Ja Morant Deserves More Consideration in Latest NBA MVP Odds

Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant.
Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant. / Scott Wachter-USA TODAY Sports
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Ja Morant should be in the MVP conversation. It’s as simple as that. 

Right now, Joel Embiid is getting a lot of love for MVP – and rightfully so. He’s putting up insane numbers and has been absolutely dominant this year. Yet the passes we’re giving Embiid and the standards we’re holding him to should be applied to everyone. If we’re being fair, Morant deserves similar talk. 

One of the big factors to discount Embiid and Morant’s respective cases is the fact they’ve both missed a lot of games this year. I wrote a piece earlier this week explaining why although the missed games should be a factor, there is precedent for an MVP to have missed a significant part of the season. 

Now that brings us to the on court play. Morant has been spectacular in the last four games, but that is just a little of what he’s done this year. Morant is having a career year in points, rebounds, field goal percentage and 3-point percentage.

On top of his play, the Grizzlies are one of the best teams in the league. They have the third best win percentage in the league and are on the Golden State Warriors' tails for the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference.

WynnBET currently has Morant fifth in the odds standings with +2000 odds. He is behind Joel Embiid (+200), Giannis Antetokounmpo (+350), Stephen Curry (+450) and Nikola Jokic (+450). 

Historically, the MVP comes the best player on one of the top teams in the league and Morant fits the bill perfectly. Yet, somehow his odds are 10 times as long as Embiid’s. 

Morant has historical precedent and current precedent to negate the missed games, so we should be looking at the results and not trying to discount him.