2022-23 NBA MVP odds: Celtics' Jayson Tatum now favored, but bettors still backing Zion Williamson heavily

The Boston Celtics have easily the NBA's best record at 22-7 and are the +300 favorites at Caesars Sportsbook to win the NBA title after coming up short last year in the Finals against Golden State. It makes sense then that Boston's best player, Jayson Tatum, is the +240 favorite to win league MVP honors. However, bettors at the book are absolutely crushing Zion Williamson of the rising Pelicans to take it home.

Tatum had the fourth-lowest MVP odds to start the season at +1000, and his price has been in triple digits since the Celtics beat the 76ers on opening night. Tatum is coming off a 44-point night Tuesday in a comeback win over the Lakers and is averaging 30.2 points, 8.3 rebounds and 4.1 assists.

"We don't have a huge liability on Tatum, it's much more on some of the other guys," said David Lieberman, lead NBA trader at Caesars Sportsbook. "So it's not the action that's moving him down for us, it's more his performance and how good the Celtics have looked. Tatum hasn't been one of the guys that the sharper bettors have been putting bigger bets on."

Over the past week at Caesars, Williams has taken 220 bets to win MVP and every other player combined has gotten 79. In fact, Williamson has gotten more MVP bets over the past week than every player has since the start of the season except for three: the Suns' Devin Booker (+3000), Mavericks' Luka Doncic (+300) and Grizzlies' Ja Morant (+3000).

All that action has dropped Zion's odds from +8000 to a +1500 sixth favorite. After missing all of last season injured, the 2019 No. 1 overall pick was a bit inconsistent and rusty to start the season but has blown up of late. New Orleans is 5-1 this month – including impressive back-to-back wins over Phoenix – and Williamson is averaging 30.0 points on 65.3% shooting along with 9.2 rebounds, 4.8 assists, 1.3 blocks and 1.3 steals.

"Zion was also a very popular bet before the season started," said Lieberman. "The hype was dying down on him a bit with the early injuries, but it's ratcheted up 10 times as much in the last week or so. The Pelicans have been winning and he's averaging 30 points a game this month. The Pelicans are the talk of the NBA right now, and he's obviously at the front of that charge. We don't have near the liability for any award futures markets for anyone else like we do for Zion with MVP."

A New Jersey bettor wagered $1,240 on Williamson back at +8000 for a potential $99,200 win. The only two in-season MVP bets that have bigger payouts on the line are a Nevada bettor staking $3,000 on two-time reigning MVP Nikola Jokic of Denver at +3500 for a potential win of $105,000, and a Louisiana bettor placing $5,000 on two-time former MVP Steph Curry of the Warriors at +2000 for a $100,000 potential win.

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