Now’s the Time to Buy Low on Joel Embiid’s MVP Odds

Joel Embiid just came back from a battle with COVID-19 and instantly made his presence known. Embiid dominated in his first game back, scoring 42 points and grabbing 14 rebounds.

Embiid’s performance showed that when he’s healthy and on the court, he’s one of the most dominant players in the league. He’s so dominant, that he should be looked at as a solid dark horse pick for MVP.

WynnBET currently has Embiid’s odds to win MVP at +2500, which puts him just outside the top five and tied with Jimmy Butler at No. 6. Outside of Stephen Curry, the players above Embiid don’t have the strongest of cases and only have a serious leg up because they’ve been on the court more than Embiid. Health and availability is a serious concern with Embiid, but this isn’t a foot or knee injury. This was COVID. If Embiid can stay healthy, the league is his to dominate. 

Up until his absence, Embiid was averaging 21.4 points, 9.6 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game. I’m not going to act like those are insane numbers, but his returning performance showed that he still has the ability to turn it on when needed. 

The Sixers are 3-7 without Embiid in the lineup this year, losing those games by an average of 12.7 points. That would easily be the worst margin in the league. 

Embiid has a lot of ground to make up, but the Eastern Conference is still up for grabs and the Sixers are just two games back of the No. 3 seed in the conference. Embiid will raise his level of play as the season continues and as the Sixers rise, so will his MVP odds.