Former NBA Player Thinks Wembanyama Could Beat SGA for MVP

The oddsmakers think that this season’s MVP award race is already over. As of now, FanDuel has Shai Gilgeous-Alexander as the -1000 favorite to be MVP for the second straight season. SGA is followed by Nikola Jokic and Victor Wembanayma (both +1900) as the next two most likely stars to win the award. 

SGA would be a deserving MVP. He’s averaging 31.6 points, 6.7 assists (career high), and 4.5 rebounds a game this season. He’s shooting a career high 54.9% from the field and 38.5% from three. He has also led his team to be the one-seed in the super-competitive Western Conference. The Thunder have the best record in the league at 53-15. 

However, some people don’t think this MVP race is all said and done. Former NBA player Charlie Villanueva discussed on the To The Baha Podcast that he thinks Wembanyama has a chance to steal the award from SGA. 

“Because we haven’t seen another team be number 1 team in the past three years. So, now when somebody surpasses that you have to look at that team and look at their star player for surpassing a team that has had success for the last three years. So, yes to me if San Antonio surpasses OKC, Wemby is MVP and now defensive player of the year, Wemby is going to get that too.”

The Spurs are only three games behind the Thunder in the standings so overtaking them is a real possibility. That being said, this season’s MVP race could end up coming down to eligibility. SGA, Jokic, and Wembanyama are all on the edge of the games played requirement, and if any of them miss another few games, they could be out of the race completely. For now, though, this race is SGA’s to lose.