2020-21 NBA Awards Odds: DPOY, Sixth Man & Most Improved

Hoop heads and NBA fans are ready to block the bookies and launch from downtown for the 2020-21 NBA season and some of the best season-long futures bets to wager on are in NBA awards odds.

Those include the Defensive Player of the Year, Sixth Man of the Year and  Most Improved Player of the Year. Odds Shark also has betting analysis for the more prized hardware in NBA Most Valuable Player and NBA Rookie of the Year.

The best basketball betting sites have newly released NBA awards odds for each of these accolades and below we will break down the candidates to snag the trophies for the 2020-21 season:

NBA Defensive Player of the Year Odds

As the +200 favorite in NBA Defensive Player of the Year odds, it’s hard to overlook Anthony Davis’s presence through the first month of the season. The Lakers star center may not have the rebounding numbers of someone like Rudy Gobert (+300) or Andre Drummond (+10000), but he ranks fourth in blocks per game and is one of four centers in the league averaging over one steal per game.

His athleticism enables him to defend guards and forwards, and the Lakers rank third in opponent points per game, two factors that make him the deserving early favorite. His defensive presence in combination with his stats are translating to victories and barring injury, it’s his award to lose.

In the preseason, I bet on Ben Simmons in DPOY odds and while he may end up making All-Defense first team this season, his chances are shrinking by the day considering how Joel Embiid is playing. Neither at this stage looks like a solid bet to win the award.

On the other hand, Pacers center Myles Turner has been a monster down low. The Texas product is leading the NBA with 4.2 blocks per game and chips in with 1.5 steals per contest. He opened the season at +5000 to win this award but the main thing holding him back are his rebounding numbers, at 6.9 boards per game. There are guards in the NBA who average more rebounds than that.

Odds as of January 19 at Bovada

NBA Sixth Man of the Year Odds

The usual suspects for Sixth Man of the Year like Lou Williams (+1400) and Montrezl Harrell (+1000) are still in the mix to win this award but at his current pace, Jordan Clarkson may have it wrapped up by the all-star break. The former Laker and Cav has bounced around the league trying to find a role suited to his skill set and Utah has seemingly unlocked his offensive potential. Clarkson is averaging 17.5 points through 13 games this season and has yet to start a game.

His most significant improvement has come in his three-point shot. He’s hitting at a 42.9 percent clip on an average of seven attempts per game, both career highs. Considering Clarkson only averages 25 minutes of game time, head coach Quin Snyder has given him the greenest of lights to fire away when he’s on the court to pace the offense while Donovan Mitchell sits.

I’m not ready to say Clarkson has this award in the bag but if he continues to lead all bench players in points per game while Utah continues to climb the standings (9-4 SU in 13 games), you might as well call the trophy engraver by March to start etching his name.

Odds as of January 19 at Bovada

NBA Most Improved Player of the Year Odds

There aren’t many NBA awards that have runaway trains for candidates this early in the campaign but the NBA’s Most Improved Player seems to be all but Christian Wood’s this season. The former Piston-turned-Rocket has been a revelation in Houston and is one of seven players in the league averaging 20 or more points and 10 or more rebounds per game.

The improvement year over year is hard to ignore: In 62 games last season with the Pistons, he averaged 13 points and six rebounds in only 21 minutes of action. Talent scouts and NBA insiders knew he would be special once he broke out of Detroit but to increase those figures to 20 and 10 while being a perimeter threat with three-point range? Even that was hard to predict for oddsmakers, who opened Wood at +2800 to win this award. It might be too late to find an angle for this one as his odds are -125 to get the hardware.

Odds as of January 19 at Bovada

How to Read NBA Awards Odds

When you go to any sportsbook, you’ll see prop odds for the various NBA awards listed like so:

Sixth Man of the Year

Lou Williams +150

Spencer Dinwiddie +300

Terrence Ross +500

Generally, favorites are represented by the minus sign (-), whereas underdogs are shown by the plus sign (+). In this case, the player with the lowest odds is the front-runner, the rest are dogs.

If you were to bet $100 on Williams, you’d get a payout of $250 – you get your $100 back along with your winnings of $150. That same $100 on Ross would give you $600 – your original money is returned coupled with your prize of $500. Bets on underdogs are riskier, which is why they come with greater rewards.

To find out what you’d win based on your bet amount and the odds offered at the betting site, check out our Odds Calculator.

What is an NBA Prop Bet?

This is a wager on the occurrence or non-occurrence of specific player or team milestones that may not directly relate to the outcome of a certain game. The prop bet here is on odds to win different NBA awards. These are set by oddsmakers early but you’ll notice that the lines move as the season progresses. A coach could be a lock for Coach of the Year in December only to see his odds shift as his team underperforms in February. We suggest jumping on odds you like when you see them to get the most value out of your bets.