WNBA Odds: Is CT Sun’s Jonquel Jones Safe Bet For League MVP?

It’s only June, but the way Vegas seems to see it, Jonquel Jones already may have run away with the WNBA’s award for Most Valuable Player.

As things stand Tuesday, the Connecticut Sun forward is the odds-on favorite to earn the distinction, and we couldn’t agree more.

Jones recently was named the Eastern Conference’s Player of the Month for May, as well as its most recent Player of the Week. Through the first 10 games of the season, she’s averaged 21.6 points, 10.4 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.2 blocks as the only player in the WNBA averaging a double-double.

A $110 wager on Jones would make you $100, and at +150, her only real competition seems to be Breanna Stewart. Here are the odds, via DraftKings Sportsbook:

WNBA MVP ODDS
Jonquel Jones, Connecticut Sun (-110)
Breanna Stewart, Seattle Storm (+150)
A’ja Wilson, Las Vegas Aces (+800)
Sabrina Ionescu, New York Liberty (+1000)
DeWanna Bonner, Connecticut Sun (+1600)

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WHY WE LIKE THE ODDS
With the way she’s playing, leading the Sun to a WNBA-best 8-2 record, we think Jones is a lock.

After opting out of last season, it’s clear that had she been down in the bubble, the Sun may have gotten to the WNBA Finals and possibly won it all. In her return this year, she hasn’t missed a beat from 2019, where she made All-WNBA Second Team, All-Defensive First Team and her second All-Star Game.

The mobile 6-foot-6 forward is shooting an insane 56.8 percent from the field, 48.9 percent from deep and is putting up career-highs in minutes (33.0 per game) and basically every other stat (with exception of her free throw shooting, but we’re not off by much here.)

She’s not a big name like Stewie or Ionescu, but she basically is the Kevin Durant of the WNBA and has proven to be the X-factor for Connecticut, despite it being without one of its best players for the season in Alyssa Thomas.

A knock against Jones’ case could be that she’ll miss four games in June while representing Bosnia and Herzegovina in the FIBA Women’s EuroBasket 2021. But it also could show how valuable she is to the team, and chances are the smart money is on her to take home MVP.

Connecticut will go as far as Jones takes it, and with the campaign she’s putting together, that could be all the way.