If you can believe it, NBA preseason starts this week, and with the regular season right around the corner, sportsbooks across the United States have been releasing sets of odds that you can place a wager on. With the OVER/UNDER win totals bet in particular, the Milwaukee Bucks are actually ahead the rest of the league when it comes to having the most victories this upcoming season to the majority of the betting sites that cover NBA.
With online sportsbook BetOnline, they have the Bucks set at the top spot at 57.5 wins, and this after they would accomplish the best record in the NBA last year at 60-22. Coming in second place in the odds, we have the Philadelphia 76ers at 54.5, while the Los Angeles Clippers, Houston Rockets, and Utah Jazz all have a three-way tie to round out the top five for us at 53.5.
Let’s go over a few interesting bets to place in this market:
The Los Angeles Lakers were absolute, (clears throat), garbage last season, but what’s the old saying? Rome wasn’t built in a day. Coming into the new campaign, the building process is certainly going well after the acquisition of Anthony Davis in the offseason. On top of that, with the Lakers not making the playoffs last season, they get a LeBron James that has been rested since April. With these circumstances, betting on them to hit the OVER seems quite logical.
They might not have gotten the additional third superstar that they had hoped for like a Kawhi Leonard or Kyrie Irving, but Los Angeles would still produce a pretty good offseason. They would make a bit of a splash with DeMarcus Cousins, but he’ll unfortunately be out indefinitely because of a torn ACL injury. Other than that, they would make solid additions in Danny Green, Jared Dudley and Avery Bradley. With Green, he brings more championship pedigree to the current team after just recently playing in the NBA Finals with the Toronto Raptors, where he would win his second ring. And to go along with Green, Dudley and Bradley, all have effective three-point shooting and are pretty good at defense.
As far as picking them to win the NBA championship, I’ll pass on that bet, but I do believe they can have a season with 50, 51, 52, maybe 53 wins to place them OVER the 48.5 mark. The key to this happening is health, which obviously has to happen or this bet will fail, but if they maintain durability, they should be able to achieve a 50-win season.
Oh, how the Miami Heat surely miss the ‘Big 3’ days of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh. Last season, the Heat would finish the regular season with a losing 39-43 record to finish 3rd in the Southeast Division and left out of the Eastern Conference playoffs. With that being said, Miami is quite a young team, and the offseason would be a success for the three-time champions. On top of that, the 2018-19 campaign was looked at as more of a salute to Dwyane Wade with it being his last year due to retiring.
The Heat are getting back to business though. In early July, Miami would go out and complete a sign and trade deal with the Philadelphia 76ers for Jimmy Butler — the contract would be a length of four years for a total of $142,000,000. But it doesn’t look like the Heat are done there even though the season is right around the corner. The latest reports are showing that they’re actually trying to complete a deal with the Oklahoma City Thunder for Chris Paul, so if they pull that off and team him up with Butler, Miami could do a little damage this season.
With the acquisition of Jimmy Butler alone, I think the Miami Heat are a playoff team. Butler is going to be around some young talent in South Beach, including the likes of Bam Adebayo, Justise Winslow, Dion Waiters, and Tyler Herro. They may not be a championship team, sure, but I do like them to get into the postseason and also hit the OVER mark at 42.5. Last season, they would win 39 games and that would be without the star power of Jimmy Butler. I’m pretty sure Butler can deliver at least four more wins. I like this OVER bet, definitely, especially if they get Chris Paul. Place those wagers now though, you know the numbers will change if they do get Paul.
Compared to the glory days, the San Antonio Spurs might not have that same aura and talent, but the franchise is overall doing a good job of staying relevant. Over the offseason, they may have lost out on the big names and would be forced to settle for DeMarre Carroll that beefs up their wing depth a bit. With that being said, this is a team that still has a productive roster and can produce a solid amount of wins, especially in a stacked Western Conference. On top of that, their point guard is also making his return with his health intact.
The Spurs couldn’t be happier about it, who were significantly weakened without Murray due to having to trust Bryn Forbes and Derrick White at the point. All reports are saying that Murray’s rehab on his knee was a success in the offseason, so everything is in the green for San Antonio to get their ball-handler back.
At AT&T Center, the Spurs are nearly unbeatable, and they were so good at home last season that they would pull in the second best record in the Western Conference when playing on their own court.
On top of that, they would also lead the entire NBA in three-point shooting, collecting the highest percentage out of any team to go along with their offensive potency. And here’s the crazy thing about that statistic: They would also lead the league in the fewest total attempts.
That’s not the only leverage that they have either, they also play in the Southwest Division along with the New Orleans Pelicans and Memphis Grizzlies, who aren’t necessarily going to be the best teams this upcoming season. With the Spurs playing each team four times for a total of eight games, there’s a possible eight wins just with those two series. With that being said, you can count on San Antonio to be able to make their way into the playoffs. As far as their win total, they would win 48 games last year and that was with weaker depth, so I think they’re a lock to hit the OVER mark at 45.5.
I’m actually quite surprised that the oddsmakers have set the OVER/UNDER win total at 44.5 for the Brooklyn Nets. Last season, they would compile a total of 42 wins, which is obviously just 2.5 under the mark for the upcoming campaign. What’s confusing about this is that the Nets would achieve that 42-40 record without Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, two players that they now have on their roster after this past summer’s free agency period. So with this being the case, I have to ask: Is the OVER bet here a gift from the gambling gods?
The roster that they already had in place is the same team that would only win 28 games in the 2017-18 season, and then would turn around to win 42 and make the playoffs the very next campaign. Obviously, you can expect even more progression from those pieces, and now you want to throw Durant and Irving into the mix? Again, I’m not understanding the odds here. On top of that, they also get back Caris LaVert, who is completely healthy entering the new season. They also beefed up their depth at the center position, replacing Allen Crabbe with Taureen Prince. This team is ready for things in 2019-20.
I can’t stress this enough, but like I’ve already said, is this a gift from the gambling gods? I’m stunned that the oddsmakers have the OVER/UNDER win total at 44.5, but hey, go ahead and take advantage. I’ve already mentioned that the Nets would win 42 games last season, this without both KD and Irving. With those two on board and the talent that’s around them, this team has the potential to win over 50 games, especially in a weak Eastern Conference. Go ahead and place the OVER, it’s a lock.
It’s rough to be a Chicago Bulls fan in 2019. The glory days of Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Phil Jackson are long gone, and the Derrick Rose era is a distant memory. Ever since then, the Bulls status’ has consistently been in rebuilding mode, with the strategy switching up from time to time as well with the multiple roster moves that they’ve made over the years. As far as this past offseason is concerned, it wouldn’t be anything too dramatic with picking up Thaddeus Young and Tomas Satoransky in the free agency market, and they would also add Coby White through the draft.
Here’s the thing with the Chicago Bulls and their incoming players though: None of them improve the team on the defensive side of the ball. If you remember, that’s what would kill the Bulls the most last season, and it was pretty dismal to say the least. There’s no potency on offense either, with both their field goal and three-point percentage being among the worst in the league in 2018-19. That’s not all either, Chicago would bring in an absolute horrible record on their home floor, tying for the worst record in the NBA at 9-32 in 41 games at Soldier Field.
With the state of the current team, I could see them getting around 25-30 wins, but putting your faith in them to hit the OVER at 32.5 is a bit of a stretch. I understand they’re in the Eastern Conference, but still, they’re not getting 33 wins this season. Place the UNDER.
I get that the Utah Jazz would go out in the offseason and trade for Mike Conley Jr., but do the oddsmakers really think that’s going to get them at least 54 wins? I understand they would have a 50-win season last year, but the Western Conference has beefed up a bit as well. The Los Angeles Lakers got stronger, the Houston Rockets got stronger, the Los Angeles Clippers and so on. I’m just not seeing them hitting the OVER here with those circumstances.
To their credit, this is a very talented team though, I don’t want to take anything away from them. The likes of Conley, Donovan Mitchell, Rudy Gobert and Dante Exum is certainly productive and will definitely tally a solid number of victories in 2019-20, but 54? I just have a hard time seeing this team win that many games in the Western Conference with the lack of a superstar. Yeah, they’re loaded with quality talent, but there’s no superstar to lead them to a near 55-win season. And though Conley is an effective player, I don’t he’s great enough to add four more wins to this team — not in the West.
I do think the Utah Jazz will be a very entertaining team to watch this season, I think they’ll get into the playoffs again and they’ll even give a scare to whatever Western power they’re playing. All I’m saying is I just don’t see them getting 54 wins this year. I get that they would get 50 wins last season, but the Western Conference was also weird last year, and with the conference even better now, I’m definitely not seeing 54. Take the UNDER.
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