After a short offseason, the NBA is back on December 22. The season is condensed to 72 games to help the league get back to a regular schedule in 2021-22. Along with ten fewer games, the Raptors playing in Tampa Bay and no fans (at least to start) are the other notable differences entering this season.
| Team |  |
 |
 |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Los Angeles Lakers |
3.35 | 4.00 |
4.00 |
|
Brooklyn Nets |
6.00 | 6.00 |
6.00 |
|
Los Angeles Clippers |
7.00 | 6.50 |
6.50 |
|
Milwaukee Bucks |
7.00 | 7.00 |
7.00 |
|
Boston Celtics |
16.00 | 16.00 |
16.00 |
|
Miami Heat |
17.00 | 16.00 |
16.00 |
|
Philadelphia 76ers |
21.00 | 20.00 |
22.00 |
|
Toronto Raptors |
19.00 | 19.00 |
19.00 |
|
Golden State Warriors |
21.00 | 20.00 |
18.00 |
|
Denver Nuggets |
21.00 | 19.00 | 20.00 |
| Dallas Mavericks | 21.00 | 22.00 | 20.00 |
We have a couple of picks to win the 2021 NBA Championship before some other predictions on the 2020-21 NBA season.
Going with the reigning champs to repeat may seem like a lazy pick to some, but after watching LeBron James and Anthony Davis in the bubble and seeing the moves they made in the offseason, it is no wonder they have the best NBA betting odds and are the team to beat in 2021.
The Lakers fixed their biggest weakness – their bench – in the offseason, adding the reigning Six Man of the year Montrezl Harrell and the 2020 runner-up Dennis Schroder (who combined to average 37.5 points last year). They also inked former Raptor and 2013 Defensive Player of the Year Marc Gasol – who can provide excellent defence against bigs when Davis is on the bench.
The short offseason could mean the Lakers start the season off slow – resting LeBron and Davis more frequently earlier in the first few months. However, resting players is a smart strategy, especially when the team has chemistry and now a deep bench - and the goal is to win the Finals and nothing else.
Pick: The Los Angeles Lakers (4.00) to Win the 2021 NBA Championship
The Dallas Mavericks are worth taking a flyer on as an underdog to win the 2021 NBA Championship because of one player – Luka Doncic. Doncic made the All-NBA First Team last season – in only his second NBA season – after posting a line of 28.8-9.4-8.8 and leading the Mavericks to their best winning percentage since 2014-15.
Doncic ceiling this season is MVP and the best player in the league. He is also paired with another All-Star – Kristaps Porzingis – who, after missing all of the 2018-19 season, bounced best to average over 20 points and a career-high 9.5 rebounds in his first season with the Mavericks.
The Mavericks are a smart organization with one of the best coaches in the league. They likely will be a buyer at the trade deadline – and should see their odds of winning the Championship only increase over the season – meaning now offers the best value on the Mavericks to win it all in 2021.
Pick: Dallas Mavericks (21.00) to Win the 2021 NBA Championship
We have some predictions on the NBA below, plus details on where to bet on everything NBA if you are a Canadian bettor of the legal betting age.
| Team | |
|---|---|
|
Brooklyn Nets |
2.40 |
|
Boston Celtics |
3.60 |
|
Toronto Raptors |
4.50 |
|
Philadelphia 76ers |
4.75 |
|
New York Knicks |
101.00 |
The Nets are getting the most love from bookmakers to win the Atlantic Division, but they are not our pick to win it. The Nets, with Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant, have plenty of talent. The issue for them is Kevin Durant is coming off a terrible injury and has not played (minus 12 minutes in the NBA Finals) since May 2019. Irving is also coming off offseason surgery. A slightly condensed season hurts the Nets' chances of winning the Atlantic as it should take some time for them to start clicking at 100%.
Instead, the Division will be won by either the Boston Celtics or Toronto Raptors – and sadly, we are going with the Boston Celtics. The Celtics made a few smart moves this offseason adding some veteran pieces (Jeff Teague and Tristian Thompson) around their young stars – who helped the Celtics reached the Eastern Conference Finals last year. Their young players should also improve and will need less time to recover - compared to the vets on the Nets.
The Raptors offseason saw the departure of a few veterans – most importantly Marc Gasol and Serge Ibaka. Their void will be hard to fill, especially against some of the best bigs in the East. They will be a competitive team this season, but the Celtics core has a leg up on the Raptors for the Division in 2021.
Pick: Boston Celtics (3.60) to Win the Atlantic Division
| Coach | |
|---|---|
|
Steve Nash |
8.50 |
|
Monty Williams |
9.00 |
|
Rick Carlisle |
10.00 |
|
Erik Spoelstra |
11.00 |
|
Brad Stevens |
11.00 |
|
Frank Vogel |
11.00 |
|
Tyronn Lue |
13.00 |
|
Doc Rivers |
13.00 |
Coach of the Year is one of the tightest races entering the season – with a bunch of quality coaches offering good betting value. After careful consideration, we are going with Monty Williams as our preseason pick for the 2021 NBA Coach of the Year.
Monty Williams is the head coach of the Phoenix Suns – who over the last decade is one of the worst franchises in the NBA. The Suns have missed the playoffs for ten straight years, coinciding with three consecutive last-place finishes in the Western Conference.
Turning around this team into a playoff contender is about all it should take for voters to back Monty Williams as Coach of the Year. The Suns – the 8-0 bubble Suns – added Chris Paul in the offseason. Paul helped a young OKC Thunder team overachieve last season, and their coach – Billy Donovan – finished third for the award. However, unlike the Suns, the Thunder have been a consistent playoff team the last decade. Overall, we like Monty Williams and what he will do with the Phoenix Suns this season.
Pick: Monty Williams (10.00) to Win NBA 2021 NBA Coach of the Year
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Category : Sports Blog
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