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NBA Futures bets: Western Conference Betting Favorites
Lest we forget, the Golden State Warriors dispatched the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals with relative ease just a few short months ago, a somewhat anticlimactic finish to a 2021-22 season that was supposed to lead to a summer of extreme change from coast to coast.
But aside from the teardown of the Utah Jazz, every Western Conference contender not named Minnesota performed a series of tweaks that leaves us asking the question: Did anyone put together a team capable of keeping Steph Curry and his teammates from going back to the championship round for the fifth time in seven seasons?
The last time we saw anyone from the West aside from the Warriors winning a game was way back on May 24 when the Dallas Mavericks avoided a sweep by winning Game 4 at home against Golden State before eventually losing Game 5.
And yes, the Boston Celtics gave their backers some high hopes by taking two of the first three games of the NBA Finals, but the Warriors were like a cat playing with a spool of yarn, and they toyed with that team in green while flipping their on/off switch to the positive position and taking care of business.
The amount of confidence and nonchalance that the Warriors displayed should add an a level of apprehension to the other 14 teams that have to try to get past them to make it to the finals, and the oddsmakers really like only one of them - a team that has never, ever made it to the NBA Finals unless you count their days back in Buffalo.
Yes, the Los Angeles Clippers are the +550 favorites at Betway and elsewhere to emerge as the 2023 NBA champion, which should provide some motivation to the Warriors by the time the teams meet for the first time on Thanksgiving Eve.
The Clippers have added Rockets castoff John Wall to a core that was already led by Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, a trio that combined to play a total of just 31 games last season, all of them by George. Leonard was out for the season with a torn ACLbut is now good to go, and Wall was put on the shelf by the Rockets as they paid him more than $30 million to sit on the sidelines and keep his mouth shut. That trio is judged to be slightly better than the Dubs’ trio of Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green, who have been keeping busy this summer cheering on the Dodgers and calling for the ouster of Suns owner Robert Sarver.
The next most highly regarded superstar trio (you need one of those to be considered legit these days) in the West is Chris Paul, Devin Booker and DeAndre Ayton of the Suns, who are currently on the board at +1200 but should drop if they manage to turn Jae Crowder into a better piece of the puzzle with Crowder’s name front and center in trade chatter as we head into the start of training camps this week.
The Jazz are still looking to move Bojan Bogdanovic, Mike Conley and Jordan Clarkson as they continue a teardown that has already resulted in the departures of Donovan Mitchell, Joe Ingles and Rudy Gobert, and where those three land could change the gambling landscape if it puts an almost-there team (Memphis? The Lakers? New Orleans?) one keep piece closer to the stratosphere currently occupied by the Warriors and the Clips.
Usually, midseason trades alter the NBA landscape the most. But this autumn, it could be preseason trades that move the needle because of the caliber of talent that Utah executives Danny Ainge and Justin Zanik are still trying to move.
With that in mind, we have picked out five Western Conference wagers worth considering because of the preseason prices that are available. So let’s have at it...
NBA Western Conference Winner Odds & Predictions
New Orleans Pelicans (+2000) to win the West: If what we are hearing about Zion Williamson is true, that he spent the entire summer on a tight training regimen that has left him in the best shape of his life, that could be a game-changer for a team that threw a scare into the Suns in the first round behind the play of C.J. McCollum, Brandon Ingram and Jonas Valanciunas. Williamson has not played a game since May 4, 2021 as he has been recovering from a broken foot. Only Ingram, Jaxson Hayes and Kira Lewis remain from the last Pelicans roster that featured Zion as an active player, and general manager David Griffin has not only added McCollum and Valanciunas through trades over the past year and a half, but also Devonte’ Graham, Larry Nance Jr. and recently crowned Eurobasket MVP Willy Hernangomez. Let’s not forget that Zion averaged 27 points and 8.2 rebounds in 2020-21, and the first overall pick of 2019 may end up being a more impactful returnee for the Pels than Leonard will be for the Clippers.
NBA Rookie of the Year 2023 Odds & Predictions
Walker Kessler (+4500): The big kid from Auburn was the NCAA’s Defensive Player of the Year last season, and he figures to step right into Gobert’s old role as Utah’s starting center … giving him the type of heavy playing time that will impact whether he can outshine other rookies in similar circumstances who figure to get more on-the-job training that some of their draft classmates. Among them are Bennedict Matthurin of Indiana (+1000) and Paolo Banchero of Orlando (+190) who should be able to produce big numbers for bad teams. In the Rookie of the Year race, wins and losses do not matter quite so much to voters. Kessler is coming off a senior season in which he blocked 155 shots, a number exceeded by only one pro or college player last season, Jaren Jackson Jr. of the Grizzlies. If Kessler can do similar on the defensive end at the pro level, that could be the stat that pushes him over the top with voters.
NBA Coach of the Year 2023 Odds & Predictions
Darvin Ham (+1700): If LeBron James is happy and health and Anthony Davis is happy and healthy, that will be half the battle for the Lakers. Finding a way to make Russell Westbrook productive again while also slotting in new defensive specialist point guards Patrick Beverley and Dennis Schroeder is job No. 2, and if Ham can facilitate both of those things happening successfully he will be a very popular person in El Lay, which is where SportsCenter is now shot and where the Lakers-loving media helps set the national narrative. Ham is going to make a lot of friends among those media members whose influence on all voters cannot be understated. At this price, and with James still appearing to be ageless, this is a nice price.
NBA MVP 2023 Odds & Predictions
Karl-Anthony Towns (+5000): He is now part of a Twin Towers lineup with Gobert, and as he showed in the 3-point shootout at All-Star Weekend last season, he can play outside as well as inside. He is coming off a season in which he averaged 24.6 points and 9.8 rebounds, and he will be defended by a different caliber of opposing big man this season because opposing centers are going to be matched against Gobert. That could lead to a productivity bump that makes this +5000 line especially enticing.
NBA Most Improved Player 2023 Odds & Predictions
Josh Giddey (+3500): In three of the final four games he played last season before the Thunder shut him down due to a hip injury, the Aussie kid had triple-doubles. He even had the TNT Thursday night crew talking positively about the Thunder, which happens roughly once per decade. There are those who will discount his chances for this award because he was a lottery pick and is only going into his second season, but remember that voters absolutely love triple-doubles (Luke Doncic is the MVP favorite and Nikola Jokic is the two-time reigning MVP as a result of this fact), and Giddey should get extra run due to the season-long absence of Chet Holmgren after he injured his foot in a summer exhibition game in Seattle. This is a tough award to handicap because voters shift their opinions regularly over the course of the season, and prices on true contenders will remain enticing throughout the first three months of the season. It is one award futures market where you may want to spread your money around with high-priced hedges.