Paul George is looking great so far in the preseason (even if the defensive side is still getting worked out) but what are his chances of being crowned the league’s most valuable player?
Thanks to Bovada.lv, we can say the odds are 66/1 or a 1.5% chance. Considering the Indiana Pacers’ current situation that sounds about right. The Pacers have been pegged with 40/1 (2.44%) or 60.1 (1.64%) odds of winning a title depending on who you ask, so its hard to seeing PG emerging from the field as a favorite. It’s rare to see a player on a non-playoff team get serious consideration and unless this experiment goes better than expected I don’t have high hopes for Indiana this season.
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On another gambling related note Myles Turner’s odds of winning Rookie of the Year have improved from 25/1 (3.8%) to 10/1 (9.1%). The hype is slowly building around him but unless he’s getting heavy minutes early in the season its hard to see how he’ll build up a strong campaign for the award.
If I was betting I’d put more money on Turner winning ROTY than Paul George winning MVP. Paul George having the best season of his career after missing most of last season would be amazing, but isn’t likely. I won’t be surprised if he has a few bumps in the road as he adjusts the power forward position (however much he plays it) and as he gets used to the 82-game grind again. He’ll have a good year, but not an MVP year.
Turner on the other hand has a few things going in his favor. For one, he’s playing on a team that will probably need him to play significant minutes at some point. With Ian Mahinmi being the starter and Jordan Hill the backup, there isn’t a lot of room for injuries as far as depth goes. If either underperform or gets hurt it will likely be Turner stepping in to fill the void. On the subject of injuries it also depends what happens to the rest of the field as well health wise. We barely got to see Jabari Parker or Julius Randle last season before injuries sidelined them, so maybe some of the other favorites get eliminated through unfortunate injuries this year as well.
Another reason is he’s a unique player that may end up getting votes when he’s swatting shots then knocking down shots of his own on the other end. The mix of defensive and offensive ability, if he can show it on this level, and being somewhat of an unconventional big man helps him stand out. If he turns out to be NBA ready sooner than we think then he’s got at least a small chance.
I wouldn’t bet big money on either but here’s top hoping for pleasant surprises in the 2015-16 season.