NBA Futures Betting

If you are looking to make an NBA futures bet then here is everything you need to know.

How To Bet On NBA Futures Lines

One of the most popular sports to bet on in the United States is basketball – and not only do fans enjoy betting on single NBA games, but many also enjoy placing their bets on futures. The NBA Futures odds market caters for everyone – both novice punters and experts alike. The regular season dominates the year with teams fighting to win their division – and is followed by the playoffs – where the best look to be crowned conference champions – and then the western conference winners face off against the eastern conference winners in June, with a ‘best of seven’ series of games… the NBA Finals.

The great news is that you can access futures odds all year – and the bookmakers and odds makers will keep on updating the odds depending on what is happening – in terms of injuries, trades, free agents signings – and the general forms of the teams. The odds constantly get updated according to any changes that might affect the NBA championship odds.

You can access the odds for the following season as soon as the previous season comes to an end, so the ability to bet on the NBA never ends – and straight away you can scour your favourite bookmakers to find futures odds for every one of the 30 teams in the NBA League. You can also bet on players winning Rookie of the season – or players winning the MVP.

As soon as you are ready to bet on your favorite NBA team – whether it’s Chicago Bulls or LA Lakers – or whether you want to bet on your favourite player – be it LeBron James or Kevin Durant, you can look for the best odds at one of the top recommended sportsbooks.

Placing a bet on NBA futures doesn’t always promise huge payouts, because of the nature of the NBA – where dynasties can be made by a player moving in their free agency. However, the earlier you bet on your team in the season, the more likely you are to get better value odds. It’s all about betting on the right team at the right time. For example – in 2019, if you bet on the Toronto Raptors to win before the start of the season, in August, the odds were +1850. However, by December that year, they had deflated to +750. As such, it is clear that you would have got a much better return on your money had you placed your NBA futures bet early on. Futures odds generally offer less value as the season goes on – and the players’ and teams’ form is more apparent.

Generally, NBA Championship futures betting is the most popular of all futures – with most people heading over the place their wagers on who they think will win the season overall, but this isn’t the only type of NBA futures market available at most good sportsbooks.

Here are some of the different types of NBA futures markets available:

NBA Eastern and Western Conference Winners

The NBA comprises two conferences, the Eastern Conference and the Western Conference. There are three divisions per conference – each with five teams – making it 15 teams per conference.

In order to win the conference title, the team needs to be one of the eight teams from those fifteen that make it into the playoffs. The playoffs will then be a knockout competition, ending up with the conference finals. The winner of this will then be crowned conference champions and will take part in the NBA finals against the other conference winning team- with the chance of being crowned NBA Champions.

NBA DIVISION WINNERS

Each conference is made up of three divisions. The Eastern Conference comprises:

Atlantic
Central
Southeast

and the Western Conference is made up of three divisions:

Southwest
Northwest
Pacific

In order to win the Division title, a team needs to get the best regular-season record. S, the better a team performs during regular-season, the more likely they are to be crowned division winners.

Player Awards

Most sportsbooks also offer up NBA futures odds on player awards – which are usually the Rookie of the Year award and the Most Valuable Player award. These ones can be difficult as these aren’t just based on facts and stats, but also opinions and subjectivity. These awards are decided by votes from sports writers – all of whom have preferences and opinions that can vary widely from many fans out there.

Odds to Win the 2022 NBA Finals

So, who are the top contenders to win the 2022 NBA playoffs and be crowned the new holder of the NBA Championship? Here are the current favorites:

Brooklyn Nets (add odds)
Golden State Warriors:
Milwaukee Bucks:
Los Angeles Lakers:
Utah Jazz:

Choosing Your NBA Finals Odds

Most sportsbooks will start posting their opening odds for the 30 teams to win the NBA Championship in the offseason. These odds and lines will then start moving around as the regular season starts – and starts fluctuating depending on the apparent forms of the teams and the opinions of the bettors. The best way to cash in a big win and get a very handsome return on your NBA odds is simply understanding that it is not easy. You need to make sure you do all the homework so that you can try to see which teams have the best chance – and pick a team that might start slow and build momentum.

Throughout the season, there are multiple factors that will affect the value of the NBA Finals odds – these could be midseason trades, suspensions, injuries and more – and that’s only in regular-season. It doesn’t stop there. As soon as the playoffs begin and the matchups are decided, the sportsbooks will change their odds again, based on which teams they feel might have a slightly easier path than others.

There will be sixteen teams in the playoffs – eight in the Eastern Conference and eight in the Western Conference. This will then be dwindled down to just two teams – the winner of the Eastern Conference and the winner of the Western Conference. The sportsbook’s odds makers will then use American Odds to predict who they believe are favourites or underdogs in that seven-game series. American odds also referred to as Moneyline odds is relatively easy to work out when you get the hang of it. The odds would then be called the NBA Finals Odds Series Price and would look something like this:

Los Angeles Lakers: – 250 (you would need to bet $250 to win $100)
Chicago Bulls: +200 (if you bet $100 then you would win $200)

In British bookmakers, this may be represented by fractional odds, which would look as follows:

Los Angeles Lakers: 2/5
Chicago Bulls 2/1

However, European bookmakers use decimal odds – and these same odds would be represented as follows:

Los Angeles Lakers 1.4
Milwaukee Bucks 3.0

Whatever form you read them in it means the same: If you bet $100 on LA Lakers, you will win $40 but if you bet $100 on the Bulls, you will win $200.

Betting on NBA Futures Odds FAQs

How Can I Bet on the NBA 2022 Futures Markets?

It is pretty straightforward. All you need to do is register a new account at one of our top, legal and recommended sportsbooks and you can place your bet. Simply make your deposit, search for NBA futures and choose your preferred market, team or player odds and place your wager. Then you have to play the waiting game until the season ends to see if your bet comes in!

What Type of NBA Future Bets Can I Make?

There are plenty of NBA futures markets available to bet on – not only can you bet on the winner of the NBA Finals, but you can bet on the winners of the Conferences, the winners of the Divisions, which teams will make the playoffs, who will win Rookie of the Year and which player will be named the MVP and more – the choice is endless!

How Can I Learn to Bet on Basketball?

There is a lot to know about betting on basketball, and here at Sports Intel, we have numerous guides on basketball betting and the NBA. Check out all of our articles and you will have all the intel you need to make the best and most informed NBA bets.

Is NBA Betting Legal?

This depends on which state you live in. Generally betting on the NBA is legal in a growing number of states in the US, but we would certainly recommend that you check the laws and rules of your location before placing a wager. Remember, make sure that you find a legal and legitimate meeting site before you place any wager so that you can feel assured that your funds are fully protected.