The 2025-26 NBA season tips in just a few days and the anticipation for the season is building every minute.
It’s the perfect time to make some preseason futures bets and see where we can find some value in NBA betting markets. We’ll start with three awards bets: Most Valuable Player, Sixth Man of the Year, and Rookie of the Year.
Before we get to the bets, remember the NBA has implemented new qualifications for major awards and All-NBA teams. To be considered for MVP, a player must be active for at least 65 of the 82 games, or 85 percent, and play at least 20 minutes in those games. If a player played in at least 62 games and that accounted for 85 percent of his teams games up to that point, he is still eligible.
The qualifications don’t apply to Rookie of the Year or Sixth Man of the Year. But to be eligible for Sixth Man, a player must have played more games off the bench than games in the starting lineup.
Now that we’ve gone through the rules, let’s get to some bets.
Luka Doncic to win NBA Most Valuable Player (+440, ESPN BET)
Skinny Luka Doncic has been all the rage this summer. He’s got a revenge body to match the revenge season people expect from him. I’m sure Doncic would love to dominate this season and rub it in the face of the Mavericks front office, but that’s not the only reason why I like him for this award.
Doncic is just starting to hit his prime at 27-years-old and he already took a team to the NBA Finals. His game, as good as it is, isn’t complete and he’s had to hear about that since the trade hears around the world.
A player with his talent level, who has room for improvement and the motivation to improve is dangerous. Add in that LeBron James will miss the beginning of the season with sciatica (which could linger throughout the year) and the Lakers look like a team that will lean heavily into Luka-ball.
He’s done well in the past when he has a second ball handler like Jalen Brunson or Kyrie Irving. Doncic has a pretty good approximation of that in Austin Reaves. Deandre Ayton provides much-needed size and rebounding, another staple of good past Doncic teams.
My biggest concern is health, but looking at Doncic’s career, he would only have been ineligible for major awards twice in his career, which includes last season.
I think this is the year he gets over the hump for his first MVP trophy.
Betting on the NBA?
Miles McBride to win NBA Sixth Man of the Year (80/1, BetRivers)
This award has evolved over the past few years. It used to be viewed as the “player who scored the most points off the bench” award. But over the past three years, the winners haven’t been just bucket-getters.
Neither of the previous three winners, Payton Pritchard (2025), Naz Reid (2024), or Malcolm Brogdon (2023) were the top bench scorer the year they won, but they were part of very good teams. The past two winners were also relative long shots to win with 50/1 odds to win the award entering the season.
Pritchard is the co-favorite to win Sixth Man this season along with De’Andre Hunter, but I think we’ll see another preseason long shot winner.
I’ve got my eyes on Miles McBride this season. McBride took a bit of a step back in terms of his efficiency last season compared to prior year, but he flashed more value during the playoffs. He can play off-ball but still get his own shot, and he makes an impact guarding the ball with defensive pressure.
Two of his Knicks teammates — Jordan Clarkson and Josh Hart — are actually ahead of him on the odds board, but Clarkson’s fit in Mike Brown’s offense doesn’t look like a seamless fit so far. Hart enters the season with a lingering issue on his shooting hand and back spasms after a nasty fall in Abu Dhabi.
Right now, McBride looks like the most reliable player off the bench for the Knicks. If the team has success with Deuce anchoring the bench unit, his 80/1 odds will drop fast.
Cooper Flagg NBA Rookie of the Year (-180, DraftKings)
I really wanted to make a case for Ace Bailey here, who is 11/1 at ESPN BET and looks awesome. Bailey will have some nights that stand out, but he’s playing on a team with the lowest win total in the NBA (19.5), full of players with either less than three years in the NBA or more than 10.
The Mavericks are actually competing for something this season and there’s good chance they’ll be in the mix for a playoff spot if they can maintain health.
Flagg should be awesome out of the gate and the Mavericks don’t have Kyrie Irving for at least a few months to start the year. This is also a situation where Flagg will get the benefit of being on national TV.
The Mavs play eight nationally televised games between opening night (vs Spurs on ESPN) and Christmas day (vs Warriors). That’s a huge opportunity to sway voters who won’t get to see him regularly.
I don’t love betting him at these odds, but it would be tough to see another player (not named Bailey of course) competing with Flagg here.
Why Trust New York Post Betting
Malik Smith has been immersed in the sports betting industry since 2017. He’s a data nerd with a particular focus on the NBA and combat sports. He spends his weeknights in the winter looking for edges on plus-money NBA player props.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: nypost.com
