Celtics Betting Preview: Odds, Futures, Props Ahead Of 2020-21 NBA Season

The 2020-21 NBA season is just one week away, Boston Celtics fans.

It means both basketball enthusiasts and bettors can place wagers on a whole new season. Perhaps you’re confident the Celtics will represent the Eastern Conference in the NBA Finals or that you can see Jayson Tatum making a real run at NBA MVP.

Well, we’ll break it all down for you.

Check out our Celtics Betting Preview with odds, futures and even a prop bet or two all via consensus data.

What are the Celtics’ odds to win Atlantic Division?
Could the Atlantic see a new champion following the 2020-21 regular season?

The Toronto Raptors have won the division each of the last three seasons and six of the last seven. The Celtics last won the Atlantic in 2016. Oddsmakers seem to feel it will go a different way during the upcoming campaign, though.

The Celtics have the second-best odds to win the Atlantic, sitting at +250 behind only the Brooklyn Nets at +125. The longtime champion Raptors have the third-best odds at +320, while the Philadelphia 76ers are 5-to-1. The fifth and final team in the division, the New York Knicks, don’t exactly have oddsmakers feeling too confident. The Knicks have 250-to-1 (!) odds to win the conference.

What are Boston’s odds to win the Eastern Conference?
The Celtics came just shy of representing the East in the NBA’s Orlando bubble, losing to the Miami Heat. Oddsmakers don’t have either of the two highlighted this season.

Boston has the third-best odds to win the Eastern Conference at +550. They trail the Milwaukee Bucks +230 and new-look Nets +275. The defending champion Heat have the fourth-best odds in the conference, behind the Celtics at +650, followed by the Raptors 8-to-1 and 76ers 9-to-1.

What are the Celtics’ NBA Finals lines?
Two teams playing in the same city enter the league’s campaign with the first- and second-best odds to win the NBA title. On the other hand, the Celtics possess the fifth-best odds to win the organization’s 18th title. Boston enters at 13-to-1 behind LeBron James’ Los Angeles Lakers, who enter as the favorite at +275, and the crosstown Clippers, who sit at +550.

Reflective of their conference prices, the Celtics also trail the Bucks +550 and Nets at 6-to-1 to win the championship.

Jayson Tatum odds
The Celtics could very well go as far as their NBA All-Star will take them. Jayson Tatum enters his fourth NBA season having put the league on notice, best depicted by his All-NBA selection and Player of the Month honor for the 2019-20 season.

Oddmakers have depicted Tatum’s prowess in a number of ways.

First, Tatum comes into the season with 16-to-1 odds to win NBA MVP. Tatum trails frontrunners like Luka Doncic 4-to-1, defending league MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo +450, Steph Curry 8-to-1 and Lakers teammates Anthony Davis and James, who are each 9-to-1.

Tatum also is a 50-to-1 pick to win the league’s Most Improved Player award.

Regarding a prop bet, the over/under set on Tatum’s points per game has been set at 25.5. It would be a two-point increase from his average in 2019 when he tallied 23.4 points per game. Tatum’s average is inside the top-10 of players listed, trailing James Harden (33.5), Luka Doncic (30.5), Damian Lillard (29.5) and Giannis Antetokounmpo (29.5), among others.

Tatum has 50-to-1 odds to be the league’s leading scorer as a result.

Brad Stevens odds
Could this be the season head coach Brad Stevens garners the recognition he deserves?

While it would be unfair to say Stevens has been overlooked, it hasn’t materialized into real Coach of the Year admiration. Stevens has found himself in the running every season and has never finished better than third, which he did for the 2017-18 campaign.

Oddsmakers give Stevens what’s tied for the second-best odds to win the award. Stevens weighs in at 12-to-1, along with Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra and Lakers coach Frank Vogel. All three trail first-year coach Steve Nash, who possesses 9-to-1 odds despite the fact he’s entering his first campaign with the Brooklyn Nets.

Rookie of the Year odds
The Celtics bring in a pair of rookie first-rounders in Aaron Nesmith and Payton Pritchard. Both could see a fit a role from the jump, providing the Celtics with a shooting threat and depth. Boston, after all, will begin the season with Kemba Walker and Romeo Langford recovering from injury.

Nesmith has the better odds to win Rookie of the Year, entering his first campaign at 80-to-1. Pritchard is a not-far-away 100-to-1. The two trail Charlotte Hornets No. 3 pick LaMelo Ball at +400 and Anthony Edwards, the No. 1 overall pick by the Minnesota Timberwolves, at +450.

Misc. odds
— Jaylen Brown has 50-to-1 odds to be honored as the league’s Most Improved Player, the same as Tatum. Teammate Grant Williams is quite the underdog to win the award, entering at 200-to-1 to be named most improved.
— Marcus Smart enters the season with a 30-to-1 line to be named the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year. He trails frontrunners Rudy Gobert +250, Anthony Davis +275, Antetokounmpo +400 and both Bam Adebayo and Joel Embiid, who enter with 10-1 odds.
— Could Williams be among the Sixth Man of the Year conversation? The Celtics second-year forward enters at 50-to-1.
— Teammate Jeff Teague is also among those with prices for Sixth Man of the Year, coming in a bit behind Williams at 80-to-1.

Happy betting, Celtics fans.