NBA Futures Betting Roundup for the Denver Nuggets
By Alex Murray
If you bet on the regular season success of the Denver Nuggets before or in the early stages of the 2022-2023 NBA season, you’re probably sitting pretty. After 61 games, the Nuggets sit atop the NBA’s tough Western Conference standings at 42-19, a full five games ahead of their closest competition, the Memphis Grizzlies.
With about three quarters of the regular season in the books, we’re taking a look at how Nuggets betting options for the major futures betting markets are stacking up, whether they’re worth a look, and what their chances are of coming through to win. Apart from Nikola Jokic leading the MVP race, the markets we’re looking at are mostly team-oriented, with Bruce Brown the only other player on any futures odds board as a +37,000 underdog to win 6th Man Of The Year. We love you Bruce, but that’s probably not one you want to seriously consider.
NBA Championship Futures Odds
While the Denver Nuggets currently hold the top seed in the West, they are not the top Western Conference team on FanDuel’s NBA Championship odds table. With +750 odds, they currently sit behind the only two teams with better records than them, the Boston Celtics (+280) and Milwaukee Bucks (+440) from the East, but they’re also now behind the Phoenix Suns (+450) thanks in large part to the arrival of Kevin Durant in the desert.
The Nuggets have arguably their best chance at the NBA title since this Jokic championship window opened a few years back. They have been playing well against the top competition, matching their win total from 2021 against teams .500 and above with 21 so far. Their 21-12 record against strong competition also makes them just one of four teams in the NBA this season with a winning record against teams at .500 and above. The other three are the Bucks, Celtics, and Philadelphia 76ers.
The return of Jamal Murray, a breakout season for Aaron Gordon, and another MVP caliber campaign from the Joker makes Denver a serious playoff contender. It’s also worth noting that they have amassed the best group of bench talent that they’ve had in a while with a quiet but effective trade deadline strategy.
Apart from the Suns, the Nuggets have had the biggest odds drop in this category since the start of the campaign, so those that bet on Denver preseason should already have a pretty substantial cash out option. If you believe in the potential of this edition of the Nuggets, you could do a lot worse than a bet at +750 odds on the best team in the West led by the best player in the league.