Michael Rasile 
NBA Announced to Return on July 31st
We are excited because the NBA Announced to Return on July 31st! Let’s break down what this looks like.
They will be playing down in Sunny Orlando in Disney World Resorts with tip off on July 31st! No home games, no away games, just bubble games all day! 22 teams will be apart of the final 8 games of the season with coming 13 coming from the West, 9 coming from the East.
Each team plays 8 games to determine who the playoffs end up shaking out. There is a lot of seeding can still change especially in the East.
An interesting wrinkle they put in the plans, which we’ll call the “Zion rule” is if the 9th seed is within 4 games back of the 8th seed there will be a “play-in tournament.” Max of 2 games, if the 8th seed wins once its over. If the 9th seed wins two games they play in the playoffs.
Again, this is just to get Zion in the playoffs so Jason can bet them to win. Once the actual playoffs come in its all 7 games series
Memphis had one of the hardest schedules going into the final stretch of the season, New Orleans had a significantly easier schedule. Many projections (FiveThirtyEight specifically) had them in the playoffs over the Grizzlies.
Why are the wizards and suns there? Wiz 24-40, and only have one player of note. Suns are 26-39, Devin booker is about it. But why the heck are we bothering. Just makes it worse in terms of COVID considering they need to bring all 15 players, coaching staff, training, staff, etc.
And don’t forget about that pandemic! No guests until August when the playoffs begin, daily testing for COVID-19, German BBL tournament is requiring players wear movement tracking chips at their team hotel, NBA will be seeing how that goes, if anyone tests positive they will be removed from the team and quarantined separately.
Betting is back!
The betting lines for the NBA Championships are back and our friends over at DraftKings and FanDuel have everything already locked down!
- +240: Bucks
- +270: Lakers
- +340: Clippers
- +1200: Rockets
- +2000: Celtics
- +2400: Raptors
- +2500: Nuggets
- +2700: Heat, 76ers
- +2900: Jazz
- +3600: Mavs
- +6000: Nets
- +10000: Pacers, Thunder
- +12000: Pelicans
- +21000: Grizz, Blazers, Spurs
- +25000: Magic, Suns, Kings, Wiz
In terms of value, it’s looking like that will be coming from the Eastern Conference. The West seems to be a crash course between the LA Lakers and LA Clippers. The East has some more interesting scenarios.
The Celtics, Raptors, Heat, and 76ers all can make a case that they can beat the Bucks. The Bucks at +240 have no value, like the Lakers,+270, and Clippers, +340. But if you can believe in one of the other 5 teams in the East to make a run, you can put a couple bucks down and hedge out when things start to become more clear.
I personally like the Celtics at +2000. I think once Kyrie Irving left they look much closer to the team that went to game 7 of the ECF than the team that got beat early last season. I think the team is there, the coach is there, and the veteran presence is there. Jayson Tatum is coming into his own and will most likely be a top 15 player again next year, so why not start now?
If you’re really feeling frisky, the Heat and 76ers at +2700 can really be a fun play. The 76ers are an up and down team with a ridiculous home/road split. Home: 29 – 2; Road: 10 – 24. There are no home and road games in the bubble of Disney World, so this may be the perfect situation, or just the absolute worst. The talent is there, hopefully everyone stayed in shape and can get to where they need to be!
Make sure to check out more Sports Betting content at WinDailySports.com! Hang out with us in our Expert Discord Chat and make sure to follow me on Twitter @michaelrasile1!
