When it comes to European basketball, the EuroLeague’s Most Valuable Player (MVP) award is considered the biggest individual achievement. 13 players belonging to 7 different clubs have won this award till date. Several names come to the mind during MVP conversations at the start of every year’s EuroLeague season. However, these numbers filter down to only a handful as the season progresses. Let’s take you through the top three contenders for the EuroLeague MVP award this time around.
Nick Calathes – Panathinaikos OPAP Athens (2/3 odds)
Nick Calathes, the playmaker at Panathinaikos had not just the best season of his career in 2017-18, but in fact a historic stint by any point guard’s standard. He set a new EuroLeague record, scoring a total of 249 assists as well as an average of 8.03. Not just that, he scored 11 double-doubles in assists and points, another EuroLeague record, and had double-digit assists in 13 games.
The talented guard led the EuroLeague in another department with 1.7 steals, apart from PIR career-highs. MVP is not a new award for Calathes as he has already won the EuroCup MVP award before, and also bagged his first All EuroLeague Honor in 2017-18 season. He was one of the EuroLeague candidates in 2016-17 too. The chances are high that he would become the first-ever player to win both the EuroLeague as well as EuroCup MVP awards in one season.
Nando De Colo – CSKA Moscow (2/1 odds)
Nando is not new to this award and has already won it in 2016, when he emerged as the only player from the EuroLeague to be awarded Alphonso Ford Top Scorer, Final Four MVP and EuroLeague MVP in one season. In the 2017-18 season, Nando De Colo was ranked sixth in steals, third in points and had an average PIR of 18.9.
He also successfully scored 49.2% of his three point shots, a figure that meant second highest accuracy rate for a basketball player who had a shot at 110 threes in one season. His consistency is very well evident from the fact that he bagged the All-EuroLeague First Team Honors in all the three previous seasons.
With him in such good form, it doesn’t come as a surprise that CSKA Moscow are being offered at odds of around 7/4 in the EuroLeague Winner betting market, and are the top contenders for the title. If you’re someone who has been contemplating betting on EuroLeague, but didn’t know where to start, you could avail free bet offers from some of the top sports betting portals in the UK and put your money on CSKA Moscow without any worries!
Sergio Llull – Real Madrid (4/ 5 odds)
Making a late return last season and then helping Real Madrid win the EuroLeague trophy for the 10th time, Segio Llull is back in business. The last time he made a full EuroLeague appearance in the 2016-17 season, he was among the top contenders for MVP. He is all set to help Real Madrid defend their title and is leading the team. There is no doubt that he will once again be in contention for the MVP award as well.
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