With the WNBA season about to get underway on Friday, a lot of league insiders are expecting to see the Minnesota Lynx and Los Angeles Sparks return to the league championship round, a series that Minnesota won last season in an epic five-game series.
Not all the talk is about who will be holding the championship trophy at the end of the season, however. There are many who are wondering if Lynx star Maya Moore will regain her title as the WNBA’s best player, or if the New York Liberty’s Tina Charles will find herself dubbed as the league’s best. BetDSI Sportsbook released the early odds for the top candidates to win the 2018 WNBA MVP Award, putting Moore and Charles as the top two candidates to win the award.
Last year it was Moore’s teammate Sylvia Fowles that was dubbed as the league’s best, and she still finds herself in the running this year as well. As do the Sparks Candace Parker and the Phoenix Mercury’s Brittney Griner. If you’re wondering who’s got the best shot of being named as the most valuable player in the WNBA, here are some trends and information you may want to know.
Maya Moore (+800) – Maya Moore had an “off” year last season if there is such a thing for the 2014 MVP. She averaged 17.3 points per game, 3.5 assists, and 1.8 steals, helping Minnesota to win their fourth title. It was statistically the worst season of her WNBA career, but it is the excellence she has shown since arriving in the league that has made it a standard that may even be too difficult for her to achieve on a yearly basis. Her teammate won last year, but expect Moore to “rebound” and have maybe the best season of her career.
Tina Charles (+900) – Tina Charles finished second in last year’s balloting, the second straight season she finished second in the balloting. Last season she averaged 18.1 PPG, 10.0 RPG, and 2.2 APG in what is arguably the best season of her career. She helped lead New York into the postseason, but as talented as she is, expect many of the voters to want a breakout season from her where she is able to take the Liberty to new heights.
Candace Parker (+1000) – Candace Parker finished third in the MVP balloting last season, and she has the same advantage that Moore has – a partner who is nearly as talented as her. This is the one disadvantage that Charles has, as she doesn’t have the same kind of talent in New York as Parker has in Los Angeles or Moore does in Minnesota. This will be the Sparks’ star’s 11th season in the league, and she has consistently played at an MVP level but has not reached the same performance as that of her 2015 campaign. In 2017, Parker appeared in 33 games, averaging 16.9 points and 8.4 rebounds.
Sylvia Fowles (+1250) – When you play on the same team as Moore, it’s pretty difficult to earn a little publicity. It’s like being the No. 2 guy on the Cleveland Cavaliers. You may have all the talent in the world, but no one is going to talk seriously about an MVP choice beyond Lebron James. However, this is what Sylvia Fowles was able to accomplish last season when she stepped out of the shadow of her more famous teammate, becoming the MVP. Fowles averaged 18.9 points per game as well as 10.4 rebounds and was as dominating of a player as any in the league last season. She has had the advantage of playing with Moore for three seasons now, and this tandem looks to only be getting better.
Brittney Griner (+1250) –Brittney Griner had arguably the best statistical season of any in the WNBA last season, averaging 21.9 points per game and 7.6 rebounds per contest. She easily led the league in points per game and rebounds per contest. Yet, that earned her nothing better than sixth place in the MVP balloting. It is time to start wondering if voters are still judging the 2015 domestic violence incident between her and her now wife. It seems that she is not being given the credit she deserves, and that could seriously stand in the way of her earning a much-deserved MVP award.
The Next Best Five:
Nneka Ogwumike (+1500)
Brenna Stewart (+1900)
Jonquel Jones (+2,000)
A’Ja Wilson (+2,000)
Elena Delle Donne (+2,500)
With the Dallas Wings and the Phoenix Mercury tipping-off the 2018 season on Friday night, the race for the MVP award will be official, and although Maya Moore and Tina Charles earned the highest odds to win the WNBA MVP Award, don’t overlook other candidates to pop up at the top, come the end of the season.
