The Four Best NBA Futures Bets to Make Today

We are two weeks into the NBA season and we know a few things for sure: Luka Donic is good. The Lakers are bad. Kyrie Irving is… well, you know. Anyway, here are our four favorite NBA futures bets for you to make before the NBA clock strikes November. 

Dallas to win the NBA title (+2000, FanDuel)

Why is this number so friendly? Bettors aren’t impressed with the Mavs’ 2-3 start, pushing the Mavs’ NBA title odds to +2000. Let’s look closer, though: the Macs lost to the Suns by 2 on the road, they lost to the Pelicans by 2 on the road, and then they lost to OKC in overtime. Their wins are a destruction of the Grizzlies by 41 points and a win in Brooklyn. 

In the NBA you bet on the team with the best player, and right now Dallas has the best player in the sport. 

Luka Doncic to win MVP (+350, FanDuel)

Along those lines, look at Luka’s obscene stats through five games:

35.2 ppg, 10.8 reb, 9.4 ast, 1.8 steals. By the way, he hasn’t been hitting threes yet this season, making just 22.7% of his 8.8 attempts per game. If he hit at last year’s rate, he’d be adding over 3 points more per game, putting him in the Jordan zone (MJ averaged 37.1 ppg in 1986-87, the best mark of the past 60 seasons). 

 Luka has never finished in the top three of MVP voting, finishing 4th, 5th, and 6th over the past three seasons, but that works to his advantage this season. 

Bennedict Mathurin for 6th Man of the Year (+3600, FanDuel)

The question here is who will actually still be a sixth man in April? We’ll say that Jordan Poole and Christian Wood, the two current favorites for the award, will be starting soon. Mathurin may force his way into Indiana’s starting lineup, but at +3600 we’ll take the chance that he stays a reserve. The former Arizona star is averaging 21 points per game and his minutes, currently 27.7, are likely to go up. 

Also, does it bother anyone else that the Pacers have player who wears the number 0 and another player, Mathurin, who wears 00?

The Lakers to miss the playoffs, after play-in tournament (-145, BetMGM)

This is our favorite NBA bet of the month. I would like this bet at -200. The Lakers are not going to make the playoffs, no matter what. In fact, they might be the worst team in the NBA this season. The Spurs, who were considered the worst team in the NBA this season in the preseason, had no use for Lonnie Walker, who now starts for the Lakers and is getting 13 shots per game for L.A., now the league’s only winless team. This is going to get ugly, or at least very, very sad.