Odds to win NBA Championship via DraftKings Sportsbook:
| Lakers +275 | Clippers +550 |
| Bucks +550 | Nets +600 |
| Celtics +1500 | Heat +1500 |
| Sixers +2000 | Nuggets +2000 |
| Mavericks +2200 | Raptors +2500 |
| Warriors +3000 | Trail Blazers +3500 |
| Jazz +3500 | Rockets +6000 |
| Suns +6000 | Pelicans +7000 |
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The teams on this list are more or less the relevant teams in the NBA this season. James Jones, if you are reading this, congratulations. You made it. If you do not know what these numbers mean, all it is is the amount of money you would get if you bet $100 on that team e.g. $100 on the Sixers to win the NBA championship would win you $2000 plus the $100 you put in back. The number before the 0’s serves as a multiplier, in other words the Sixers are 20 to 1 to win the finals, if I bet $5 and they won it all, I would win $100. You get the point.
I am not going to sit here and tell you not to bet the Sixers to win it all from the start of the season.
- We finally have a roster fit to embrace the best things about our two all-world caliber players.
- We have a competent President of Basketball Operations fit to make moves if need be before the halfway point in the season.
- We have an extremely well constructed coaching staff that values many aspects of the game and hopefully, is exactly what the locker room needs.
- We have 2 of the best 15 basketball players in the universe and our newest son, Tyrese Maxey.
All that being said, there is a reason we are 20 to 1- it probably won’t happen. This is coming from the guy that took the Sixers at +2700 before the bubble began. Don’t remind me how that one turned out. I also took the Blazers at +5500 when they were getting ready for the play-in series against the Grizzlies. A 6-month-younger Jake saw a roadmap where Dame pulled up from the logo 12 times a game and sent Lebron and AD packing in round 1. You might be asking yourself, “This is the guy I’m about to take gambling advice from?” You’re damn right it is. I only took that bet because I fell in love with rooting for a team with multiple players who could pull up off the dribble and knock down 30 footers. I wonder why that seemed so surreal to me? Hm. Don’t get me wrong, as much as anyone I want the Sixers to compete for the title this year. I think if they play to their ceiling, they can make the finals and then who knows- we match up pretty well against the Lakers and could make it interesting. However, I’ll be trying to make us all money this year, and do not want to blindly advise everyone to hammer the Sixers here just because. My goal for this year is that we compete in the Eastern Conference Finals, prove Ben and Jo can work together with a well-constructed roster, and build some chemistry with this team. All this being said- as I’m writing this at 6:30 ET on 12/17/20 Oddsshark has the Sixers as the favorites to land James Harden at +175. How I feel about dealing either superstar for Harden is a topic for another piece, but if we were to pair him with either Ben or Jo, we would be the favorites in the East and placing your money on the Sixers to win it all now at +2000 would be the value steal of the year. If you for whatever reason feel strongly that we get the former MVP, that bet becomes much more reasonable. Nevertheless, let’s talk value on some other teams.
Right now, you can nearly triple your money betting on the Lakers to win it all. Yeah, they are the favorites and this is a boring choice, but that is incredible value. Over the course of the season, as this new and improved Lakers team steamrolls through the NBA, that number (+275) will go down and down until you are wishing you hammered it when I told you too. That is where my money will be going, aside from the Hail Mary I throw on the Sixers. Think about it, Lebron was an MVP Candidate last season. I can’t reasonably expect him to do that again, at age 36 with less than 3 months off from a championship run during a pandemic. But he has another MVP-caliber player suiting up next to him in Anthony Davis, and I don’t know about you, but to me during the finals he looked ready to take the wheel. Two top 5 players have already added Montrezl Harrell, Dennis Shroeder, Marc Gasol, Wesley Matthews and only really lost Dwight (hell yeah, TTP), Javale, Rondo and Danny Green. They kept KCP who was arguably their third most important player in the finals (cannot believe I just wrote that) and upgraded at the positions they lost. Not to mention the exciting development we are seeing in preseason about second year guard/forward Talen Horton-Tucker, who can do whatever this already-strong second unit needs. They keep a competent coaching staff as well, holding on to all of the key ingredients of their Disney World title run. Barring a major injury to one of their stars, Lebron can and should repeat this season to grab his fifth.
If you are looking for a moonshot to bet on, I love Dallas at +2200. After last season, Luka will be expected to be an MVP candidate this season. They should have a healthy KP back to start the season or soon after, per clutchpoints.com’s Jeremy Chua. They add Josh from us, who makes MUCH more sense next to Luka than he does Ben, especially with his length and ability on the defensive end- expect to see more of the promising J-Rich we saw in Miami when you see him on the Mav’s. He scored 23 in their first preseason game against the bucks on 5-6 shooting from deep. A Sixers player leaving and performing noticeably better than they did in Philadelphia, imagine that. They lost Seth Curry, but that shooting can be somewhat replaced by the sharpshooting shot creator they stole at 31 in the draft: Tyrell Terry. Dude is a stud. They should get their starting center back in Dwight Powell who does his job well. Not to mention valuable pieces like Brunson (shoutout Nova), Tim Hardaway Jr., rookie Tyler Bey, Finney-Smith, Maxi Kleber and- wait for it- BOBAN. They even have a top-6 coach in the league in Rick Carlisle. This is a team who with a younger core took last season’s title favorites to 6 games in round 1, look for them to have a great year.
Last one- Miami. The Heat are +1500 right now to win it all and are bringing back their entire nucleus aside from Jae Crowder, plus adding a great fit in Precious Achiuwa who slots in next to Bam nicely. Add Avery Bradley to a back court with a healthy Goran who found his all-star form from a few years ago and was debatably their most important player in 5 or 6 of those playoff games. His pick and roll game with Bam even on one leg was something even the lockdown-Lakers defense had problems with. Not to forget Jimmy, god why did we let him go. After his run in the Finals it is pretty hard to say he isn’t a top 11 guy in the league. If he isn’t, go through whoever you have above him and ask who you would rather have on your team when the game is on the line, because I know my answer. Absolutely can not leave out Herro and Robinson either, two elite shooters who will each look to improve upon their impressive seasons last year. Spoelstra is another top-tier coach with championship pedigree and no real weaknesses. This is a team who just made a finals run and took the Lakers to 6, in an Eastern conference with no clear front runner between a new Bucks squad, a Nets team we have no idea what will look like, a Raptors squad who lost their bigs and just does not quite have enough, a Celtics team who just lost a starter for nothing, and a Sixers squad who- well, yeah. +1500 is incredibly good value for this Heat team.
Stay up to date with my picks here on the site as the season begins, thanks for reading and stay well!
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