Four teams are still alive in the relentless hunt for the 2022 NBA Championship. The best players on all four teams are the betting favorites to win the NBA Finals MVP, including Steph Curry from the Golden State Warriors at +180 odds, followed by Jayson Tatum (+220) from the Boston Celtics, Jimmy Butler (+550) from the Miami Heat, and Luka Doncic (+550) from the Dallas Mavericks.
Even though Curry won three titles with the Golden State Warriors, he never won the NBA Finals MVP. At the same time, Tatum, Butler, and Doncic have never won a championship, so never had a chance to secure the NBA Finals MVP.
| 2022 NBA Finals MVP Odds Update |
- Steph Curry +180
- Jayson Tatum +220
- Jimmy Butler +550
- Luka Doncic +550
- Jaylen Brown +1800
- Draymond Green +2000
- Klay Thompson +2000
- Jordan Poole +2000
- Bam Adebayo +2500
- Marcus Smart +5000
- Jalen Brunson +7000
- Tyler Herro +8000
- Al Horford +8000
- Grant Williams +8000
- Kyle Lowry +10000
- Spencer Dinwiddie +12000
- Robert Williams +15000
- Andrew Wiggins +15000
- Victor Oladipo +15000
- Dorian Finney-Smith +30000
The conventional way to wager on the NBA Finals MVP is to back the best player on the winning team. Jerry West is the only player in history to win the MVP for the runners-up when he won the first-ever NBA Finals MVP for the LA Lakers in 1969.
Curry +180
Curry averages 26.9 points and 5.6 assists per game in the postseason. He missed 47 treys in the Western Conference semifinals against the Memphis Grizzlies and shot just 32.8%. He’s not as sharp as he used to be, but Curry still has no qualms about jacking up deep shots. He attempted double-digit 3-pointers seven times out of 11 playoff games.
If the Warriors expect to win eight more games and another championship, they’ll need Curry to shoot lights out. At the start of the postseason, Curry was +800 odds to win the MVP as the fourth-highest player on the prop betting board at DraftKings. Right now, Curry is the outright NBA Finals MVP favorite at +180 odds.
If Curry guides the Warriors to a title, but his awards curse continues, you could expect a trio of teammates to win the NBA Finals MVP including Draymond Green (+2000 odds), Klay Thompson (+2000), or Jordan Poole (+2000).
Tatum +220
Tatum averaged 28.3 points, 6.1 assists, and 5.6 rebounds per game for the Celtics in the postseason this year. He’s a great potential pick because he has the ability to drop 40 points during any given game — just like his 46-point eruption in a do-or-die Game 6 against the Milwaukee Bucks. That’s the kind of juicy highlight NBA Finals MVP voters are swayed by. Of course, the Celtics have to win a championship if Tatum expects to fondle the MVP trophy.
Tatum was +900 odds to win the NBA Finals MVP when the playoffs began, but he’s now the second favorite on the board at +220 odds.
If you’re thinking about one of the other Celtics to win the NBA Finals MVP, Jaylen Brown is +1800 odds, and a dinged-up Marcus Smart is a long shot at +5000 odds.
Doncic +550
Doncic has been the most dominant player in the playoffs so far, and let’s not forget, he missed two games with a calf strain and didn’t really hit his stride until the last few games of the opening round. The Slovenian superstar leads the final four teams as the highest scorer, averaging 31.3 points per game. He also averages 10.1 rebounds, 6.6 assists, and 1.9 steals per game in the playoffs.
No one expected the Mavs to get out of the first round of the playoffs, which is why Doncic was +9000 odds to win the NBA Finals MVP in mid-April. You can back Doncic at +550 odds, which is the same odds as Butler.
Butler +550
Never count Jimmy Buckets out. Butler guided the Miami Heat to a berth in the 2020 NBA Finals, where they were edged out by the LA Lakers. He has a second shot at returning to the NBA Finals, but has a tough road in front of him with the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference finals. Butler is already having a monstrous postseason, averaging 28.7 points, 7.6 rebounds, 5.4 assists, and 2.1 steals per game.
If the Heat run the table and win the championship, it’s because no one can stop Jimmy Buckets. Butler opened the postseason at +1800 odds to win the NBA Finals MVP, but he’s now tied with Doncic as the third-highest pick on the board at +550 odds.
Bam Adebayo could go on an epic run in the NBA Finals, but he’s +2500 odds to have a better finals performance than Butler. Tyler Herro, the NBA Sixth Man of the Year, is a long shot to win the Finals MVP at +8000 odds because he’s been bogged down in a shooting slump and his postseason scoring is way off from the regular season.
Check out OG’s extensive coverage of the 2022 NBA playoffs.
