Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo has been named as the NBA’s Most Valuable Player twice. In fact, he went back-to-back in 2019 and 2020. Will he be able to do it again this coming season?
The NBA general managers have spoken, and it seems that only a minority of them believe that Antetokounmpo can bag his third MVP title in 2023-24.
Milwaukee Bucks Star Giannis Antetokounmpo’s MVP Odds
According to the NBA’s annual GM survey, Giannis has the second-best odds to win the MVP title this coming season. While this might sound encouraging, the fact of the matter is that only 20% of general managers in the league believe that the Bucks superstar is capable of achieving this tall task.
There were no explanations provided as to why the executives voted the way they did, but if I were to make a guess, the fact that he’s now teammates with Damian Lillard could have something to do with this not-so-favorable projection.
Antetokounmpo himself has already stated that he’s more than willing to defer to Dame as necessary. Lillard has had an extremely high usage rate throughout his NBA career, and Giannis said that he wants “Dame to be Dame” now that he’s in Milwaukee. This could mean a decrease in Antetokounmpo’s own usage rate, thereby affecting his statistical output.
If this results in wins and more importantly, a championship, I’m certain that Giannis won’t mind at all.
Nikola Jokic Reigns Supreme
The NBA GMs have spoken and they believe that Denver Nuggets superstar Nikola Jokic is the odds-on favorite to win the MVP title again this term. Jokic saw his two-year MVP streak broken last season when Joel Embiid bagged the trophy, who incidentally, got less than 10% of the votes in this year’s preseason survey.
You have to note, though, that last year, the GMs voted Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic as the favorite to win the MVP title with 48% of the votes. He finished eighth in the actual MVP vote at the end of the season.
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