When making our NBA future picks we like to take into a variety of factors, here we take a closer look at some of those.
Results and stats from previous seasons
The way a certain team’s season ends is often a motivating factor to their success further down the road in the NBA. A prime example of this are the 2014 San Antonio Spurs who got their revenge after losing 4-3 in the NBA Finals the year before against the Miami Heat.
Teams, and especially NBA winning ones, can take many years to build. Identifying teams who improved as the season progressed, or have made intelligent trades to mix last season's weaknesses, can provide value in the futures market.
Odds/Line Movement
The NBA is a dynamic sport with events like big upsets, injuries or trades happening on a daily basis and therefore movement of lines and odds is very frequent. For example, a team could open the season at +10000 odds to win the NBA Finals, but after putting together along winning streak their odds can be slashed all the way down to +1600.
The same applies for teams that are struggling. For instance, a team like the Miami Heat could be priced at +1100 to win the whole things, but after losing 8 or 9 games in a row they could go all the way down to +3000 which sounds a lot more appealing to bet on from an odds perspective.
There’s a famous saying in sports that can be applied here – form is temporary, class is permanent. And that’s exactly the case when betting on NBA futures, it is key to follow betting markets on a regular basis in order to catch the best odds as soon as they become available.
Future Potential
Seeing something special in a team/player before it becomes obvious to everyone else is a very useful skill to have. Ask any NBA GM and they will tell you the same.
As futures odds are updated throughout the season, if you feel you have spotted the potential in a player (or a team) ahead of most other people, you may find you can place a wager at attractive odds which shorten over the following weeks as the evidence becomes more obvious.
Injury History
There’s nothing worse than injuries in the NBA and they are one of the most common factors which can ruin your Future bets prematurely. NBA Players spend a lot of time, effort and money to stay in the best shape possible, but sometimes even that isn’t enough to prevent a freak injury, so it is important to note which players are injury prone and take that into when making a wager.