Why OKC Thunder Star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander a Good Bet for NBA MVP Award in 2024–25

The Oklahoma City Thunder superstar has some of the top odds for the NBA MVP award and he might be a good bet this season.

May 18, 2024; Dallas, Texas, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) dribbles during the first half against the Dallas Mavericks in game six of the second round of the 2024 NBA playoffs at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports / Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

A year ago, Oklahoma City Thunder superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander spearheaded a 57-win campaign for the Bricktown boys. This regular season lifted OKC to the No. 1 seed out West and the team's first playoff series win since 2016 and second sweep in franchise history.

All this to the tune of 30 points, five rebounds, six assists, two steals and a block per game while shooting 53 percent from the floor, 35 percent beyond arc and 87 percent from the charity stripe. This was a prolific and downright historic efficiency season from the then 25-year-old guard.

Still, this was not good enough to net Gilgeous-Alexander the MVP award, instead the honor went to Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokic for the third time in four seasons - only broken up by Joel Embiid. This left the OKC Thunder star as the runner-up, marking his second straight top-five finish for the award.

Entering the 2024-25 campaign, Gilgeous-Alexander fetches the third-best odds to take home the hardware according to FanDuel (+550), only being placed behind Mavericks star Luka Doncic (+370) and Jokic (+360). The Thunder star holds a small edge above Emiid (+600).

With Oklahoma City reloading their roster to elongate their frontcourt depth with the signing of Isaiah Hartenstein and making life easier on the first five with Alex Caruso swapping in for Josh Giddey. This gives the Thunder the best odds to win the Western Conference according to FanDuel.

This could give Gilgeous-Alexander the inside lane for the Most Valuable Player award as many have come out defending the Thunder star since the decision was made in Jokic's favor - the latest being NBA legend Dwayne Wade as a commentator for Gilgeous-Alexander's electric Olympic performance.

With voter fatigue likely setting in for Jokic as NBA media continues to put pressure on themselves to watch the amount of honors they throw around in order to keep narrative and all-time debates at bay, Gilgeous-Alexander is the obvious next choice.

Countless times, NBA Media has tossed a player a make-good award after being deserving the year prior - couple that with the fact Gilgeous-Alexder is in line for another stellar season, if not career-year given the talent around him and you get a great bet.

While Doncic is dominant and one of the best players in the sport, the superstar just doesn't play in enough games routinely to not have that held against him. While he statistically will deserve MVP the voters are what count here - for better or worse.

This leaves Gilgeous-Alexander being one of the lone survivors of the MVP race of 2024-25 as the 76ers should be cautious with Embiid with visions set on a title and keeping the injury-prone big health for April.

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