NBA odds: How Ja Morant's Most Improved Player odds moved all season

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With the NBA playoffs heating up, the third post-season award has been announced! The Memphis Grizzlies' Ja Morant was named the 2022 Most Improved Player of the Year (MIP).

Morant is the first former Rookie of the Year (2020) and the first Memphis Grizzlies player to win MIP. Given this historic win for the high-flyer, we decided to look at his victory from a gambling perspective.

At the start of the NBA season, Morant's odds to win the award were +3300 at FOX Bet. While everyone can agree Ja is a budding superstar, those long odds were likely due to the fact that the MIP is normally given to a player of lower caliber, not one averaging 19.1, 7.1 assists and 4 rebounds while leading his team to the 2021 NBA Playoffs. 

However, Morant exploded into another stratosphere this season. Memphis began the season with longer title odds (+8000) than teams like the New York Knicks (+6600) and Portland Trailblazers (+5000) and had an over/under win total of 41.5. 

Fortunately for the Grizzlies, Ja Morant & Co. were not content with those projections, and they set out to put the Association on notice. And put the league on notice is exactly what they did. Morant ended the season with averages of 27.4 points, 6.7 assists, 5.7 rebounds and 1.2 steals on 49.3% shooting — a marked increase over his 2020-2021 NBA campaign. Additionally, the 6-foot-3, 175-pound guard led the NBA with a remarkable 16.7 points scored in the paint each game. 

As a result, Memphis eclipsed its preseason projection and finished with the second-best record in the NBA at 56-26 and were the best team ATS this season with a record of 53-29. Their odds to win the title currently stand at +1100. 

As for Morant's MIP lines, over the course of the season, Ja's odds steadily shortened, going from +3300 in the preseason to -225 at the end of January. Before closing the season, those odds had shrunk all the way down to -2000 at FOX Bet. 

"Ja Morant took control of this award early in the season and was never really threatened after," FOX Bet Sports Trader Tieme Wesselink shared. "He only played 57 games which maybe was the reason we did see some money in the second half of the season on a very worthy second-place winner Dejounte Murray and third-place winner Darius Garland."

In fact, Morant sort of conceded that he should not have won this award by "gifting" it to his teammate Desmond Bane, who finished fifth in the voting.

Regardless of whose mantle the award rests, Wesselink feels Ja was a worthy runaway winner.  

"Memphis' record-breaking season left no doubt Morant remained nailed-in for this award. Don't look now, but he will be among the favorites for MVP next season."

With a ROY and MIP to Ja's name, a 2023 NBA MVP award would fit in nicely on his mantle.

If you like Ja to lead the Grizzlies past the Minnesota Timberwolves in their first-round matchup, make sure to place your bets over at FOX Bet!

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