Tag: nikola jokic mvp

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NBA Longshot – Denver Nuggets +850

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NBA Longshot – We have you covered – Denver Nuggets (+850)

As we mentioned in our Efficiency Champions article, the Nuggets didn’t have the defensive efficiency stats to qualify this year as a potential NBA Champion (efficiency wise) but their overall efficiency differential is 7th best. The Nuggets suffered through several key injuries to their starting 5 which hurt them throughout the regular season as they lacked depth. Now Aaron Gordon and his 16PPG and 6RPG is back on the floor, along with Cam Johnson finding his stroke (43% from deep this season) which has the Nuggets poised to make a serious run at the Championship. Nikola Jokic (how isn’t he the MVP) is a triple-double machine (27.7PPG, 12.9RPG, 10.7APG) and Jamal Murray is putting up fantastic numbers this season with 25.4PPG and 7.1APG. Since the All-Star break the Nuggets have gone 19-8 SU with the 7th best Net rating in the league. The regular season injuries may have been a blessing in disguise as it forced bench players into bigger roles. That experience now gives Denver some added depth they would have been missing in this post season. To win it all you have to be successful on the road and the Nuggets were 26-15 SU awa from home this regular season with an average plus/minus of +4.7PPG. It’s going to be VERY difficult to come out of the West against either the Thunder or Spurs, but the Nuggets are capable of doing it. We won’t be making a huge investment in this – but at these longer odds we’ll make a small wager on Denver +850.

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NBA MVP odds | Longshot Nikola Jokic – Denver Nuggets

Jokic MVP odds

Why Nikola Jokić at +6000 for NBA MVP Is the Sharpest Bet on the Board

As the 2025-26 regular season winds down, the MVP race has a clear favorite in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and serious buzz around Victor Wembanyama. But Nikola Jokić sits at +6000 on most sportsbooks—third in the odds but treated like an afterthought by voters. That number feels like a gift for bettors who actually look at the numbers instead of the narrative.

Let’s run the tape. Jokić is putting up 27.9 points per game (7th in the NBA), but he’s miles ahead of the flashier counting stats that voters love. He leads the league in rebounding at 12.9 RPG—Wembanyama is a distant 5th at 11.4. He’s also No. 1 in assists at 10.8 APG; Shai is back in 18th at 6.5. Both Jokić and Wemby have played 60-61 games. Shai has suited up for 64, yet the Serbian big man still posts the second-best PER in basketball (32.5-32.6 range), trailing only Giannis Antetokounmpo—who’s played just 34-36 games and is effectively out of the conversation.

Jokić is the only player in the top tier doing everything at an elite level. He’s not just scoring—he’s orchestrating the Nuggets’ offense like a point guard in a 7-footer’s body while dominating the glass. Efficiency? Off the charts. Wins above replacement and advanced metrics back it up. Yet the betting market and media have him as a distant long shot behind SGA (31.6 PPG on a presumed top seed) and Wemby (the shiny new superstar on a Spurs team rolling at a .760 clip).

So why the disrespect? Voter fatigue is real. Jokić already has three MVPs. NBA awards historically punish repeat winners once the “new shiny toy” narrative kicks in—see the love for Wemby’s two-way explosion or SGA’s scoring explosion on what looks like the league’s best team. Denver sits at 48-28 with 6 games to play, solid but not the juggernaut OKC or San Antonio have been. Narrative > stats in MVP voting, and the story right now is “SGA carries the No. 1 seed” or “Wemby is the future.” That’s exactly why +6000 is screaming value. Jokić has been the best all-around player in the league again. He leads the NBA in rebounding and assists while posting top-10 scoring on elite efficiency. His PER sits second only to a guy who barely played half a season. If the Nuggets close strong and Jokić keeps triple-double hunting, the advanced-stat crowd (and any voter who actually watches film) will remember who’s been the most valuable night in and night out. At +6000, you’re getting 60-1 implied odds on a player who’s been the best in the league by most objective measures. That’s not a long shot—that’s a mispriced gift. If you’re betting MVP futures, the Joker at plus money this big is the play. The numbers don’t lie. The market just isn’t listening.

We won’t make a large wager on this but will make a small investment instead. It’s not about stats or who is the best player, it’s political and biased and decided by uninformed, biased sports writers.

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