With the way things have looked so far this season for the Oklahoma City Thunder, it's easy to see why there's so much attention on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Best known as SGA across league circles, he has been on fire this season shooting the ball and he's not slowing down. With that, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is a strong favorite to win 2026 NBA MVP.
Will he end up getting the job done? That's what fans in Oklahoma City are hoping for, as SGA really has looked like the best player in the game this season. Keep in mind that he also took home NBA MVP honors last year too, which had countless people excited. It will be great if he can manage to do things once again for the Thunder.
| NBA MVP odds |  |  |  |
|---|---|---|---|
| SGA to win | -400 | -400 | -400 |
| Doncic to win | +1000 | +1000 | +1000 |
| Cunningham to win | +1250 | +1250 | +1250 |
| Brown to win | +2500 | +2500 | +2500 |
"I always thought that I could be a really good player because I had seen what putting your head down and working and controlling what you control can do for you," he said last year after winning. "I made tremendous strides, but I never thought this was going to happen. I dreamt about it as a kid, but as a kid, it's a fake dream. But as the days go on and you realize that you get closer to your dream."
According to the best online sports betting sites, SGA has been given -400 NBA betting odds to be named the MVP this season. Behind him, Luca Doncic is at +1000, which shows how strong of a favorite SGA is. It will be interesting to see if he'll be named the MVP again, but plenty of signs are pointing in that direction. We're no question going with him as our pick.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 40 points on 3 missed shots last night, so of course I'm taking this opportunity to talk about his playmaking. On Substack, I presented my thesis on why his passing goes under the radar, and how it connects to his scoring.
Here's a clip: pic.twitter.com/WJHs1bhPTG
— Andrew Eastwick (@AndrewEastwick) January 22, 2026
Oklahoma City is also the overwhelming favorite to win the NBA Finals
As you might have been able to guess, Oklahoma City is also the overwhelming favorite to win the NBA Finals this season. As of this writing, the Thunder are 37-10 on the year, which is No. 1 in the league. Oklahoma City has hit a bit of a rough patch of late, but it's only because they aren't on the unreal pace they were to start the year.
“There’s a lot of headwinds in the NBA — scheduling, injuries, refereeing, shot variance, and everybody deals with it at different times to various degrees,” Coach Mark Daigneault said in a recent interview. “It just becomes about your ability to see those things as a challenge and attack them and if you do that then you’ll emerge from that mentally tougher and more connected as a team.”
The Oklahoma City Thunder are 33-1 without Jalen Williams over the last two seasons. 🤯
2024: 55-14 with him, 13-0 without him.
2025: 17-7 with him, 20-1 without him.Combined: 72-21 with, 33-1 without (105-22 overall).
Pace over 82 games:
63-19 with him.
80-2 without him. pic.twitter.com/rjN9C3EouK— NBA Base (@TheNBABase) January 22, 2026
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As for the action on the hardwood, the Thunder currently hold +100 NBA Finals betting odds, which is quite impressive. Of course, there are other teams to keep in mind, including the Nuggets, Spurs, Celtics, Pistons, Knicks and more. Only time will tell if the Thunder will be able to repeat as the champs, but they sure have what it takes to get that done.
The Pistons and Celtics hold the best odds to win the Eastern Conference
As we keep pushing forward with the season, remember that as of now, the Pistons and Celtics hold the best odds to win the Eastern Conference. Things have changed here a bit, as it was once expected that the New York Knicks were going to be the ones to win the East and then move on to potentially face the Thunder in the Finals.
However, there's still plenty of season to go, and Detroit is now once again a team to be taken seriously. Cade Cunningham has looked fantastic with the ball in his hands, which has people quite excited. As for Boston, this team is obviously missing Jayson Tatum, as he tore his Achilles, in the postseason last year. That was a terrible injury for Boston.
Despite that, the Celtics are still playing great hoops and they have what it takes to push for a trip to the Finals. The Pistons, Knicks and others are hoping to do whatever they can to prevent that from happening, but it's not going to be easy. Previously, we thought the Knicks would be our pick to win the Eastern Conference, but now we're rocking with Detroit.
