25Vaughn Dalzell shares his Eastern Conference champion futures bet between the Milwaukee Bucks and the Boston Celtics.
Eastern Conference Champion: Boston Celtics (-125)
The Boston Celtics are 5-2 out of the All-Star break with two straight losses against Cleveland and Denver, but I believe this is a good time to buy into their Eastern Conference odds.
The Celtics are an NBA-best 48-14, including 29-3 at home. Boston has nine home games remaining with 11 road games. However, eight of those 11 road games come against teams with losing records, so their winning ways will continue.
The Celtics are destined for at least 60 wins and we haven’t seen a 60-win team win their conference since the 2016-17 Warriors did so.
The Last Five 60 Win Teams
2020-21 Suns did not make Western Conference Finals
2018-19 Bucks finished Eastern Conference runner-ups
2017-18 Rockets finished Western Conference runner-ups
2016-17 Warriors won the West and NBA Finals
2017-17 Spurs finished Western Conference runner-ups
While the track record of the Rockets, Bucks, and Suns hasn’t helped the Celtics case since 2017, this Boston team is deep. Those squads that lost as top seeds all had their internal issues, but Boston is arguably the top three best all-around teams.
The starting five transformed with Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis acquired to play alongside Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, plus the ultimate role player, Derrick White.
While a bench of Payton Pritchard, Sam Hauser, Al Horford, and Luke Kornet doesn’t strike fear into opponents, they have all been a part of this team for years and bought into the culture (and can shoot).
The Eastern Conference is down this season and while teams like the Cavaliers, Knicks, 76ers, Magic, and Heat all have cases for being tough-outs during the first or second round, it’s a two-horse race between the Celtics and Bucks.
With Doc Rivers taking over Milwaukee, the Bucks were in disarray but the All-Star break helped this team turn it around slightly. However, there are still too many issues on defense and away from home for Milwaukee.
The Knicks’ Julius Randle and Jalen Brunson are banged up, the Heat have been injured all season, the Magic are inexperienced, the 76ers will need Joel Embiid 100-percent healthy, and the Cavs may have peaked too early, while they have injuries to deal with.
I finally bought in and played the Celtics to win the Eastern Conference at -125 odds for 3 units on BetMGM. I think Boston is clearly the best team in the East and should clean house in the first two rounds of the postseason.
Pick: Boston Celtics to win the Eastern Conference (3u)
NBA Futures in my pocket
3u: Boston Celtics to win the Eastern Conference (-110)
2u: Chicago Bulls Under 38.5 Wins (-110)
1u: Oklahoma City Thunder to earn the No. 1 seed (+150)
1u: Dallas Mavericks to win the Southwest Division (+185)
1u: Orlando Magic to win the Southeast Division (+200)
1u: Orlando Magic to win the Southeast Division (+100)
1u: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander for MVP (+300)
1u: Immanuel Quickley to win Sixth Man of the Year (+900)
0.1u: Chicago Bulls to have the fewest wins (+3000)
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