Category: Sports

How a bet on Miles Bridges, not Most Improved leader Ja Morant, could pay off

Examining Miles Bridges’ ascend towards the top of Tipico Sportsbook’s MIP odds.

The Most Improved Player award isn’t like other NBA honors. It’s not a positional award like the predominantly big-man-centered Defensive Player of the Year achievement, not a matter of which player scored the most points off the bench like Sixth Man of the Year, and not a balance between team success and individual greatness like the MVP award. Rather, the MIP is simply a crowning of which individual player made a drastic enough jump in performance from one year to the next, overshadowing the components that decide the other award winners. And after the first few weeks of the season, that person couldn’t be more clear.

Ja Morant is currently sharing second place with Paul George for the NBA’s lead in average points scored per game (28.3), only trailing Stephen Curry (28.7). His remarkable 9.2-point improvement is marked by his rise in efficiency on the offensive end. Morant is up from last season’s 44.9 FG% to 52.4%, 72.8 FT% to 82.5%, and most importantly for the sake of how opposing teams defend him, his 3P% has leaped from 30.3 to 38.5 percent. Morant’s development has undoubtedly been chief among the many different reasons that the Memphis Grizzlies are currently a No. 4 seed out west and why the perception of the team has changed.

If the season ended today, Morant would almost certainly be the NBA’s MIP winner. Yet, the season doesn’t end today or anytime soon, which leaves the door open for other individuals to supplant Morant by the season’s end. One such player is already knocking on the door.

Out of seemingly left-field, unless you’re a Charlotte Hornets fan, Miles Bridges has entered the discussion as a serious MIP candidate. He’s taken a strong second half of the 2020-21 season and turned it into a career-best start to the present season. A season ago Bridges averaged 12.7 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.2 assists in close to 30.0 minutes of action per night. The numbers have evolved into 23.1 points, 7.9 rebounds and 3.4 assists through eight games, and like Morant, Bridges’ play has brought excitement, hope and energy to a fanbase that had been craving it in recent years.

The result of the fourth-year forward’s early-season production has created a  buzz outside of just Buzz City. Tipico Sportsbook has moved Bridges’ odds for the MIP award from +7000 to +550 after just eight games. The odds are good for second place behind just Morant’s +300 odds, and while the catching and surpassing of Morant seems inevitable given the trajectory of Bridges odds, he still has a monumental mountain to climb in order to reach the top.

Four of the past five recipients of the award have been players that are the best performers on their team. For reference, Julius Randle won the award last season, Brandon Ingram in 2020, Victor Oladipo in 2018 and Giannis Antetokounmpo in 2017. Knowing such, makes it more likely that it would take a Ja Morant regression in play for him to lose his grip on the award than Bridges (or any other player) to move ahead with their on-court production. There are a few instances, however, where the award is given to a team’s non-No. 1 option — C.J. McCollum in 2016 and Pascal Siakam 2019 immediately come to mind and so does Ryan Anderson from the 2011-12 season. Bridges falls under the same distinction as the players mentioned above being that he plays alongside LaMelo Ball.

The path to the MIP award for Miles Bridges is indeed paved, he’ll just need to stay as productive as he’s been and hope that those in the race veer off the path occasionally by the time the competition has concluded. We’ve got a long way to go, but it’s safe to say the race for this award, in particular, could be a fun one to follow.

Gannett may earn revenue from Tipico for audience referrals to betting services. Tipico has no influence over nor are any such revenues in any way dependent on or linked to the newsrooms or news coverage. See Tipico.com for Terms and Conditions. 21+ only. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER (NJ), 1-800-522-4700 (CO).

[mm-video type=video id=01fkks9cr1p4yhz0b8ez playlist_id=none player_id=none image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01fkks9cr1p4yhz0b8ez/01fkks9cr1p4yhz0b8ez-268e8e4b74b5ac4be03f7c5416541759.jpg]

[listicle id=1212948]

Joc Pederson’s pearls are going from the World Series to Cooperstown

The distinctive pearl necklace of Atlanta’s outfielder will have a new home.

The distinctive pearl necklace of Atlanta Braves outfielder Joc Pederson will soon have a new home. Pederson, who has been wearing the unusual accessory throughout Atlanta’s run to the World Series, is going to send his necklace to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.

The necklace has garnered a lot of attention since he started wearing it all the way back in September, and it became clear that the pearls would become a point of discussion as the postseason carried on. It wasn’t without drama, however, as the necklace broke during the series against Houston and Pederson’s jeweler had to fly to Atlanta to save the day.

Pederson, who previously won a World Series with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2020, will wear the necklace one more time before sending them to their final landing spot.

Time to celebrate with some red wine.

[mm-video type=video id=01fkhy1ex0j0q92ztkxh playlist_id=none player_id=none image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01fkhy1ex0j0q92ztkxh/01fkhy1ex0j0q92ztkxh-68484f4c85947d373ce671bb023478c6.jpg]

[vertical-gallery id=1212763]