by Will Rogers
Monday, Dec 07, 2020Three Darkhorse NBA Teams To Win 2020/21
The Lakers are +275 to repeat in 2020/21. Brooklyn is in second at +525, while the Clippers and Bucks are +600 apiece. These four teams are the favorites to win the NBA championship next year, but there's plenty of value with some of the other teams, except they offer much better odds.
Here are three "darkhorse" NBA picks that fall out of these top four favorites.
Miami Heat (+1,600): Why not the Heat? How come the Nets are the favorites out of the East? Brooklyn has plenty of talent on paper, but no chemistry whatsoever. Miami shocked the World last year by winning the Eastern Conference and advancing to the NBA Finals, only to fall in six games. Jimmy Butler averaged 19 points, 6.7 boards, six assists, and 1.8 steals per game last year and he'll once again have Goran Dragic and Bam Adebayo alongside. Miami also added two-way guard Avery Bradley from the Lakers in the offseason.
Denver Nuggets (+2,000): Denver lost some key bench players from last year's team, but it picked up some competent players via free agency in the offseason, including Facundo Campazzo and JaMychal Green. The strength of Denver is its depth, as it still has Majal Murray, Gary Harris, Michael Porter Jr, Paul Millsap, and Nikola Jokic starting, along with Will Barton, Monte Morris, and Bol Bol. Denver enters the 2020/21 season filled with confidence after twice coming back from 3-1 deficits in the playoffs, before eventually succumbing to the eventual champion Lakers in the Western Conference Finals.
Dallas Mavericks (+2,500): Luka Doncic and the Mavericks were rolling in the playoffs before fellow star Kristaps Porzingis was injured. With Porzingis back to full health and Doncic entering his third year in the league, the sky really is the limit in Dallas this season (providing everyone stays healthy.) Doncic averaged 28.8 points, 9.4 boards, and 8.8 assists last year. Porzingis won't be in the line-up to start the year, but he'll just make this already stacked team that much stronger for the second-half push. Winning MVP is a very real goal for Doncic this year and he now has the supporting cast to reach even greater heights. If you don't mind tying up some of your bankroll for this length of time, at this price, the Mavericks are definitely worth a second look to win it all in 2020/21 in my opinion.
The Lakers are +275 to repeat in 2020/21. Brooklyn is in second at +525, while the Clippers and Bucks are +600 apiece. These four teams are the favorites to win the NBA championship next year, but there's plenty of value with some of the other teams, except they offer much better odds.
Here are three "darkhorse" NBA picks that fall out of these top four favorites.
Miami Heat (+1,600): Why not the Heat? How come the Nets are the favorites out of the East? Brooklyn has plenty of talent on paper, but no chemistry whatsoever. Miami shocked the World last year by winning the Eastern Conference and advancing to the NBA Finals, only to fall in six games. Jimmy Butler averaged 19 points, 6.7 boards, six assists, and 1.8 steals per game last year and he'll once again have Goran Dragic and Bam Adebayo alongside. Miami also added two-way guard Avery Bradley from the Lakers in the offseason.
Denver Nuggets (+2,000): Denver lost some key bench players from last year's team, but it picked up some competent players via free agency in the offseason, including Facundo Campazzo and JaMychal Green. The strength of Denver is its depth, as it still has Majal Murray, Gary Harris, Michael Porter Jr, Paul Millsap, and Nikola Jokic starting, along with Will Barton, Monte Morris, and Bol Bol. Denver enters the 2020/21 season filled with confidence after twice coming back from 3-1 deficits in the playoffs, before eventually succumbing to the eventual champion Lakers in the Western Conference Finals.
Dallas Mavericks (+2,500): Luka Doncic and the Mavericks were rolling in the playoffs before fellow star Kristaps Porzingis was injured. With Porzingis back to full health and Doncic entering his third year in the league, the sky really is the limit in Dallas this season (providing everyone stays healthy.) Doncic averaged 28.8 points, 9.4 boards, and 8.8 assists last year. Porzingis won't be in the line-up to start the year, but he'll just make this already stacked team that much stronger for the second-half push. Winning MVP is a very real goal for Doncic this year and he now has the supporting cast to reach even greater heights. If you don't mind tying up some of your bankroll for this length of time, at this price, the Mavericks are definitely worth a second look to win it all in 2020/21 in my opinion.
