20 points just once in four outings.
Further down the NBA MVP odds, Damian Lillard is pegged at +1200, just ahead of Stephen Curry at +1600, while Jayson Tatum joins Nikola Jokic at +2000 on those betting lines.
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