Oklahoma City Thunder Paul George apparently has better odds to be named the 2018-19 MVP over earning the Defensive Player of the Year award, according to one oddsmaker.
George was named a finalist for each award last week by the NBA. He is joined by Giannis Antetokounmpo and James Harden in the MVP race and is up against Antetokounmpo and Rudy Gobert for Defensive Player honors.
After struggling down the stretch with a pair of shoulder injuries, George was thought to have dropped in the MVP race considering that Antetokounmpo and Harden continued playing stellar basketball.
Between the two awards, most believe that George has a better chance to be crowned the DPOY over the MVP but SportsBetting.ag disagrees, listing George with better odds for MVP.
Defensive POY
Rudy Gobert -400
Giannis Antetokounmpo +300
Paul George +900MVP
Giannis Antetokounmpo -500
Paul George +225
James Harden +5000
According to the odds, George is second in the MVP race and is third in the running for DPOY. Oddsmakers have a funny way of setting bets so we’re not going to read too much into this update from SportsBetting.ag.
George turned in a career season and will likely earn All-NBA First Team honors as a result but the play of The Greek Freak and Harden down the stretch will probably ensure George drops to third in the MVP voting.
We certainly wouldn’t mind George winning either award, though.
