“Setting this man up for failure”: NBA fans chuckle as Jayson Tatum emerges as frontrunner in finals MVP betting odds

Jayson Tatum and the Boston Celtics are currently on an impressive run in the Eastern Conference. The team has continued to hold onto the best record in the NBA by a pretty significant margin heading into the final stretch of the season. Given his production, and the team's success, Celtics superstar Jayson Tatum sits as the favorite to win the NBA Finals MVP.

The Celtics sit a betting favorites to win the NBA finals this season, sitting slightly ahead of the Denver Nuggets, who are the defending champions. Given that, Jayson Tatum's odds to be the finals MVP aren't entirely surprising, however, he notably sits in fifth place for regular season MVP.

While he has continued to impress this season, this isn't the first time the Celtics have impressed during the regular season. The last two years, for example, the team finished the regular season with the second-best record in the East.

In both instances, the team came up short in the NBA playoffs, failing to make it to the finals. Given that, many fans have been skeptical of Jayson Tatum and the Celtics' chances of making a big postseason run this year.

After Bovada listed Jayson Tatum as the favorite to win finals MVP with +400 odds, ahead of Nikola Jokic with +550 odds, fans were quick to react. In addition, Bovada also listed Jaylen Brown in third place with +900 odds to win the finals MVP award.

Fans react to Jayson Tatum being betting favorite to win finals MVP award

Looking at the Boston Celtics' perspective playoff opponents

While the Celtics have already clinched their spot in the playoffs, the big question is who the team will be competing against in the first round of the playoffs. Of course, because of the NBA Play-In Tournament, the seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth place teams will all compete for their spot in the postseason.

The seventh and eighth place teams will play one another, with the winner of the game securing the seventh seed. At the same time, the ninth and tenth place teams will play one another, with the loser being eliminated, and the winner playing the loser of the game between the seventh & eighth seed game.

The winner of the 9th/10th seed game, and the loser of the 7th/8th seed game will play for the eighth seed in the postseason, and will match up with the Boston Celtics. When looking at the current NBA standings, the 76ers and Heat would compete if the play-in tournament were to happen today.

Meanwhile the Chicago Bulls and Atlanta Hawks sit in ninth and tenth place in the East, with the pair likely to face off with one another in the play-in tournament. This season, Jayson Tatum and the Celtics have a 2-0 record against the Bulls in the regular season, and a 2-0 record against the Hawks in the regular season.

Given that, it seems as though the team is sitting in a good position regardless of which team they face.