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Sixers’ Tyrese Maxey is favorite to win Most Improved Player in NBA’s futures market

While Tyrese Maxey is the favorite to win the Most Improved Player award, his teammate and reigning NBA MVP Joel Embiid is third in the odds to win the award for the second straight season.

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - NOVEMBER 12: Tyrese Maxey #0 of the Philadelphia 76ers assists Joel Embiid #21 during the second quarter against the Indiana Pacers at the Wells Fargo Center on November 12, 2023 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - NOVEMBER 12: Tyrese Maxey #0 of the Philadelphia 76ers assists Joel Embiid #21 during the second quarter against the Indiana Pacers at the Wells Fargo Center on November 12, 2023 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images)Read moreTim Nwachukwu / Getty Images
    by Kevin Rogers, Action Network
    Published 

A little more than a quarter of the NBA season is in the rearview mirror and several players are making cases for individual awards, although there is a lot of competition in some of these betting markets.

Most Valuable Player odds

The MVP award can go any number of directions as Denver’s Nikola Jokic is the current favorite at around 2/1 odds at most sportsbooks, and it’s easy to see why.

Jokic, who won the honor in the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons, is putting up a career-high in points for the Nuggets at 27.2 per game. His assist numbers are superior to his two MVP seasons, and his rebounds aren’t far behind.

Take a look at how his stats from this season compare to those from his two MVP wins:

  1. 2020-21: 26.4 points, 10.8 rebounds, 8.4 assists

  2. 2021-22: 27.1 points, 13.8 rebounds, 7.9 assists

  3. 2022-23: 27.2 points, 12.7 rebounds, 9.4 assists

Sixers big man Joel Embiid seeks his second straight MVP award as he leads the league in scoring this season at 33.8 points per game. Embiid is averaging more points, rebounds, and assists per game this season than he did last season, while leading Philadelphia to a 16-7 record.

Embiid is actually the third betting choice for MVP at 6/1, right behind Mavericks’ guard Luka Doncic, who is a shade below 4/1 odds at most sportsbooks.

Here is how the three top candidates compare this season (stat leader in bold):

  1. Jokic (2/1 or +200): 27.2 points, 12.7 rebounds, 9.4 assists

  2. Doncic (4/1 or +400): 32.3 points, 8.1 rebounds, 9.1 assists

  3. Embiid (6/1 or +600): 33.8 points, 11.4 rebounds, 6.3 assists

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Most Improved Player odds leaders

Embiid’s teammate, guard Tyrese Maxey is the leading candidate for MIP. Maxey is the odds-on favorite at -135, according to FanDuel, while the second betting choice is Houston’s Alperen Sengun, who has odds listed at 5/1.

Maxey is averaging 26.1 points per game, which ranks 13th in the NBA and is a six-point improvement from last season.

Rookie of the Year odds leaders

The ROY race will be interesting even though San Antonio’s Victor Wembanyama was the odds-on favorite entering the season.

The top pick from June’s draft is averaging 19.3 points per game, although the Spurs are in the midst of an 18-game losing streak, which could be a deciding factor for voters in a close race.

And at the moment, it’s a dead heat between Wemby and Oklahoma City’s Chet Holmgren, the Thunder’s top pick from a year ago who is eligible for this award because he missed his entire first season with a Lisfranc injury.

Here’s how the two players stack up at the moment:

  1. Wembanyama (5/6): 19.3 points, 10.7 rebounds, 3.0

  2. Holmgren (5/6): 16.9 points, 8.0 rebounds, 2.4 blocks

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