Miami Heat’s Early Success Sees Player Awards Odds Shift

• Jimmy Butler’s 2021-2022 NBA MVP odds shorten from (+5500) to (+2800) since the season started.
• Tyler Herro is now the favorite to win Sixth Man of the Year with (+125) odds.
• Herro also has the third shortest odds to win Most Improved Player at (+1000).

MIAMI – With the Miami Heat’s early dominance in the NBA this season, the multiple players on the Heat have seen their odds shorten.

Jimmy Butler, Tyler Herro, and Bam Adebayo have gotten heavy action and legal sports betting sites have adjusted the odds for NBA MVP, Defensive Player of the Year (DPOY), Sixth Man of the Year, and Most Improved Player (MIP).

Jimmy Butler MVP Odds

Jimmy Butler now has (+3500) odds to win league MVP after opening the season with (+2800) odds at NBA sportsbooks.

Butler is averaging 24.4 PPG (a career-high), 6.5 RPG, 5.1 APG, and is shooting 50.4% from the field.

Butler has the Heat with the second-best record in the Eastern Conference at 6-2 and has led Miami on both offense and defense, giving them the highest margin of victory in the league at +12.5.

The Heat have wins against the Milwaukee Bucks, the Brooklyn Nets, and the Dallas Mavericks who all have players with shorter MVP odds than Butler in Giannis Antetokounmpo (+650), Kevin Durant (+650), and Luka Doncic (+6500).

Miami Heat DPOY

Butler also saw his odds shorten for DPOY alongside Heat center/forward Bam Adebayo. Butler’s odds opened at (+5000) and have since shortened to (+3500). Bam opened with (+1400) odds and now has (+1000) odds. The Heat are the number defense in the NBA so far and this is mainly due to these two players.

Adebayo has a defensive rating of 93.2 which is top 10 in the league. Bam is also averaging 1 steal, 0.6 blocks, and 10.3 defensive rebounds per game.

Bam has also set the record for the lowest percentage of players when guarded by him at 28.1% so far this season.

The one thing likely to prevent Bam from collecting the DPOY is due to sharing the load with Jimmy Butler who has a defensive rating of 95.3 this season. Butler is also averaging 2.6 steals per game and 0.4 blocks.

Tyler Herro Takes A Leap

Tyler Herro has also been a big reason for the Heat’s success and this has affected his odds for both Sixth Man of the Year and MIP.

Herro opened the season with (+2500) odds to win Sixth Man of the Year but now is favored with (+125). Herro is averaging 20.4 PPG, 6.1 RPOG, and 4.0 APG coming off the bench.

The raining Sixth Man of the Year is Jordan Clarkson who is the second favorite to win. Tyler is outpacing Clarkson in every category as Clarkson averages 16.4 PPG on 45.7% shooting from the field and 37.7% from behind the arc. He is also putting up 3.3 RPG and 1.6 APG.

Herro is putting up the most points of any bench scorer, with numbers rivaling All-Star starters in Trae Young and Luka Doncic, a stat that Herro has taken note of.

“I feel like I’m in the same conversion as those guys. The young guys coming up in the league who can be All-Stars, superstars one day—Luka, Trae, Ja—those guys like that, I feel like my name should be in that category, too,” said Herro.

It is no question that Herro has taken a major leap this season, which is why his odds for MIP have also shortened. Herro opened with (+6000) odds for MIP and now has the third shortest odds at (+1000).

Herro averaged 15.1 PPG last season off of 43.9% from the field and 36% from the 3-point line showing improvement in multiple areas.

Ja Morant of the Memphis Grizzlies and Miles Bridges of the Charlotte Hornets both have (+400) odds to win MIP ahead of Herro.

Morant has jumped from 19.1 PPG on 44.9% shooting to 27 PPG on 52.2% shooting this season. Bridges has jumped from 12.7 PPG to 24.1 PPG.

While Herro has stiff competition in this category, his performance has already attracted many sharp bettors early on.

News tags: Bam Adebayo | basketball | Erik Spoelstra | Jimmy Butler | Miami | Miami Heat | NBA | NBA DPOY | NBA MVP | Tyler Herro