On opening day, let’s take a look at players with increased usage and roles on the offensive end for our best prop bets of Wednesday, including Brandin Podziemski filling the Klay Thompson spot for Golden State.
Jalen Johnson comes into his fourth season in Atlanta with high hopes. The former Blue Devil is the key piece for the Hawks success this season after averaging 16/9/3 last season while playing a key role in the offense.
In Atlanta’s season opener against Brooklyn, I’m expecting a high-scoring game where neither of these teams will match up well with each other on defense. Without Mikal Bridges, the Nets truly lack a wing stopper and with Jalen Johnson’s shooting and length, expect him to play 30+ minutes and take advantage of this.
A key piece to Atlanta’s winning ways, JJ averaged 17.1 PPG last season in Atlanta wins - look for a great output tonight against a Brooklyn team bound to finish at the bottom of the league.
With Josh Giddey playing in his first regular season game for the Chicago Bulls, I’m looking for Billy Donovan to run a slow and methodical offense with the ball in his hands.
While Coby White and LaVine will still need the ball to go 1v1, Giddey will be able to capitalize on the attention thrown their way and make some great plays to the Bulls' big men who can space the floor. Josh went for 3/7/5/9 on assists during Chicago’s preseason.
Without Paul George and Kawhi Leonard, Ivica Zubac is a player to watch down low for the Clippers. Similar to every team that played yesterday not named Boston, the opening week will have plenty of poor shooting from the field as teams get their feet under them.
The Suns are due to miss some threes this game and with Zubac being the key big man for LA, he’ll have a day on the boards.
Ivica had one double-double in three games against Phoenix last season and during the preseason dropped a double-double in the one game where he played 20+ minutes.
One of my favorite bets of the day, Brandin Podziemski is a rebounding guard who has a real chance to fill the Klay Thompson void.
Podz hit this clip in his final three games of the preseason for Golden State, trying to build off his successful rookie campaign where he shot the ball at a 38% rate from beyond the arc while averaging 9.2 PPG in less than 27 MPG.
With Podz expected to play around 30 minutes today against a not-so-physical Portland defense, I’m looking at a positive scoring game for the 2nd-year player out of Santa Clara.