2018-19 NBA Season Props: 6 Bets You Can’t Miss
- Sizing up the six best NBA player props for the 2018-19 season
- Does Carmelo Anthony find his form with Rockets?
- Will Russell Westbrook average 10+ assists?
With the tip-off to the NBA season just a few days away, online sportsbooks recently released prop bets for the NBA season, with close to 350 to choose from.
Feel free to wade through them, but that’s why we’re here. We’ve chosen six tasty props you should definitely be considering.
Let’s get to it.
1) Carmelo Anthony’s Points per Game in 2018-19
| Carmelo Anthony Points per Game in 2018-19 | Odds |
|---|---|
| OVER 15.5 PPG | -115 |
| UNDER 15.5 PPG | -115 |
All odds taken on 10/14.
We’re just a few short years away from discussions that had Anthony in the top five in pure scoring in the entire league. After a much publicized failed stint in OKC, he’s on a true contender in what is clearly the back nine of his career.
Will Carmelo be Revitalized with the Rockets?
The most important factor here is whether you think Anthony’s last season in Oklahoma City was an aberration, or the beginning of his skills falling off a cliff, never to return.
Melo’s 15th season was easily his worst. Prior to that, he had never averaged less than 21.0 points per game – and that was his rookie year. Still, he managed 16.2 points per game in an offense that could best be described as “play off Russ.”
Will we see Moreyball or Meloball?
Carmelo Anthony has more midrange field goals in the last 2 seasons than the Rockets combined as a team. pic.twitter.com/FS7b0yx1NZ
— StatMuse (@statmuse) October 9, 2018
The Rockets’ system should ask more of him in the regular season, to take the load of James Harden and Chris Paul, so their iso-heavy scheme is plenty fuelled come playoff time. The question of fit, however, will be fun to watch.
The Pick: OVER
2) How Many Games Will Blake Griffin Play in 2018-19?
| Number of Games Blake Griffin Plays in 2018-19 | Odds |
|---|---|
| OVER 68.5 Games | -115 |
| UNDER 68.5 Games | -115 |
Man, how are we that far removed from when Blake Griffin was in the conversation for MVP? Injuries are no joke to a pro-athlete’s career, and nobody best embodies that than Griffin.
There’s no denying his talent – which, by the way, has gone from way above the rim to rim-level at best – but there is doubt to how his body holds up.
Blake Griffin records 29 PTS, 5 AST to fuel the @DetroitPistons in East Lansing! #NBAPreseason pic.twitter.com/UcHub2iSuX
— NBA (@NBA) October 13, 2018
It’s been four straight years that Griffin has come under that mark, with the closest being 67 games in the 2013-14 season.
You can go back to each season the last five years, listening to Blake talk about how he feels good, how he feels healthy and is ready for the year, but don’t be fooled. Griffin may come close, but there’s no way he’s hitting 69 games.
The pick: UNDER
3) Will Russell Westbrook Average 10 Assists per Game?
| Russell Westbrook Assists Per Game in 2018-19 | Odds |
|---|---|
| OVER 10 APG | -115 |
| UNDER 10 APG | -115 |
Mr. Triple-Double will have the most talented team ever assembled around him since the days he was teaming up with Harden and Durant. Is he willing to give up numbers for the better of the team?
The last three years of Westbrook’s decade in the league have been his true realization of what he can accomplish, and what he chooses to accomplish. He has averaged better than 10 assists per game these years because he’s been tasked as the primary play-maker for the Thunder.
Why would anyone bet against @russwest44 to lead @NBA in assists? https://t.co/vHygCGqjmd
— Chris Sheridan (@sheridanhoops) October 14, 2018
But will Russ choose to sacrifice stats as the Thunder try to work talented point guard Dennis Schroder onto the floor the same time as him?
Dennis Schroder assists on the Nerlens Noel dunk https://t.co/TB5VnLki6Z pic.twitter.com/Pdm2c2FI5L
— Coach Billy Carson (@CoachCarson) October 6, 2018
He’ll make the effort and play nice early (as he did when trying to acclimatize Carmelo into the fold), but Westbrook’s world is that he can have his numbers and the Thunder can win while doing it.
Sometimes, you are who you are.
The pick: OVER
4) How Many Games will Butler Play for T-Wolves?
| Total Games Jimmy Butler Plays for Timberwolves in 2018-19 | Odds |
|---|---|
| OVER 27.5 Games | +105 |
| UNDER 27.5 Games | -135 |
Everybody wants to be Kobe, but when you get down to it, is there anyone else in the league right now who lashes out as aggressively as Mamba and competes as hard? Maybe Tom Thibodeau is on to something here.
Can Jimmy Butler Thrive in his self-created Saga?
It’s been like forever since Butler informed the Wolves he wasn’t going to re-sign after this season, and here he is, eff-bombing the GM, trash-talking young teammates and berating anyone within ear shot at practice.
And he’s cool with it. Apparently, he’s raw meat.
Jimmy Butler on his arrival and eruption at #Timberwolves practice today:
“All my emotion came out at one time… That’s my love of the game. That’s raw me…That’s what you’re going to get inside the lines." pic.twitter.com/YnEAw6QpiI
— Def Pen Hoops (@DefPenHoops) October 10, 2018
The thing is, if Butler is still on the Wolves come opening night, the only thing that ships him out of town early is if the team starts 0-10.
And the thing is (and what Thibs is banking on in keeping him), Butler is too hyper-competitive to allow that to happen. He’s good enough to keep them .500, and to keep everyone afraid of him in the building. Rough co-worker, for sure.
The pick: OVER
5) Kyle Lowry’s Scoring Average in 2018-19
| Kyle Lowry Points per Game in 2018-19 | Odds |
|---|---|
| OVER 20.5 PPG | -115 |
| UNDER 20.5 PPG | -115 |
His best friend in the NBA (and possibly life) was dealt, but the arrival of Kawhi Leonard could push Kyle Lowry to somewhere he’s never been before: the NBA Finals. How does he respond?
Will Kyle Lowry Rebound from Down Scoring Season?
Lowry’s best scoring seasons were in 2015 (21.2ppg) and 2016 (22.4ppg), before he fell off last season to 16.2ppg.
His playing time was reduced to 32.2 minutes a game, and he averaged just 12.1 field goal attempts a contest. All three figures were his lowest since his first year with the Raps in 2012.
Toronto Raptors: Kyle Lowry will be vital to team's success in new role – National Basketball Association News – https://t.co/P7YZQkD80l pic.twitter.com/4rMQxOSWtj
— NBA News Now (@NBANewsNow247) October 13, 2018
But the trade-off was the Raptors best season in franchise history, allowing Toronto to unleash a bench mob that was one of the NBA’s best.
If Leonard stays healthy, perhaps the scoring point guard won’t be needed as much as a traditional form of the position: one who defends well, initiates the offense, and makes shots when called upon.
sequences like this are why kyle lowry is gonna be way more impactful on defence this year pic.twitter.com/smYe6p9Agm
— ITS DARK I CANT SEE (@Jacob_M_Mack) October 13, 2018
Lowry’s also on the wrong side of 30, so this may be the way to age gracefully and effectively.
The pick: UNDER
6) Joe Ingles’ Scoring Average in 2018-19
| Joe Ingles Points per Game in 2018-19 | Odds |
|---|---|
| OVER 10 PPG | -135 |
| UNDER 10 PPG | +105 |
The big thing to note here is that 2017 was Ingles’ first year as a full-time starter for the Jazz, and an uptick in minutes – 24.0 to 31.4 – was a direct correlation to an increase in scoring – 7.1 to 11.5.
Joe Ingles, on Snyder and his teammates giving him the confidence to keep shooting pic.twitter.com/3SgUHWll5V
— Eric Walden (@tribjazz) October 9, 2018
He’s shot better than 44% from three-point range the last couple of years, and with Ricky Rubio and Donovan Mitchell creating space and probing the paint, there will be plenty of opportunities to splash.
The guy is too good not to be involved prominently for Utah.
The pick: OVER
Having worked in and around sports since 1997, Eric is truly a knowledgeable expert. The two-time journalism grad specializes in all things NBA and NFL. From TSN.ca to CTV's Olympic Broadcast Consortium, Eric's work has appeared in local and national publications alike.
