The NBA season is finally here, and one player has established himself as the clear preseason MVP favorite. 

Luka Doncic, who carried the Mavericks to the NBA Finals last season, is the consensus favorite to win his first MVP, sitting at +325 at Caesars Sportsbook. 

The Slovenia native has been in contention for the award for essentially his entire career, finishing in the top 10 in MVP voting and making first-team All-NBA in each of the past five seasons. 

Doncic barely beats out Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (+375), who finished second in MVP voting in 2023-24. 

Like Doncic, Gilgeous-Alexander is looking for his first MVP after previous close calls. 

Reigning NBA MVP Nikola Jokic (+475) rounds out the top five at Caesars. 

2024-25 NBA MVP odds

Jokic won the third MVP of his career last season, becoming just the ninth player in NBA history to win it three times. 

There’s a notable drop from those three to Anthony Edwards (+750) and Giannis Antetokounmpo (+850), who are the only other players with odds better than 10/1. 

After finishing fifth in the voting last season, Knicks star Jalen Brunson has the seventh-best odds in basketball to win the award (+1400). 

Betting on the NBA?

In a changing of the guard, perhaps the three biggest stars of the past decade in the NBA, Steph Curry (+3000), Kevin Durant (+7000) and LeBron James (+12500) are all outside the top ten on Caesars’ odds board.

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Dylan Svoboda is a versatile writer and analyst across many sports. He’s particularly knowledgeable about the big three — MLB, the NFL and the NBA.