Who will win NBA Finals MVP? - Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Tyrese Haliburton favourites to lead their teams to victory

The 2025 NBA Finals are about to get underway, with the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Indiana Pacers both battling for their first-ever title. 

While both of these squads run deep, the title won't be won without star power, and this series will be jam-packed with elite talent, names like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Tyrese Haliburton, Jalen Williams, and Pascal Siakam all seeking to make an impact. 

So which big name will step and lead their team to victory, and the all-important Finals MVP award?

Who will win NBA Finals MVP?

While the star players from both teams will be the favourites for this award, history has shown us that this award can be unpredictable, with names ranging from Jaylen Brown to Andre Iguodala winning Finals MVP in recent years. 

Favourite: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander ($1.14)

The favourite to win Finals MVP is the current league MVP, Oklahoma City star SGA. The 26-year-old led the league in scoring this season as the Thunder won 68 games in the regular season. 

After a slow start against Memphis in Round 1 - which the Thunder won in a sweep - Gilgeous-Alexander stepped up massively against first Denver and then Minnesota, averaging 31.4 points, 8.2 assists and 5.2 rebounds in the Conference Finals. 

He will now attempt to become the first player to win MVP and the title since Stephen Curry in 2015, and the first to claim both regular season and finals MVP since LeBron James in 2013. 

Best value: Tyrese Haliburton ($7.50)

Haliburton has been a revelation for the Pacers since they traded for him in 2022, bringing them to back-to-back Eastern Conference Finals, and their first NBA Finals since 2000. 

His ability to orchestrate his team's offence is unparalleled, and against the Knicks he recorded the first 30/15/10 triple-double with 0 turnovers in playoff history. 

The point guard narrowly missed out on the Eastern Conference MVP, losing 5-4 to teammate Pascal Siakam, but against a defence as connected as the Thunder, Haliburton's creation will be paramount if the Pacers want to pull off the unthinkable. 

Sleeper: Pascal Siakam ($18.00)

It might seem crazy to call Siakam a sleeper pick here, with the former champion coming off a dominant Eastern Conference Finals run that saw him claim EC MVP, but the market still has him at fairly wide odds. 

Siakam has been to the top of the mountain before, and knows what it takes on both offence and defence, a calming presence on a relatively inexperienced Indiana outfit. 

If Haliburton finds himself stifled by the plethora of gun Thunder defensive guards, Siakam could prove to be the pressure release and key to the whole operation, and at $18 he is more than worth the risk. 

NBA Finals MVP odds

Odds via bookmaker Sportsbet