Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Enters 2024-25 NBA Season With Fourth-Best MVP Odds

The Oklahoma City Thunder have seen Shai Gilgeous-Alexander make a leap to superstardom and now places fourth in odds for the 2024-25 MVP award.

Apr 24, 2024; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) gestures after scoring a basket against the New Orleans Pelicans during the second quarter of game two of the first round for the 2024 NBA playoffs at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-USA TODAY Sports / Alonzo Adams-USA TODAY Sports

The Oklahoma City Thunder have watched Shai Gilgeous-Alexander transcend his game since landing in Bricktown - the 25-year-old guard has made a superstar leap featuring back-to-back top-five finishes for the Most Valuable Player Award.

Gilgeous-Alexander dragged the Thunder to a 40-42 season during the 2022-23 campaign good enough for a play-in bid and led Oklahoma City to a 57-25 year in 2023-24 en route to staking claim to the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference - the youngest squad to ever pull off such a feat.

As the Thunder continue to climb, Gilgeous-Alexander gets more and more shine now boasting two All-Star appearances (one start) and two first-team All-NBA nods, it feels like just a matter of time before he takes home the MVP hardware and the Thunder burst through after winning their first playoff series since the 2016 season.

OKC remains in a position to improve their already contending club this summer which could make life easier on their max contract star. It is no surprise that as the odds roll out for next year's honor, Gilgeous-Alexander has the fourth-best odds to take home the MVP hardware according to FanDuel.

However, this might not be a good bet - to no fault of the Thunder superstars - the award has increasingly become narrative-driven over the years. What more can Gilgeous-Alexander do to built a storybook season than what he did in the 2023-24 season that still saw him come up short.

The OKC Thunder star brought the youngest team in the NBA to the No. 1 seed out West, outshooting his win total projection by 15-plus games for the second consecutive season, averaging 30 points on otherworldly efficiency and leading the NBA in steals while participating in 75 games.

There is not much else the star can do to get over the MVP hump as there will certainly be a new kid on the block wit ha shocking season. As the win expectation and pressure grows, the less likely voters are to dish out credit to Gilgeous-Alexander. It turns into the same story they have already seen.

After being robbed of this season's honor it doesn't seem wise to throw a chunk of change down on a 2024-25 victory.

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