Bucket Getters

The NBA will return in just under a week with two marquee match-ups in store on October 18th. The Celtics will host the Sixers, while the Lakers will visit Chase Arena to take on the Warriors. Before we preview those games next week, let's do some early diagnosis on what should turn out to be a heated race for the scoring title 👇

📍 A Brief History Of Winners

• Last year, Joel Embiid became the first international player to secure the honor, averaging 30.6 PPG (Giannis finished less than a point below him at 29.9 PPG) on the year

• Despite missing the playoffs during the 2020-21 season, Steph Curry won the award by putting up 32 PPG, which to this date is still a career-high for the future Hall-Of-Famer

• In the COVID shortened 2019-20 season, James Harden earned his third consecutive scoring title. The beard averaged 34.3 PPG that year, and entered rarefied air — he's one of four players to lead the league in scoring for three straight seasons 🧔🏾‍♂️

Take a look at the lines heading into the season for the NBA's scoring crown 👇

Odds To Win The NBA Scoring Title (subject to change)

• Joel Embiid: +350 (bet $100, win $350)

• Giannis Antetokounmpo: +420

• Luka Doncic: +480

• Kevin Durant: +550

• Trae Young: +1200

• Jayson Tatum: +1300

Forever Linked

Whether it's fair or not, Luka Doncic and Trae Young will always be compared to each other. Ever since the Atlanta Hawks traded down two spots in the 2018 NBA draft after selecting Doncic at third, in order to take Young at the fifth spot, their fates were sealed. Regardless of how you feel about the move, I like the odds for both players to potentially capture the scoring title 🤔

• Last year, Trae and Luka finished tied for third in the race, each dropping 28.4 PPG

• Durability is important here, considering players will need to have at least 58 games under their belt to qualify for the award — despite dropping 30.3 PPG (the second-most in his career), LeBron James was ineligible for the hardware last season, since an ankle injury limited him to 56 games

• Outside of Giannis, Trae and Luka are near locks to meet the game requirement. It also doesn't hurt that both of the young stars have hovered near the 28 PPG mark over their last three seasons 👀

For what it's worth, Doncic seems like a safer pick, primarily because he will be relied upon to score in bunches for a Dallas squad that lost Jalen Brunson. On the other hand, Atlanta added all-star guard, Dejounte Murray to their roster, who will take some FG attempts away from Young 🦅

I don't know about you, but these clips make me fired up for next week 😤

Dark Horses

The league is bursting at the seams with talent, and both conferences should shape up to be as competitive as they've been in a long time. There are two divisions in both the East and West that I want to highlight 💪

📍 Atlantic Division

• This will easily be the most competitive division in the East. The Celtics, Nets, Sixers and Raptors should all be playoff teams (assuming nothing implodes in Brooklyn), with a potentially frisky Knicks squad

• Philadelphia has the third best odds to win the division at +260, with the Nets (+220) and Celtics (+140) projected to finish ahead of them

• Needless to say I, like the odds for the Sixers, considering Harden and Embiid have now had time to gel, Maxey is still developing, and Daryl Morey made some solid roster additions in PJ Tucker and De'Anthony Melton

📍 Southwest Division

• The Pelicans (+350) have considerable juice to beat out the Mavs (+145) and Grizzlies (+105) for the Southwest Division

• Memphis will be without Jaren Jackson Jr. for at least the beginning of the season, who was integral to their defense, and outside of Doncic and Kidd's coaching, Dallas does not scare me

• Meanwhile, the Pels were a completely different team after adding CJ McCollum, and if Zion can re-create anything similar to his 2020-21 season, I like him as a dark horse scoring title winner 💪

At +1600, Zion has some good value...he just has to stay healthy. Easier said than done, but the weight loss is promising 🥦

For My Parlay Gurus

This may be something you sit on, since we won't have a winner for a few months, but I like Luka to win the scoring title this year. We'll bet on NBA Preseason tonight, but this can go either way so take it with a grain of salt 👇

• Sixers -8.5 vs. Hornets: -110

• Bucks -3.5 vs. Nets: -110

$100 on this bet would win you $264 — if we hit, make sure you email [email protected] for a chance to win up to $100*. Many will enter, only some will win 😉

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