Warriors odds: Tracking Curry, Green, Hield, and Kerr in the NBA awards races

Off to one of the best starts in franchise history, the Golden State Warriors have won seven of their first eight to kick off the 2024-25 NBA season, which includes a six-point victory over the defending champion Boston Celtics.

Despite the losses of key contributors from a season ago, most notably Klay Thompson and Chris Paul, Steve Kerr is armed with one of the deepest rosters he's ever had. And he's getting contributions from everyone thus far, whether cornerstones like Steph Curry and Draymond Green or new additions such as Buddy Hield.

While many others have played a part in Golden State's sizzling start — Andrew Wiggins, Jonathan Kuminga, Moses Moody, Brandin Podziemski, and Trayce Jackson-Davis, just to name a few — it's Kerr, Curry, Green, and Hield who will have our focus today, as we check in on where each stands in their respective NBA awards race.

Just to get this out of the way now, all the odds we'll be looking at come courtesy of DraftKings.

Subscribe to The Whiteboard, FanSided’s daily email newsletter on everything basketball. If you like The Whiteboard, share it with a friend! If you don’t like The Whiteboard, share it with an enemy.

Steve Kerr has the third-shortest odds to win NBA Coach of the Year

Already a one-time winner of the NBA Coach of the Year Award, which he notched during the Warriors' historic 73-9 campaign in 2015-16, Kerr has a great shot of taking home the hardware for a second time this spring.

He's done a fantastic job navigating his new-look roster and has used several different starting lineups in these first eight games, all of which have worked out wonderfully. Such is the beauty of a deep team.

Kerr currently has the third-shortest betting odds to win COY at +600, trailing only Kenny Atkinson (+310) of the Cleveland Cavaliers, who he'll face Friday night, and Mike Budenholzer (+500) of the Phoenix Suns. Here's a look at the top five.

Buddy Hield ranks second in the NBA Sixth Man of the Year race

Prior to the season, I predicted that Buddy Hield would win NBA Sixth Man of the Year. And given his red-hot start, it's no surprise to see him right there in the mix.

In his first eight games in a Warriors uniform, Hield has posted 21.1 points per game, good for second on the team behind only Curry, and is shooting 51.7 percent from the field and a ridiculous 50.7 percent from the 3-point line. His 37 made 3s are tied for the third-most in the NBA, trailing only Anthony Edwards of the Minnesota Timberwolves and Jayson Tatum of the Boston Celtics.

Speaking of the Celtics, it's a little surprising that Payton Pritchard currently owns the shortest odds to win Sixth Man of the Year, as Hield easily has the better overall numbers. In addition to averaging more points (21.1 to 16.0) and a better shooting percentage from both the field (51.7% to 45.6%) and the three-point line (50.7% to 41.2)%, he also averages more rebounds (4.5 to 3.0) and fewer turnovers (1.0 to 1.2).

Pritchard does have slight advantages in assists (2.8 to 2.3) and steals (1.1 to 1.0), but that shouldn't be enough to give the overall edge. But that's the case thus far.

Draymond Green will have a tough time winning NBA Defensive Player of the Year

While Draymond Green is still an elite defender with eight All-Defensive selections (four First Team, four Second Team) and one NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award on his resume, it'll take something special for him to pick up a second DPOY trophy this season.

The clear favorite at this point is Victor Wembanyama (+100) of the San Antonio Spurs, who's averaging a league-leading 3.7 blocks per game, as well as 1.2 steals.

Not far behind is Chet Holmgren (+300) of the Oklahoma City Thunder, who's posted 2.9 blocks and one steal per game thus far.

Green is still tied for the sixth-shortest odds with 1.3 blocks and 0.8 steals per game. And there's obviously much more to his defensive prowess than just these simple stats. But at +3000, the odds of him winning DPOY are quite long.

Steph Curry has a long way to go to get in the NBA MVP race

With so many Golden State players chipping in this season, combined with Curry missing three games, it's not a surprise to see the two-time NBA MVP lagging behind in this year's race.

And when we say lagging, that's putting it mildly. We won't list all the names ahead of him, but the top five at this point are Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (+275), Luka Doncic (+320), Jayson Tatum (+500), three-time winner Nikola Jokic (+550), and Anthony Edwards (+1000).

To find Curry, one would need to scroll down to the 16th position, where he's listed at +15000, alongside Zion Williamson and Jaylen Brown.

Curry has played solidly in the five games in which he's appeared, averaging a team-high 21.2 points while shooting 43. percent from the floor and 42.2 percent from beyond the arc, also adding 7.0 assists, 5.2 rebounds, and 2.0 steals.

If he remains healthy and the Warriors keep winning, his odds will undoubtedly shorten, as the NBA MVP is obviously always awarded to the best player on one of the best teams. And despite Hield's contributions, Curry will always be that guy.