2024 NBA Cup: Best Bets, Picks and Predictions

The NBA’s second annual in-season tournament, now known as the Emirates NBA Cup, kicks off Tuesday night with eight games.

NBA champs Boston host the Atlanta Hawks while the defending Western Conference champion Dallas travel to the Golden State Warriors. The Los Angeles Lakers open the defense of their NBA Cup title Friday night at the San Antonio Spurs.

Below, our experts highlight their predictions for the NBA Cup champion, including our best bet, as well as our prediction for NBA Cup MVP.

2024 NBA Cup betting picks and predictions

Best Bet: Boston Celtics to win outright (+400)

The defending NBA champion Boston Celtics are off to a strong start in the regular season. They are currently 7-2 and sit second in the East behind the surprising Cleveland Cavaliers. And that is despite the absence of center Kristaps Porzingis, who is not expected back until next month at the earliest. NBA finals MVP Jaylen Brown has also missed time recently with a left hip flexor strain.

There is always a concern over complacency with a defending champ, but Brown’s snub from the Olympics and Tatum’s inactivity at it have fueled a determined focus complemented by a talented and deep supporting cast. The Celtics were upset by the Indiana Pacers in the quarterfinals of last year's in-season tournament, so they should also be motivated to advance past that round at least.   

Cleveland Cavaliers to win outright (+1100)

The Cavaliers have been the darlings of the early portion of this NBA season, winning their first nine games and sitting atop the Eastern Conference standings, over the more highly touted Celtics.

Donovan Mitchell (23.8 ppg) leads five Cavaliers averaging in double figures this season. Darius Garland (19.8 ppg, 6.8 apg), Evan Mobley (17.3 ppg, 8.2 rpg), Jarrett Allen (15.1 ppg, 11.9 rpg), and Caris LeVert (12.6 ppg) give the team a formidable scoring rotation, with LeVert providing an instant impact off the bench.

The Cavaliers are in East Group C, which also contains the Celtics, but the feeling here is that both teams can advance out of the group and make a run. 

Los Angeles Lakers to win outright (+3000)

Eight Western Conference squads have shorter odds than the Lakers, including the Oklahoma City Thunder (+550), Minnesota Timberwolves (+1000), and Phoenix Suns (+1600), which makes sense since those teams are all ahead of the Lakers in the standings. Los Angeles is currently the 10th best squad in the West, but they finished eighth last year, and that had little impact on their NBA Cup performance.

The Lakers won the inaugural tournament with a perfect 7-0 record. LeBron James won the tournament’s MVP award, averaging more than 28 points in the knockout rounds while Anthony Davis had 41 points and 20 rebounds in the championship win over the Pacers.

This is the kind of team that takes winning an in-season tournament seriously, and defending its inaugural title will serve as more motivation than most realize. At +3000, the Lakers are at least worth a flyer.

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NBA Cup MVP Best Bet: Jayson Tatum (+600)

Jayson Tatum has made a monster start for the Celtics. He’s third in the league at just more than 30 points a game. He has a good poker face, but there is no doubt that Tatum is out to prove his minimal playing time at the Paris Olympics was a mistake. 

The five-time All-Star is certainly poised to take the Celtics on a seven-game run through the NBA Cup gauntlet to a tournament title and win the MVP award in the process.

At the same time, don’t sleep on LeBron James as an option here either. A total of 31 players have shorter odds than James, who is listed at +8000. The evergreen 39-year-old James won the inaugural in-season tournament MVP last December and is averaging 24 points, 7.5 assists, and nearly seven rebounds so far this season. If the Lakers go on another run in the tournament, James will surely be a factor.

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This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.