Damian Lillard’s NBA MVP Odds: Will Portland Keep Momentum With New Roster?

Damian Lillard NBA MVP Odds

• PointsBet: +2500
• DraftKings: +2800
• FanDuel: +2800
• Westgate: +2000
• William Hill: +3300

Note: This snippet is from Matt Moore's larger MVP piece. See his analysis for all major candidate here. Odds as of Thursday, October 17.

Lillard is my favorite longshot option.

Dame is beloved by players, media and fans. He has been with one team his entire career and just re-upped on a big, long-term extension. He is the consummate teammate and professional. The voters want to reward a guy like Dame.

Dame has averaged 25 points and six assists with an eFG% better than 50% the last four seasons, for a team that every year finishes higher than we expect.

Let’s say the Blazers somehow sneak into the top four in the West with 50 wins, with a worse roster than last year, with Jusuf Nurkic out until at least mid-season and Dame bumps his scoring up to 28 points per game (where Antetokounmpo was last season).

His defense has made huge strides the past two seasons, so he can’t take hits for that. It’s all on the Blazers. If they win enough and he averages a career-high in points, he’s going to be in the conversation and this number looks sweet.