{"id":10425,"date":"2011-02-15T23:22:03","date_gmt":"2011-02-15T23:22:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.joeduffy.net\/blog\/?p=10425"},"modified":"2011-02-15T23:22:03","modified_gmt":"2011-02-15T23:22:03","slug":"amar%e2%80%99e-stoudemire-lebron-james-top-nba-mvp-odds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.joeduffy.net\/blog\/2011\/02\/amar%e2%80%99e-stoudemire-lebron-james-top-nba-mvp-odds\/","title":{"rendered":"Amar\u2019e Stoudemire, LeBron James Top NBA MVP Odds"},"content":{"rendered":"

With the All-Star weekend approaching and many of the NBA\u2019s biggest stars gathering in one place, now\u2019s as good a time as any to explore NBA futures<\/a> for the league MVP. Here\u2019s a look at the top 10 favorites plus a free pick for the winner from this sports betting blog<\/a>.<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 LeBron James<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sportsbook odds: +200<\/p>\n

LeBron James has arguably been the NBA\u2019s best player since the start of 2011. He\u2019s found his groove with the Heat, largely because Dwyane Wade has settled into a secondary scoring role. There\u2019s a slight concern that Wade could steal votes but LeBron is a fair frontrunner for the award.<\/p>\n

VERDICT: Contender<\/p>\n

2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Amar\u2019e Stoudemire<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sportsbook odds: +200<\/p>\n

Two months ago, Amar\u2019e may have been the clear-cut favorite to capture MVP honors. But the Knicks have struggled ever since the Carmelo Anthony trade rumors surfaced. With New York no longer guaranteed to make the playoffs, can we take Stoudemire seriously in the MVP race?<\/p>\n

VERDICT: Pretender<\/p>\n

3.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Derrick Rose<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sportsbook odds: +220<\/p>\n

He still doesn\u2019t have the cache of the other guys surrounding him on this list but Derrick Rose has been as good and consistent as any player in the league this year. He especially deserves mention because he helped keep the Bulls\u2019 ship afloat despite injuries to Carlos Boozer and Joakim Noah at different points. He\u2019s as strong a pick for the award as anyone right now.<\/p>\n

VERDICT: Contender<\/p>\n

4.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Kevin Durant <\/strong><\/p>\n

Sportsbook odds: +400<\/p>\n

It\u2019s surprising that Kevin Durant doesn\u2019t get more love in the MVP debate. He\u2019s poised to win his second straight league scoring title on a steadily improving team poised to win its first division title since drafting him. Will the voters finally wake up and hand him the hardware? Quite possibly.<\/p>\n

VERDICT: Contender<\/p>\n

5.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Dirk Nowitzki<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sportsbook odds: +500<\/p>\n

If you believe in the theory that the MVP should truly be the guy who impacts his team the most, Dirk Nowitzki is an intriguing play. He plays for the Mavericks, they dominate. He hurts his knee, they go on a big losing streak. He gets healthy again, the Mavs get hot again. As Dirk goes, so do the Dallas Mavericks.<\/p>\n

VERDICT: Sleeper<\/p>\n

6.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Chris Paul<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sportsbook odds: +500<\/p>\n

This looks like fool\u2019s good to me. Paul is high on most NBA betting<\/a> oddsmakers\u2019 lists because he\u2019s a \u201cname.\u201d But he\u2019s on pace for four-year lows in scoring, shooting percentage and assists. How does that amount to an MVP award?<\/p>\n

VERDICT: Pretender<\/p>\n

7.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Dwight Howard <\/strong><\/p>\n

Sportsbook odds: +600<\/p>\n

Howard makes for an excellent pick for two reasons. For one, he\u2019s extremely valuable to his own team the same way Nowitzki is. Face it \u2013 the Magic would barely be a playoff team without him. Secondly, he brings more defensive prowess to the table than anyone else on this list. He\u2019s someone you can\u2019t forget about.<\/p>\n

VERDICT: Contender<\/p>\n

8.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Kobe Bryant<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sportsbook odds: +1200<\/p>\n

As much as everyone rags on the Lakers for \u201cstruggling,\u201d this team is still running away with its own division and Kobe Bryant is still among the league\u2019s elite scorers. One hot month could vault him back into the MVP race.<\/p>\n

VERDICT: Sleeper<\/p>\n

9.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Dwyane Wade<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sportsbook odds: +1500<\/p>\n

Barring an injury to LeBron that forces him back into the limelight, Wade has no shot at the MVP this year. He isn\u2019t even the best player on his own team.<\/p>\n

VERDICT: Pretender<\/p>\n

10.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Blake Griffin <\/strong><\/p>\n

Sportsbook<\/a> odds: +2000<\/p>\n

The super-rookie Blake Griffin has absolutely been one of the most dynamic and valuable players to his team this year. However, I suspect the voters will honor him with the Rookie of the Year and not feel the need to give him an MVP award on top of that. Plus \u2013 the Clippers would have to make the playoffs for Griffin to even warrant consideration.<\/p>\n

VERDICT: Pretender<\/p>\n

NBA MVP free pick<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019m gonna place some faith that the voters get it \u201cright\u201d this year and go with Dwight Howard<\/strong>. He\u2019s been as consistent as any superstar in the league this year and he significantly impacts his team at both ends of the court every night.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With the All-Star weekend approaching and many of the NBA\u2019s biggest stars gathering in one place, now\u2019s as good a time as any to explore NBA futures for the league MVP. Here\u2019s a look at the top 10 favorites plus a free pick for the winner from this sports betting blog. 1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 LeBron James Sportsbook … Continue reading Amar\u2019e Stoudemire, LeBron James Top NBA MVP Odds<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10425","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports_betting_news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.joeduffy.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10425","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.joeduffy.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.joeduffy.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.joeduffy.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.joeduffy.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10425"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.joeduffy.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10425\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10427,"href":"https:\/\/www.joeduffy.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10425\/revisions\/10427"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.joeduffy.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10425"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.joeduffy.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10425"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.joeduffy.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10425"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}