NBA Predictions: The Best NBA Player Props of the Week

The NBA is going to begin soon, and over and above, the normal bets, consider the best NBA player props too. They involve predictions of the playoffs and there is definite value to be found if we look at the full picture. Here are some picks for the playoffs -

Sixth Man of the Year

Even though the top man of the year probable Schroeder is priced at a very high -220, it is a fantastic wager. Let us take a look at his competition, where he will be able to eliminate with his skills and form. Montrezl Harrell is the second most favored this year at +190 and Lou Williams sits in third place at +450. Both of them absolutely deserve these high prices because they are very capable of playing very well. The issue is that they play for the same team, and this means only one of them will be able to shine. But both of them are great individually too, which means the Clippers can still make it to the playoffs.

But Schroeder’s team, the Thunder, doesn’t have the same luxury. They rely on him almost too much - he is one of the reasons they have exceeded expectations several times over the years. Even this season, not many were convinced that the player or the team will do well. But they have gone ahead of what was expected. His career trajectory has also taken a hit - ever since he has been playing in Atlanta as a young player, his career has moved downward. Last year was his worst.

But he is only 26, and he made it clear to the world that his career was far from spiraling any further. He is OKC Thunder’s top player currently, and the team wouldn’t have made it to the playoffs without him. His field goal attempts are higher than his career average and much higher than his previous season’s percentage, standing at 47%. His average is around 43% and last year’s performance was 41% (which was his lowest since he was a rookie). He has also managed to score career-high stats in his 3 point percentage and rebounds.

Compare him to Chris Paul, who made it to the Western Conference All-Star team this time around. They play the same number of minutes but Schroeder averages more points. The point of this award is to honor players who are crucial to their team, and Schroeder is exactly that. Thunder would have been nothing, but a wild card without him, and this is why he is comfortably expected to win this award.

Most Improved Player of the NBA

Most sportsbooks are looking at Bam Adebayo for the award right now, but the competition is a little more nuanced in this category. He can’t be a definite pick, but probably the best one. Brandon Ingram is one of the competitors, whose odds are at +250. The reason Adebayo might not get it is the Heat may fail to perform well enough once the season resumes. But Ingram’s position is a little more secure, given that the Pelicans look stronger to make the playoffs. If Ingram’s play and form increased over the next eight games, he would become the stronger contender for this award. 

Ingram came into the Pelicans due to the Anthony Davis trade from the Lakers. Not many considered it a big loss for the Lakers, as they still have Kyle Kuzma. But only a year later, and it is clear to even the most casual fan that Ingram is leaps and bounds better than Kyle Kuzma, at least for now. If the Lakers had kept Ingram, their odds of winning the championship would be even higher than it is right now. 

Ingram’s stats are outstanding - he scored around 18 points per game with a percentage of 49% shooting. He has amped up his game by including outside shooting. Compare this with his time in two other teams. With the Lakers for three seasons, he only shot two threes per game and had a shooting percentage of 33%. His stats at New Orleans were only a little better - 6.3 a game with 39% of his shots coming from a long-range. That year saw his average go up by 6 points to 24, and he made it to the Western Conference All-Star team. Ingram seems to be the better choice than Adebayo, who is only slightly ahead of Ingram in the race to this award. The price is not too bad for him, with bets going for +250 for him.