With the NBA 2021-22 season getting underway, we quickly turn our heads to the teams that are brimming with potential.
While the established teams in the league will dominate headlines, it is the upstart squads that will play a big role in the betting world and the general basketball discourse.
This, of course, includes the teams that will be trying to take a big step in the right direction by making the NBA Play-In Tournament, now in its second season.
In the inaugural season of the play-in, we got an intriguing mix of underachieving veteran teams and impressive, young squads.
In the East, the Wizards made a late run to the postseason, with the dangling carrot that is the play-in giving them (and Russell Westbrook) a reason to keep their foot on the gas at the end of the year.
Charlotte, Indiana and Boston all had inconsistent seasons but delivered their fans a compelling product to end the season.
Out West, LeBron James' Lakers fell to the play-in after they suffered through a slew of injury issues, slowing down any hopes they had of repeating as NBA Champions.
The 2020-21 Lakers were joined in the play-in by Steph Curry and the Warriors, who were without shooting guard Klay Thompson, and young Grizzlies and Spurs teams.
If the latest odds to make the 2021-22 NBA Play-In Tournament tell us anything, it's that the teams not expected to make the tournament are the obvious juggernauts and the projected bottom-dwellers, who will both be trying to avoid the play-in for various and somewhat obvious reasons.
With the league shifting back to an 82-game season, expectations and win totals have been adjusted.
NBA Play-In Tournament props for '21-'22 have been released via FanDuel, and here is where the pack stands in terms of odds to finish No. 7 through 10 (Play-In range) in their respective conferences.
Odds To Make Play-In Tournament (Western Conference)
| Team | Odds |
|---|---|
| Memphis Grizzlies | -110 |
| New Orleans Pelicans | +100 |
| Los Angeles Clippers | +110 |
| Portland Trail Blazers | +125 |
| Golden State Warriors | +155 |
| Denver Nuggets | +165 |
| Sacramento Kings | +175 |
| Minnesota Timberwolves | +200 |
| Dallas Mavericks | +230 |
| Phoenix Suns | +320 |
| Houston Rockets | +550 |
| San Antonio Spurs | +600 |
| Utah Jazz | +1000 |
| Los Angeles Lakers | +1100 |
| Oklahoma City Thunder | +2700 |
Odds To Make Play-In Tournament (Eastern Conference)
| Team | Odds |
|---|---|
| Chicago Bulls | +100 |
| Charlotte Hornets | +105 |
| New York Knicks | +105 |
| Toronto Raptors | +110 |
| Indiana Pacers | +125 |
| Boston Celtics | +135 |
| Washington Wizards | +135 |
| Atlanta Hawks | +150 |
| Miami Heat | +230 |
| Philadelphia 76ers | +440 |
| Cleveland Cavaliers | +850 |
| Milwaukee Bucks | +1100 |
| Detroit Pistons | +2400 |
| Brooklyn Nets | +2500 |
| Orlando Magic | +3000 |
