Top 5 Early Season NBA Predictions: Keep An Eye on Wemby, Ant, Cunningham, Caruso & Giannis
Can you believe we’re already in the third week of the 2024-25 NBA season? Between snagging up a hefty bag of treats on Halloween and starting to dust off holiday decorations (because, yes, it’s never too early to start decorating, at least according to my girlfriend, Irene), it’s been a hot second since we’ve talked about betting on NBA.
Not to worry though. It’s a new week, and there’s plenty to talk about. So, how about we break down my picks for the top five early-season NBA predictions to watch?
From potential player award winners to a team’s pivotal building block calling it quits and forcing his way out, there’s enough juice in the tank to make any NBA betting odds fan spark a heated debate in his next pick-up game.
Top 5 Early Season NBA Predictions
5. Wemby Wins Defensive Player of the Year
I’m not the only person who thought Victor Wembanyama, star center for the San Antonio Spurs, deserved to win the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year Award last season. He did win Rookie of the Year, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t do his part to make it a double-title season.
I get that the competition in the odds to win NBA Defensive Player of the Year is tough. Rudy Gobert is looking to go back-to-back, potentially making him the only player to win it five times. But, if you look back at the race for the award last season, Wemby came in at second place.
Wembanyama is, in my opinion, the toughest and most intimidating defender in the league. He protects the paint and rim, blocks shots like kids play, and can turn any fast break into a full-court attack in seconds.
We have no words 👽 pic.twitter.com/UorRz59BNa
— San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) November 5, 2024
In a previous piece, I discussed how Chris Paul’s arrival in San Antonio could be a turning point in a potential Spurs title run. While that could be an NBA betting prediction that still needs some time to mature, taking Wemby to win DPOY isn’t.
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4. Anthony Edwards Snags Up MVP Award
Take a second and check out BetUS’ NBA odds for MVP winner. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is leading the way at +250, followed right behind by Luka Doncic at +300, leading many people to believe this could finally be SGA or Luka’s season to cement their status as the league’s new poster child.
Jayson Tatum is right behind at +450, but F… the Boston Celtics, honestly. And then there’s everybody’s favorite horse-betting aficionado big man Nikola Jokic at +750. But I’m not here for any of them. They can get their own writer to speak volumes and pump up the smoke. I’m here to talk about my man, this generation’s MJ, from the Minnesota Timberwolves, Mr. Anthony Edwards.
Ant is the driving force behind a potential T-Woves championship run this year. Even if Minnesota traded Karl Anthony Towns away to the New York Knicks, I’m convinced that will not be costly to Edwards and he’ll still be an online betting favorite to win the MVP award. Averaging 27.3 points per game, 5.6 rebounds, and shooting 45% from three, who’s slowing him down?
Anthony Edwards this season:
27.3 PPG
5.6 RPG
5.1 3PM
45.0% 3PTMost consecutive 20-point games to start a season with the Wolves since Kevin Love (2011). pic.twitter.com/Ow320BCOc9
— StatMamba (@StatMamba) November 5, 2024
If Ant can lead Minnesota to finish at least in the top three spots in the West, I’ll be the first person pushing for Edwards to win MVP; you can bet on that.
3. Cunningham Gets All-Star Nod
Alright, it’s time for the fun and games to be over. Let’s talk some real hardcore basketball. How hardcore, you wonder? How about Detroit Pistons point guard Cade Cunningham making the All-Star game this season? Leaving Detroit’s +600 odds to make the NBA playoffs aside, let’s focus on a positive coming out of the Little Caesar’s Arena in Midtown Detroit.
Even if it’s hard to picture any sort of prosperity when talking about the Pistons, I’ve been a fan of Cunningham since day one; what can I say?
Let’s call a spade a spade here. If Cade were playing in a better team out East, he would be in the conversation for the top 5 point guards in the conference. Playing in Detroit, though, I know things can’t always go the way everybody wants.
Cade Cunningham put Austin Reaves on skates pic.twitter.com/HoI8Qw1WAK
— Blake (@blakesilverman) November 5, 2024
Already averaging 23.2 points per game, with a 48.3% field goal percentage, 7.4 assists per game, 6.4 rebounds, and shooting 37.5% from three-point range, Cade is doing his part in trying to bring some life to the Pistons. Moving forward, it’s clear that if Detroit wants to be competitive this season, most results will come from what Cunningham can bring to the court, which could lead to a well-deserved All-Star nod.
2. Caruso Wins Sixth Man of the Year
It’s not every day that a defense-first player wins Sixth Man of the Year, especially while averaging less than 10 points per game. Hell, looking back in NBA history, Anthony Mason was the last player to do so back in 1995 with the Knicks. Enter Alex Caruso, the hardest-working defender coming off the Oklahoma City Thunder’s bench.
Caruso defends so well you’d think the man seconds as a bouncer at a shady nightclub after every game. Getting past the former LA Lakers and Chicago Bulls star has become one of the toughest tasks in the game, with #9 preying on attackers like a hawk.
During a standard play late in the first quarter, the vast majority of NBA players would casually dodge the screen and just pick their man up on the catch at the top of the key.
Not Alex Caruso. He does this: pic.twitter.com/Yj6pGG6N7K
— Nick Crain (@CrainNBA) November 5, 2024
The Sixth Man of the Year Award usually goes to players who come off the bench and pop off, scoring bucket after bucket, with guys like Bennedict Mathurin from the Indiana Pacers or even Russell Westbrook from the Denver Nuggets usually favorites. But if the award is given for overall dominance coming off the bench, this could be Caruso’s award to win.
1. Antetokounmpo Gives Up on Bucks, Forces Trade
Who feels like a little barnburner for a future NBA pick and prediction?
- My pick: the Milwaukee Bucks will either barely scrape their way into the playoffs –leading to an early-round departure– or miss out on the playoffs entirely.
- My prediction: Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo will finally get fed up, blow the gasket and demand to be traded out of Milwaukee.
Face it Bucks fans, if the team’s title window wasn’t on the verge of closing, it’s almost completely shut by now. Bringing in Damian Lillard didn’t work as expected. Waiting on Kris Middleton to come back and magically become the team’s savior is not where you want to be. And Giannis? He already did what he had to with your team. Now, it may be time to let him lace up his kicks in another court.
BREAKING: Giannis Antetokounmp is frustrated with the Bucks organization and has officially requested a trade.
(Via @ChrisBHayne) pic.twitter.com/mQq5KYIorK
— NBACentel (@TheNBACentel) November 1, 2024
It’s not like Giannis won’t have any suitors ready to offer him a king’s ransom. Plus, maybe it’s in Milwaukee’s best interest to start thinking of a rebuild. It’s going to be a bitch; we all know that. I can’t even begin to imagine how Lillard will take Giannis leaving, but it’s time for something to happen in that broken relationship.
If I had to dish out a couple of NBA picks today of which teams could be looking to welcome the Greek Freak, I’d say the LA Clippers, Miami Heat, and Houston Rockets stand out right away. But what if, in a move that could shock the foundations of the league, Giannis decides to head to NY and don a Knicks jersey?
Keep that one in the back of your mind for now.
