The NBA Draft is a key part of the NBA schedule and one of the most exciting times for NBA fans. Not only do you get to find out who the next potential star is going to be for your team, the event often sees a ton of trade action as well. It’s a big night of the NBA season and always a ton of fun.
The best thing about the NBA Draft is that you can also bet on it. You can bet on everything from individual picks to player draft position over/unders. It’s a fun event to bet on as you can really get into the mock drafts and plan out your strategy ahead of time.
This article will tell you all about betting on the NBA Draft including the best place to bet on it, explanations of different bet types, and much more. Let’s get into it.
Where To Bet NBA Draft:
America: The best place in the U.S. to bet on the NBA Draft is Bovada. They offer a wide variety of betting options with competitive odds.
Canada: All Canadians should head over to Bodog if they are looking to bet on the NBA Draft as there is a large variety of betting options for this event.
Everywhere Else: Bet365 Sportsbook is a sportsbook that offers many betting options, including NBA Draft odds.
What is NBA Draft betting?
There are multiple ways to bet on the NBA Draft.
1st Overall Pick: There are odds placed on every player eligible for the draft and you are betting on which one will be selected #1 overall. The odds are weighted so the more likely the player to drafted high, the lower the payoff. A favorite could be as high as -5000.
2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th Overall Pick: Odds will also be placed on players for the 2nd through 5th overall pick. Odds become more favorable for players after the #1 overall pick depending on the talent available.
Exact Draft Order – Top 3 Picks: This is an “exact” play where you are betting on the order for the top-3 draft picks. You will need to correctly pick the order in order to win this bet. Two out of three is a loss.
Exact Draft Order – Top 4 Picks: Same as above, but for the top four picks. The odds are even more favorable on this one as it is much harder to pick correctly.
Players from non-NCAA teams drafted in Top 10: This is a bet on the amount of players who did not attend an NCAA school in the past year. This primarily means the amount of foreign-born players picked in the top ten. It will be set as an over/under. For 2021, the odds were over 2.5. So three or more players drafted in top-ten that didn’t go to an NCAA school would’ve been a win.
Draft in Top 10: Odds on individual players on if they will be drafted in the top-10 of the draft. If a player has projection than the odds will be very expensive, like -10000, but other players will be between -300 and +1000. A potential great value betting opportunity.
Player Draft Position: These are odds set on an individual player with an over/under on their draft position. The odds are set by a player’s draft projection and then an over/under is set. For example, a mid-tier player might have an over/under of 18.5 in the draft. If he is drafted #18 or earlier, that is a win. #19 or lower would be a loss.
First to be drafted: A head-to-head bet between two similar players. You can bet which one of them will be drafted first. Your bet wins if the player is drafted before the other.
In addition to all of these, there will often be numerous prop bets that you can bet for the NBA Draft including:
- Total Trades in Round 1 – Over/Under on the amount of picks traded in the first round
- Who will #1 pick hug first? – Odds on Mom, Dad, Girlfriend, Sibling, or Friend
- Will #1 pick cry? – Yes/No
- Number of players from specific college (Duke, Kentucky, North Carolina, etc) taken in Round 1 – Over/Under
- Number of players from specific NCAA conference (Big Ten, Big 12, ACC, etc) taken in Round 1 – Over/Under
Common NBA Draft Questions:
Are there big upsets at the NBA Draft?
Typically, the top-two picks are pretty well known ahead of time, but after that things can get pretty crazy.
A great example would be the 2020 NBA Draft when the top-three picks were well known, but the #4 pick was more wide open. There were multiple players with shorter odds, but the Bulls selected Patrick Williams with the fourth pick. If you had bet on Williams before the event he would’ve paid off at a whopping +3000 odds!
How to Bet NBA Draft:
Bovada: Click the “Basketball” link on the header of the sportsbook page. That will take you to a list of the current odds. There will be a pulldown menu that reads “Game Lines”. Click that and select “Futures” to see all of the NBA Draft odds.
Bodog: Head to the basketball section of the sportsbook. From there select “Futures” from the pulldown menu to see the current NBA Draft odds.
Bet365 Sportsbook: Select “Basketball” from the left hand menu. The page will have an area for “Markets” and “Futures”, click “Futures” to see NBA Draft odds.
NBA Draft Betting Strategy:
If you want to make money on this event, you have to bet the lower picks. The #1 pick and #2 pick are usually set in stone so there is no need to try and get cute and bet an underdog. The 3rd, 4th, and 5th pick are the spots to bet on an individual player.
The other best place to bet is Player Draft Position over/unders. If you study enough mock draft and projections, you can usually find a great value in here.