Morning Coffee: MVP spotlight stays on SGA while NBA trade deadline drama unfolds

Happy NBA trade deadline to those who celebrate!

Basketball fans around the world woke up this morning hoping that their favourite team makes the type of deal that sets them on a path towards a championship, or at the very least, a trade that makes them relevant again.

Unlike in previous years, I’m in no position to temper expectations.

Luka Doncic, Anthony Davis, De’Aaron Fox, Zach LaVine, and Jimmy Butler have already swapped jerseys.

And after two reigning all-NBA players were traded for each other mid-season for the first time in NBA history, the list of players we can designate as untouchable seems to have narrowed significantly.

One player who won’t be traded is Oklahoma City Thunder superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

From Toronto, Ontario to hardwood royalty, SGA has emerged as the favourite to win regular season MVP following a brilliant start to his seventh NBA season.

While a number of fan bases across the association woke up this morning looking for a reason to believe in their squad again, Gilgeous-Alexander has already transformed the Thunder into a legitimate title contender as one of the best basketball players on the planet right now.

As a proud Canadian basketball fan, it’s been a lot of fun to watch SGA’s superstar development, while cheering for him beyond just the betting and fantasy implications.

And for the Canadians that haven’t fully grasped what Gilgeous-Alexander is doing right now, they’ll figure it out soon enough.

After all, this kind of greatness can’t be ignored.

This is the Morning Coffee for Thursday February 6th, 2025.

MVP Spotlight Stays On SGA While NBA Trade Deadline Drama Unfolds

The NBA doesn’t do slow news days this time of the year.

Basketball fans were still processing seeing Luka Doncic in a Los Angeles Lakers jersey when they learned that both De’Aaron Fox and Zach LaVine were changing teams.

After navigating who was in and who was out last night for both betting and fantasy basketball purposes, we were hit with the breaking news that Jimmy Butler was traded to the Golden State Warriors.

Butler, Steph Curry, and Draymond Green will all be at least 35 years old by the time the NBA playoffs roll around, but that didn’t stop FanDuel from making a significant adjustment to their title odds after the deal.

Meanwhile, the Toronto Raptors must have been thinking why not us when they decided late last night that it was their turn to make some noise.

The Raptors acquired a talented, scoring wing in 27-year-old Brandon Ingram from the New Orleans Pelicans.

Ingram, who has averaged 22.2 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 5.2 assists per game this season, solidifies a starting five that features Scottie Barnes, R.J. Barrett, Immanuel Quickley, and Jacob Poeltl.

At least, that’s where the Raptors stand this morning.

We’re not going to rule anything out before 3 PM ET.

While we were all refreshing our timelines for trade news late into the night, we got to watch SGA deliver another epic performance on TSN.

Gilgeous-Alexander recorded his third-career 50-point game as Oklahoma City covered easily as a 13-point favourite in a 140-109 win over the Phoenix Suns.

For perspective, FanDuel set the over/under on his points prop at 32.5.

He had 36 points with more than six minutes left in the third quarter.

Each of SGA’s 50-point performances have come within the Thunder’s last seven games.

That’s the shortest span across a player’s first three career 50-point games in NBA history.

In his last seven games, Gilgeous-Alexander has averaged 40.7 points, 5.3 assists, 5.0 rebounds, and 1.9 steals while shooting 55 per cent from the floor.

Meanwhile, the Thunder improved to 40-9 this season.

Oklahoma City needed just 49 games to get to 40 wins – its fewest games to 40 wins in franchise history.

SGA has delivered superstar numbers while leading the Thunder to the best record in the NBA, so it shouldn’t be a surprise to anybody that he is the obvious betting favourite to win regular season MVP at -650.

That number represents an 86.7 per cent implied probability that Gilgeous-Alexander wins the award.

Per the FanDuel traders, SGA is the most popular pick to win MVP with 20 per cent of the handle.

Oklahoma City is the clear favourite to represent the Western Conference in the NBA Finals at +105. 

The Thunder are also down to +230 as the second choice to win the NBA championship behind only the defending champion Boston Celtics at +210.

Every contender is hoping they can find the missing piece they need ahead of today’s NBA trade deadline.

Meanwhile, the teams on the outside looking in will continue to position themselves to try to land the type of star player that can help them become relevant again.

Oklahoma City already has the MVP favourite and a core that is ready to contend for a championship this season.

SGA has made Thunder games appointment television.

The only question left now is how far can Oklahoma City go once the NBA postseason arrives?

If this is just the beginning, I can’t wait to find out what the ceiling is for this Thunder team with SGA leading the way.