2023-24 NBA awards watch: Early frontrunners for MVP, ROY, DPOY - ESPN

We are about one month into what has been an extremely entertaining NBA season thus far, and there have been some electric performances by players and teams that have already shifted the NBA landscape and changed the expected narrative for the rest of the season.

Let's take a look at how this action-packed first month has affected the futures market for the NBA individual awards.

Note: Odds by ESPN BET.

Leader

Nikola Jokic (+200)

In the hunt

Luka Doncic (+400)
Joel Embiid (+750)
Jayson Tatum (+800)
Giannis Antetokounmpo (+1000)

Long shots

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (+2000)
Anthony Edwards (+2500)
Tyrese Haliburton (+4000)

The five players with the shortest MVP odds haven't changed in the first month, with the only movement due to small changes in the odds. Jokic is still the MVP leader, and his odds have shortened to +200 after leading the Nuggets to the second-best record in the Western Conference even with Jamal Murray missing time due to injury. Jokic is currently on pace to improve on his lofty numbers from a season ago, leading the NBA with 13.1 RPG and on pace for a career-high of 27.4 PPG.

Doncic, Embiid, Tatum and Antetokounmpo all have the expected elite statistical production on teams that currently all rank in the top-4 in their respective conferences. The MVP overwhelmingly comes from one of the top few seeds in a conference unless there is a strong narrative pull for a dark horse candidate (e.g. when Russell Westbrook averaged the first triple-double in almost 50 years and won MVP on the sixth-seeded Thunder).

All four of these teams are currently bunched within two games of one another, though Tatum's Celtics currently have the best indicators for sustained success with both the best overall record and scoring