NBA MVP Odds: 2026–27 Season Awards Futures
Bettors who wait until December to look at award futures usually pay for it. On this page, we talk about NBA MVP odds for the 2026–27 season plus the three other regular-season NBA betting possibilities.
Jump to:
- MVP
- Rookie of the Year
- 6th Man
- Defensive Player
Live NBA MVP Odds
Victor Wembanyama is on top, following a season where he won Defensive Player of the Year and dragged San Antonio to the Finals and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is right behind him. The NBA MVP odds in this table run off a live feed.
How NBA MVP Voting Works
A hundred sportswriters and broadcasters from across the world cast ballots, with each selecting five players. The league tallies points on those ballots, 10 for a first-place position, then 7, 5, 3 and 1 down to fifth.
Note that voters get tired of writing the same name. This hurts anyone chasing a third or fourth trophy, and they tend to overcorrect toward somebody new whose team is beating its projection.
NBA MVP History & Trends
Only seven men have won this since 2014–15, and not one of them came out of nowhere. You are betting on a very short list.
Running the results below against preseason NBA MVP odds is worth twenty minutes of your time. Favorites hold up more often than you would guess, though one February injury can wreck the entire board.
| Season | Winner | Team | Opening odds |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025–26 | Shai Gilgeous-Alexander | Oklahoma City Thunder | +150 |
| 2024–25 | Shai Gilgeous-Alexander | Oklahoma City Thunder | +400 |
| 2023–24 | Nikola Jokić | Denver Nuggets | +450 |
| 2022–23 | Joel Embiid | Philadelphia 76ers | +600 |
| 2021–22 | Nikola Jokić | Denver Nuggets | +1600 |
| 2020–21 | Nikola Jokić | Denver Nuggets | +2500 |
| 2019–20 | Giannis Antetokounmpo | Milwaukee Bucks | +210 |
| 2018–19 | Giannis Antetokounmpo | Milwaukee Bucks | +475 |
| 2017–18 | James Harden | Houston Rockets | +1100 |
| 2016–17 | Russell Westbrook | Oklahoma City Thunder | +200 |
| 2015–16 | Stephen Curry | Golden State Warriors | +650 |
| 2014–15 | Stephen Curry | Golden State Warriors | +1600 |
NBA Rookie of the Year Odds
Where a player got drafted still tells you most of what you need for NBA Rookie of the Year odds. Camp reports and depth charts swing NBA Rookie of the Year odds harder than anything else on this page.
NBA 6th Man of the Year Odds
A player needs more games off the bench than starts to be eligible. Dylan Harper opened as the favorite, a pattern that fits the prior six victors all playing for 52-win teams. Keldon Johnson won it last season after opening at +6000, so NBA 6th Man of the Year Odds reward patience.
NBA Defensive Player of the Year Odds
Nobody is priced shorter than Wembanyama. He took the award at 22, younger than anyone before him, led the league in blocks and held together the defense that got San Antonio to the Finals.
Big men have owned this vote for 40 years. Ben Wallace and Dikembe Mutombo each won it four times, which is the record, and that history is why NBA DPOY odds bunch up so badly at the top. If you want a price worth taking, look further down the board at centers on defenses expected to improve, because NBA DPOY odds are slow to catch up with roster changes.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is favored to win NBA MVP this season?
Wembanyama, Gilgeous-Alexander, and Nikola Jokic behind him have the narrowest NBA MVP odds in the category right now.
How is the NBA MVP decided?
100 media members each submit a five-man ballot, worth 10 points at the top and 1 at the bottom.
Why do some players become ineligible for MVP?
Players may become ineligible due to suspensions, insufficient appearances, roster status, league rules, or failing award-specific season requirements entirely.
Who has won the most MVP awards in NBA history?
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar won six. Bill Russell and Michael Jordan tied on five.
Conclusion
None of these boards hold still. Somebody gets hurt, a team nobody rated wins 15 in a row, and by March the 65-game rule starts knocking names off entirely. NBA Rookie of the Year odds and NBA 6th Man of the Year odds swing on nothing more than a coach changing his rotation. When the bracket takes shape, BetNow’s NBA Finals odds page is where most of the action happens.