Best Bet – Timberwolves over 35.5 (-110)
Worst Bet – Cowboys to win Northwest Division (+1400)
After making the playoffs two years ago most believed last season the team would be in the playoffs again last season with Jimmy Butler and Karl-Anthony Towns leading the way.
Instead, Jimmy Butler couldn’t get along with many of his teammates and forced a trade to the Philadelphia 76ers and that changed the outlook on the season. Now this was once again a pretty young team trying to figure out where to go and it led them to win only 36 games and finish 11th in the Western Conference. The team fired Tom Thibodeau during the season and promoted Ryan Saunders to interim head coach.
This offseason the team hired Gersson Rosas to be the general manager and he has made it clear that there would be a change of culture with the team. Rosas did a search for a new coach and interviewed some very respected names but at the end of the day he chose Saunders to continue to lead the group.
Towns and Saunders are very close and that played a big part because Towns is the future of this team. If this team wants to take the next step forward this season it’s not going to come down to Towns though, it will actually come down to Andrew Wiggins.
The hope is that Saunders can get Wiggins to take the next step and if he can do that, this team could surprise a lot of people with their success.
If Wiggins plays like he did last season this will be another bad season for the Timberwolves and more questions about how long Towns will want to stay around.
Timberwolves Win Total: O/U 35.5 Wins
Like I said above this will come down to how well Wiggins plays this season and I think he can take the next step forward in his development. I also think Towns is going to be a lot better which is hard to imagine because of how well he played last year. Towns has talked all offseason about how Thibs held him back and Saunders is going to design a system to get the most out of the big men.
The Western Conference did get better, but I don’t think the worst teams are going to be as bad as they were last year, and the Wolves will be one of those teams. It’s clear that this year it’s going to be a team and not a bunch of individuals playing together and that should also help the team move forward.
This is the strongest play on the board and I wouldn’t be afraid to dig under some cushions to find some more money to put on this one. Back the Wolves to go over the posted total of 35.5 wins. I see them finishing with right around 39 wins which should give some extra breathing room.
Odds To Make The Playoffs: Yes +315, No -375
Vegas sees the Wolves as a longshot to make the playoffs, and I think that is about right. I think Towns and Wiggins are going to be good, but there are some young guys like Naz Reid, Josh Okogie and Jarrett Culver who are going to need another year or two to really push the team over the brink.
The team tried hard in free agency this year but when they missed on D’Angelo Russell they signed a bunch of one year contracts to try again during next year’s free agency.
This year I think the Wolves do take that next step forward but it won’t be enough to get to the playoffs, which I think will come next year. Even at -375 this is still a solid bet, the team will be missing out on the playoffs.
Odds to win the Northwestern Division +1400
A lot of times when looking at who to bet on with a division winner you have to go with who you think will win, along with where there might be some value to make a big payday.
The Twins have the second-worst odds to win the division, just in front of Oklahoma City Thunder and even at a pretty big number at +1400, I don’t see much value here.
This is a team that is young and they are playing in a division that is very tough with The Utah Jazz and the Denver Nuggets leading the way, with the Portland Trail Blazers not far behind.
If this number was closer to +2500 or so I would say it might be worth a few dollars, but at this price, this isn’t a place I will be playing any money. Stay away from the Wolves to win the Northwest division.
Odds to win the Western Conference +10000
+10,000 is a big number and might be tempting to some, but it’s hard to win the Western Conference if you don’t make the playoffs.
Another thing that I don’t like about this Wolves team in terms of if they somehow made the playoffs, I don’t trust Jeff Teague to lead them. Point guard play is crucial especially in the playoffs and I don’t think Teague is the answer at that position and is something that will really hold them back.
If you want to throw a couple of dollars on the Wolves to win the division I understand because of the payout, but even with that I don’t see much value.
This is something I won’t be betting and I would advise you to lay off the temptations too.
Odds to win NBA Title +25000
Do I really need to say much about this teams chances to win the NBA title? If you want to know my thoughts on their chances just read about my thoughts on their chances to win the Western Conference?
There is zero chance that is going to happen and I wouldn’t even waste your money throwing a couple of bucks on it. Take those couple of bucks and go buy a beer or a glass of wine, at least that will give you something for your money.
