The 2023 NBA Finals kick off Thursday night, and we have the latest betting odds on who will take home this season’s Finals MVP Award.
The Denver Nuggets are heavy favorites to win the series at -460 (FanDuel), so it’s no surprise that their two-time MVP, Nikola Jokic, is also favored to be the Bill Russell NBA Finals MVP (-340).
On the other side, the underdog Miami Heat’s Jimmy Butler has the second-best odds to win the award (+430).
Three other players — Denver’s Jamal Murray and Miami’s Bam Adebayo and Caleb Martin — have odds better than 100/1 to be the Finals MVP.
Here’s a look at the full list, with odds from FanDuel.
NBA Finals MVP favorites
Nikola Jokic -340
An NBA Finals MVP would be a fitting end to Jokic’s historic playoff run.
Jokic is averaging a triple-double (29.9 ppg, 13.3 rpg, 10.3 apg) in these playoffs. His eight triple-doubles are the most for any player during a single postseason.
Jokic got all nine votes for the Earvin “Magic” Johnson Trophy as the Most Valuable Player of the 2023 Western Conference Finals after the Nuggets’ four-game sweep of the Los Angeles Lakers.
Everything on the offensive end for Denver runs through Jokic.
If the Nuggets are able to pull off a series win, he will almost assuredly put up big numbers.
Jimmy Butler +430
Seeing Butler at No. 2 on this list is no shocker after an incredibly impressive playoff performance of his own.
Butler is averaging 28.5 ppg, 7.0 rpg and 5.7 apg this postseason, leading the Heat to massive upsets of the Milwaukee Bucks and Boston Celtics during an improbable — to say the least — NBA Finals run.
He is the undisputed leader of this Miami team, and if they are able to, somehow, pull off another upset of the Nuggets, Butler will be at the center of it.
Butler actually has better odds to win the Finals MVP than the Heat do to beat the Nuggets in the series, which suggests that oddsmakers think there’s a world where he wins the award in a losing effort for just the second time in NBA history (Jerry West, 1969).
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NBA Finals MVP long shots
Jamal Murray +1200
Bubble Murray is back.
The 26-year-old guard has — once again — proven to be a worthy second fiddle to Jokic’s greatness.
Murray averaged 32.5 points on 52.7 percent shooting and 40.5 percent on 3-pointers during the Nuggets’ series against the Lakers.
Murray likley will have to play even better against the Heat to dethrone Jokic as the team’s MVP, but he’s arguably done it before.
He famously scored 40-plus points in three straight games, including two 50-point showing, during Denver’s first-round series against the Utah Jazz in 2020.
That’s the type of performance he will need if bettors want to hit on this long shot.
Caleb Martin +6500
Martin fell just one vote short of beating Butler out for the Eastern Conference Finals MVP award, but oddsmakers apparently don’t see him getting that close again.
The undrafted forward scored 19.3 ppg on 60 percent from the field during the series again Boston while going a white-hot 22-for-45 on 3-pointers, including 26 points and 10 rebounds in Game 7.
If Martin can win the MVP, he would be the biggest long-shot to win it since Andre Iguodala won the trophy during the 2015 NBA Finals at 125-1 odds before the series.