Nba Summer League Betting Tips
The NBA Finals are always bittersweet for me.
On one hand, it’s basketball being played at its absolute highest level, with players giving everything they have to win a world championship. (In the 2017 playoffs, when Golden State and Cleveland steamrolled through their respective conferences, an epic showdown in the Finals was all that we really had to look forward to.)
The NBA Summer League is giving bettors a chance to pay attention to the league in the offseason. The New Orleans Pelicans will have Zion Williamson and R.J. Barrett is with the New York Knicks. The official site of the National Basketball Association. Follow the action on NBA scores, schedules, stats, news, Team and Player news. Betting on the NBA is one of the toughest challenges for sports bettors and having accurate NBA consensus data is mission-critical to cover the spread at a sportsbook. At Odds Shark (and many other sites where we gather consensus votes and expert picks), thousands of expert opinions and NBA.
But on the other, it means that we’re about to be without NBA basketball to bet until the fall. After more than 8 months of watching pro hoops virtually every night, the absence of the NBA is definitely something that I feel every summer.
Fortunately, the Association still serves up something every July to give us our hardcourt fix: the NBA Summer League. The league has grown in popularity over the years to the point that many sportsbooks now offer betting lines on all the games, and I’m here to help you cash in on the action.
Here are 5 tips to help you make money betting on NBA Summer League games.
1. Understand the League
It sounds obvious, but before you start betting on NBA Summer League, you need to make sure you know what you’re betting on.
The NBA Summer League is basically an exhibition showcase designed for rookies, second-year players and unsigned free agents to work on their games, show their potential or improve their worth.
There are 3 locations the league plays games out of. 10 teams compete in a loop in Orlando while 4 more play in a Utah league, but the Las Vegas summer league is definitely the star of the show. A record 24 NBA teams are sending squads to the 2017 Vegas competition, which will feature 67 games (all televised on ESPN’s networks or app). Each team plays 3 preliminary games before being seeded in a tournament.
One important difference between the NBA Summer League and even the NBA preseason: summer league games are just 40 minutes long. That means the Over/Unders will be set much lower, so don’t just jump on Overs because the total is 30 points less than you usually see in the NBA.
Another thing to realize about NBA Summer League is that players are allowed to commit 10 fouls before being disqualified (instead of 6 in the NBA). That allows players to see more time on the court without having to worry about being in foul trouble, but it could also lead to a lot more free throws as players don’t worry about fouling on defense.
Finally, while the summer leagues have become more competitive in recent years (the Orlando and Vegas loops have determined a champion since 2013, and MVP awards are even presented), it’s still basically a playground game.
2. Know Who’s Playing
Alright, now that we know a bit more about the NBA Summer League, it’s time to do some actual handicapping.
The best way to start is by identifying the players that each team has on its roster. Generally speaking, the top players from the draft will all be in attendance (the 2017 Vegas tournament is expected to feature 8 of the top 10 picks), but you should still research the rest of teams’ rosters to see who will be playing.
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You can find a list of all players who are participating by visiting the NBA website, but a better resource is by looking up coverage of beat writers for each of the teams who are participating in the league. Not only will you get a more detailed listing of the rosters that will participate in the Summer League, you’ll also get some insight and perspective about some of the players you may not know as much about.
3. Know the Motivation Level
In a league that at times will resemble White Men Can’t Jump more than it does professional hoops, understanding and predicting the motivation levels for players and teams will be absolutely critical to your success betting NBA Summer League.
Games involving the top players from the draft will always draw headlines and attention. For example, the 76ers and Celtics faced each other in the first game of the Utah Summer League in 2017, giving No. 1 draft pick Markelle Fultz a chance to show Boston that they shouldn’t have traded his rights to Philadelphia.
However, the most motivated players are the ones who have something to prove, are playing for a contract or are looking to play an increased role with their team next season. Boston’s Jaylen Brown was a great example in that game against Philadelphia in Utah, leading all players with 29 points and 13 rebounds. “I’ve been putting in a lot – a lot – of work, that nobody is seeing,” Brown told the Celtics website after the game. “I just wanted to come out and make sure that people are seeing it.”
Guys who are coming back from major injuries are also much more likely to take the Summer League seriously than a player who is coming off a nice regular season and is comfortable with his game.
Just like some players bring a greater focus to the NBA Summer League, so do some teams, bringing their top assistant coaches, scouts and management to the events. The Phoenix Suns have been a mediocre franchise in recent years but they’ve gone 35-29 all-time in the Summer League. The LA Clippers, regularly one of the top teams in the NBA before blowing up their roster this summer with the Chris Paul trade, are 15-30 all-time in the exhibition showcase.
4. Get the Best Odds
This is always an important rule to remember when you’re trying to make money betting sports. Getting an extra point or even half point on your point spread or Over/Under bet can be the difference between a win and a push or a push and a loss, while getting an extra 10 cents (+120 instead of +110, for example) on every moneyline could be enough to double your profits over the course of a season.
The good news here is that sportsbooks often vary in the NBA Summer League odds that they post. A fraction of NBA bettors bet on the summer leagues, so oddsmakers don’t worry as much about setting the best numbers or making sure they keep up with line moves in the betting market.
By having accounts at several reputable books such as BetOnline, 5Dimes and Bovada, you can compare the odds offered by each of them and then place your bet where the odds are the most in your favor.
5. Don’t Get Carried Away
Final tip here: Don’t get carried away betting on the NBA Summer League.
It’s a lot of fun to still have basketball to bet on, and there are opportunities to make money if you pick your spots correctly and know what you’re doing. But you can’t forget the fact that these are simply exhibition games. Next week, no one will remember who won that summer league game in Utah between the Hawks and the Blazers.
It may not feel like it, but actual NBA games that mean something are less than 4 months away. You don’t want to burn all of your bankroll for the regular season by betting more than you should be on an exhibition summer league.
My advice is to pay attention to what’s going on in the summer league (it helps that you can now watch all the games on TV or online), look to see which players and teams are the most motivated and committed, and place your bets accordingly. But until you know that you have found an edge, keep your bets smaller than the standard wagers you’d bet on the regular season or playoffs.