What are the odds?
Russell Westbrook and Paul George have some of the best odds to win next year’s Most Valuable Player award, putting the Thunder in exclusive company.
The favorite to win NBA Most Valuable Player this season? Look no further than the reigning MVP.
According to Bovada.lv online sports betting, Russell Westbrook is the very early favorite to win the 2017-18 MVP award at 7-to-2 odds. Golden State’s Kevin Durant, who was the MVP of the NBA Finals and won the leaguewide award with the Thunder in 2013-14, is second behind Westbrook at 9/2.
San Antonio’s Kawhi Leonard
(13/2), Cleveland’s LeBron James (15/2) and Houston’s James Harden (8/1) round out the top five.
Golden State, Houston and Oklahoma City each have two players included in Bovada. lv’s top 10 in MVP odds. Paul George, who the Thunder acquired in a trade June 30, is tied with Houston’s Chris Paul and Boston’s Isaiah Thomas with the ninth-best odds to win at 25/1.
Last season, Westbrook – the first player of average a triple-double since Oscar Robertson in 1961-62 – finished first in MVP voting to Durant’s 10th. Durant played in only 62 games primarily due to injury.
Durant will have momentum coming off his dominant playoff performance with the Warriors en route to averages of 35.2 points, 8.2 rebounds and 5.2 assists in the NBA Finals against Cleveland. But Westbrook will again be the focal point of an offense and overall team which has been strengthened with the addition of George.
Thunder NBA’s 4th-most marketable team
The Thunder is the fourthmost marketable team in the NBA for the upcoming season. We know that by the best of metrics: television appearances.
The NBA schedule was released Monday, and OKC’s national television appearances rank fourth, behind only Golden State, Houston and Cleveland. And the Thunder actually is tied with Cleveland in one of the metrics you can use.
There are four national-TV outlets – ABC, TNT, ESPN and NBA TV. ABC is the most prestigious, since it’s over-the-air television. TNT is next, since it has a mostlyexclusive time slot. ESPN’s broadcasts usually go up against other NBA games. And NBA TV is the leastprestigious, since games are blacked on NBA TV in the local markets.
In national TV games, Golden State ranks first with 43 of its 82 games scheduled for beyond its local package. Houston is next with 40, followed by Cleveland (39), OKC (36), Boston (34), the Lakers (33) and San Antonio (32).
But if you discount NBA TV, the Thunder is tied with Cleveland. Here’s the list: Golden State 31, Houston 28, Thunder and Cavs 27 each, Boston 25, San Antonio 24.
Here are both total lists. National TV (not counting NBA TV)
1. Golden State 31; 2. Houston 28; Tie-3. Oklahoma City 27; Cleveland 27; 5. Boston 25; 6. San Antonio 24; 7. LA Lakers 23; 8. LA Clippers 19; 9. Washington 18; 10. Minnesota 17; 11. Philadelphia 14; 12. Portland 12; 13. Milwaukee 10; 14. Denver 9; T-15. New York 8; New Orleans 8; 17. Utah 7;
18. Dallas 6; T-19. Toronto 5; Miami 5; T-21. Phoenix 4; Detroit 4; Sacramento 4; T-24. Memphis 3; Charlotte 3; T-26. Indiana 1; Chicago 1; T-28. Orlando 0; Brooklyn 0; Atlanta 0.
National TV (counting NBA TV)
1. Golden State 43; 2. Houston 40; 3. Cleveland 39;
4. Oklahoma City 36; 5. LA Lakers 35; 6. Boston 34; 7. San Antonio 32; 8. LA Clippers 31; 9. Washington 28; 10. Minnesota 25; 11. Philadelphia 23; 12. Portland 22; 13. Milwaukee 18; 14. New York 17; 15. Denver 15; 16. New Orleans 14; 17. Phoenix 13;
18. Toronto 12; 18. Sacramento 12; 20. Utah 11; 20. Dallas 11; 22. Miami 9; 23. Charlotte 8; 23. Detroit 8; 25. Memphis 7; 26. Chicago 6; 27. Orlando 3; 27. Indiana 3; 29. Atlanta 2; 30. Brooklyn 2.
A few notes:
• The Lakers with 35 national TV appearances is absurd. The Lakers will be hard-pressed to have more wins than national TV showings. The networks are off the Knickerbocker bandwagon – New York has just 17 national TV games, with more than half of them on NBA TV. But the Los Angeles factor remains strong. The Clippers, despite no Paul, remain a draw, with 31 national TV games.
• The networks love the Western Conference. Not counting NBA TV games, Western Conference teams will make 221 national appearances. East teams will make 121. That’s right, a difference of 100, an average of 6.7 per team. Counting NBA TV, the difference is 346-212. That’s a breakdown of 62-to38 percent.
• Two seasons ago, the Hawks won 60 games. This season, Atlanta will make two national-TV appearances. Both on NBA TV.
• The Chicago Bulls have one national appearance, other than NBA TV. That’s on ESPN.