We’re just days away from the start of the best and most prominent basketball tournament on Earth, which means it is time to submit our NBA futures picks.
For those who don’t know how future bets work, they’re bets that run throughout the whole season and cash in (or not) at the end of the year.
NBA futures picks 2022-23
Our preseason predictions could be slightly controversial, as we believe there will be plenty of surprises in the upcoming campaign. From who’ll take home the NBA Rookie of the Year award to who’ll end up on top of the rest of the league, feel free to agree or disagree with us.
The NBA is where amazing happens, and that’s perhaps the real beauty of this league. You never know what’s gonna happen, so you just can’t afford to miss any of the action. With that in mind, we present you with some of our NBA futures picks.
Warriors to win NBA Finals (+600)
Western Conference betting could get quite interesting this time around. The Los Angeles Clippers have the highest odds to win both the Conference and the NBA Finals, which shouldn’t come as a surprise. However, despite Kawhi Leonard and Paul George returning, we still give the reigning champions the nod.
Just check this out. The Warriors have made the NBA Finals in every single season of the Steve Kerr era when their Big 3 is healthy. They’ve made it to six Finals in eight seasons, and they’re just tailor-made for the playoffs. We’ll take them at +600 odds any day of the week, regardless of the rival. It’s the Warriors we’re talking about.
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Hawks to win Southeast Division (+170)
Taking a look at Eastern Conference betting, we can find plenty of value on teams that aren’t getting that much love from oddsmakers, such as the Atlanta Hawks. That’s often what happens with small market teams, but we believe they’re making a big mistake this time.
The Hawks are much improved upon Dejounte Murray‘s arrival. They now have two All-Star guards in the backup, and one hides the other one’s flaws perfectly. The Hawks have length, depth, and young talent and have a better roster than the Miami Heat, at least on paper. There’s just too much value to ignore here.
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Will there be a first-time champion? No (-155)
Most teams have won at least one NBA championship in their history. And judging by the NBA futures odds 2022-23, we don’t think any of the few teams that have never taken the Larry O’Brien trophy home will do any better this season, either. Also, we already established that we believe the Warriors will win the NBA Finals, so this is like slightly doubling down on that take.
So, even though the odds aren’t exactly appealing at -155, there aren’t that many teams that could realistically challenge this bet. Thus far, just the Indiana Pacers, Denver Nuggets, Memphis Grizzlies, Charlotte Hornets, Los Angeles Clippers, and Brooklyn Nets have failed to win an NBA title. Who’s ending the drought?
Nets to lead the league in scoring (+475)
Even though we don’t love the Brooklyn Nets NBA futures odds 2022-23 to win the NBA championship, we do believe that they’ll have perhaps the best offense in the league next season. I mean, having Ben Simmons pulling the strings of the offense and kicking it out to Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant, Seth Curry, and Joe Harris? Yes, please.
The Nets have more offensive talent than any other team in the league, and those two all-time great scorers can get hot on any given night. Their biggest issue will be defense, so they’ll have to outscore every single rival in the league to get a win. They’ll look historically great one day and like a borderline amateur team the next one, but points will be there.
Joel Embiid to win MVP (+600)
Even though he’s not getting that much attention and love in today’s NBA MVP odds, we believe Joel Embiid will finally get the recognition he deserves this season. He’s been a top three candidate for years now, and he’s admitted that he’s taken offense it not winning the award before.
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Embiid is reportedly in the best shape of his career, and the only thing that could hold him back is his own body. Also, he’ll have a field day night in and night out, with Tyrese Maxey and James Harden feeding him in the post and with the Sixers’ pick-and-roll heavy offense.
He wants to prove that he’s the best big man on Earth, and Nikola Jokic has set the bar quite high.
Kawhi Leonard to make All-NBA 1st team (+475)
Most NBA win totals have the Los Angeles Clippers winning the most games in the NBA next season. And while we wouldn’t be shocked if that were to happen, we believe there’s way more value in Kawhi Leonard making the All-NBA 1st team at +475 odds.
I mean, there’s no way they snub him if the Clippers win the most games.
We all know Kawhi Leonard is one of the greatest two-way players of all time. He can play lockdown defense and put up 30 on 50/40/90 shooting any night, and he’s also one of the most popular guys in the NBA. So, if the Clippers win north of 50 games and he doesn’t sit out back-to-backs, it will be quite tough to make a case against Leonard as a member of the All-NBA 1st team.
