The NBA Finals are here, and despite the disparity in seeding there are still plenty of stars to watch entering Game 1.
The Denver Nuggets make their debut thanks to two-time MVP Nikola Jokic playing on another level for the past two months. The Miami Heat have their own top-tier star in Jimmy Butler, who has enough spectacular performances in this postseason to make a few highlight reels.
Last season it was Stephen Curry who rose to the occasion and won NBA Finals MVP. Who will take home the hardware in this series? Let's take a look at the 2023 NBA Finals MVP odds.
2023 NBA Finals MVP Odds
Odds as of Monday, June 1 and via BetMGM.
| Player | Finals MVP Odds |
|---|---|
| Nikola Jokic | -350 |
| Jimmy Butler | +350 |
| Jamal Murray | +1000 |
| Caleb Martin | +3000 |
| Bam Adebayo | +5000 |
| Michael Porter Jr. | +20000 |
| Aaron Gordon | +20000 |
| Bruce Brown | +25000 |
| Max Strus | +25000 |
| Gabe Vincent | +25000 |
| Kyle Lowry | +25000 |
| Kentavious Caldwell-Pope | +50000 |
| Kevin Love | +50000 |
The Favorite
When you put up the type of numbers Jokic has over the playoffs, you get to be at the top of this list with a nice gap between second place. Our own Evan Abrams had an amazing note in his NBA Finals betting primer: Jokic's current NBA Finals MVP price is the highest for any player over the past 20 years. Only two other players have been -200 over that span: Kobe Bryant and LeBron James.
The Nuggets and Jokic are making their debut in the NBA Finals, so there's a chance Jokic doesn't look the same on this stage, which has happened to plenty of greats in the past. Still, with the many advantages (home, rest, size etc.) the Nuggets have over the Heat in the matchup, it would be shocking to see anyone but Jokic walk away with MVP.
The Mid Tier
This tier is also just one player. Butler took home Eastern Conference finals MVP honors despite entering that series at +400 to win (he was +1400 to win Finals MVP at the time as well), and with the Heat listed at +310 at BetMGM to win the series, his MVP odds are strongly correlated. At this point, we shouldn't be surprised by anything the Heat manage to pull off, but every scenario would seem to have Butler leading the charge.
The Long Shots
Here's where things get interesting. Murray has been the best player on the floor on more than one occasion in this playoff run, and aside from sharing the floor with Jokic, he faced Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, LeBron James and Anthony Davis in the last two rounds. It would take four of those vintage Murray performances for him to surpass Jokic and get the votes, but Murray has shown he's capable of going toe to toe with anyone.
Martin fell one vote short of the Larry Bird ECF MVP trophy, and he has solidified himself as a key role player in this league at the very least. Martin didn't even have odds listed to win Conference finals or NBA Finals MVP before the last round tipped off. Now he has the fourth-best odds and is one spot ahead of a four-time All-Defense player (Adebayo). That just about sums up the unpredictability of these playoffs.
