NBA In-Season Tournament Winner Odds

In the 2023-24 NBA season, for the first time, all 30 NBA teams will be competing in a tournament during the season for the NBA Cup and prize money of $500,000 per player. The NBA In-Season Tournament 2023 will begin on November 3, with the championship on December 9. In this article, we will discuss the NBA In-Season Tournament odds and even make NBA In-Season Tournament predictions.

NBA In-Season Tournament odds 2023

The table below has the NBA In-Season Tournament odds, courtesy of Caesars Sportsbook. Many sportsbooks have odds to win the NBA In-Season Tournament, so be sure to shop around for the best price.

Team	Current Odds
Boston Celtics	+700
Milwaukee Bucks	+750
Phoenix Suns	+950
Cleveland Cavaliers	+1100
Denver Nuggets	+1100
Sacramento Kings	+1400
Golden State Warriors	+1400
Los Angeles Lakers	+1600
Miami Heat	+1800
Oklahoma City Thunder	+1800

Betting on the 2023 NBA In-Season Tournament

The NBA In-Season Tournament odds in the previous section were taken from Caesars Sportsbook, but many of our favorite sportsbooks also have odds. In fact, it is wise to check with multiple sportsbooks for NBA In-Season Tournament odds so that you can be sure you are locking in the best price. 

By clicking on any link in the below table, you can sign up for each sportsbook’s new-user promo to unlock some fantastic rewards.

Caesars	🔥$1,000 First-Bet Offer🔥
DraftKings	👑Bet $5, Get $200 Instantly + A No Sweat SGP Everyday This Season👑
BetMGM	🦁Bet $10, Win $200 in Bonus Bets or $1,500 First Bet Insurance🦁
FanDuel	🏀Bet $5, Get $200 in Bonus Bets🏀
PointsBet	💰Get up to $1,000 in Second Chance Bets💰

Favorites to win NBA In-Season Tournament for 2023

There are three teams with NBA In-Season Tournament odds of less than +1000 Caesars Sportsbook. In this section we will discuss each team’s chances of winning the NBA In-Season Tournament 2023.

Boston Celtics NBA In-Season Tournament Odds

At Caesars Sportsbook, the Boston Celtics are the favorites to win the NBA In-Season Tournament – with odds of +700. It’s not a surprise to see the Celtics listed among the favorites, as they also have +450 odds to win the NBA Championship. However, it is a tad surprising to see them ahead of the Milwaukee Bucks in the NBA In-Season Tournament odds but below the Bucks for the NBA Championship. We will discuss possible reasons for this when we explain the format of the NBA In-Season Tournament later in the article.

Milwaukee Bucks NBA In-Season Tournament Odds

The aforementioned Milwaukee Bucks have odds of +750 to win the NBA In-Season Tournament 2023. The Bucks are expected to be one of the best teams in the league this season, as they recently added Damian Lillard to a team that finished with the league’s best record last season.

Phoenix Suns NBA In-Season Tournament Odds

The Phoenix Suns are the last team with NBA In-Season Tournament odds better than +1000 (+950 at Caesars Sportsbook). The advantage the Suns have is that they would not meet either the Celtics or the Bucks until the championship game. However, they would likely need to go through the defending NBA Champion Denver Nuggets.

NBA In-Season Tournament Predictions for 2023-24

Now that we have discussed the NBA In-Season Tournament favorites, it’s time to make our NBA In-Season Tournament predictions. This is the inaugural season for the NBA In-Season Tournament, so we are all still anxiously awaiting how things will go.

After evaluating the NBA In-Season Tournament odds, we are selecting the Milwaukee Bucks at +750 to win the tournament. Based on the NBA Championship odds, we feel that we are being offered a discount on what could be the league’s best team this season. The Bucks are favorites to win the NBA Championship, so why would they not also be favored to win the NBA In-Season Tournament? They finished with the NBA’s best record last season at 58-24, so we can assume that they will not sleepwalk through the regular season this year. Now that Milwakee has added Lillard to the roster, it is further strengthened on the court.

We can’t predict how much emphasis teams will place on winning the NBA In-Season Tournament, so we are simply going to pick what we feel is the best team whose odds are not the shortest in the market.

NBA In-Season Tournament Picks: Longshot Candidates to Watch

It’s hard to know how much teams will care about winning the NBA In-Season Tournament. The wins and losses will count in the standings and who couldn’t use an extra $500,000, but the ultimate prize is the NBA Championship. Marcus Smart of the Memphis Grizzlies recently said that no one cares about the NBA In-Season Tournament, but will that actually be the case once the ball is tipped?

If some of the league’s best teams don’t care about the tournament, that could bring value to some of the longshot teams. One that stands out is the Sacramento Kings at +1400. Unlike some of the other teams listed in the top 10 by the oddsmakers, the Kings haven’t won anything in recent years. Of the 10 teams listed in the In-Season Tournament odds above, only the Kings have not won a conference title. In fact, six of the 10 teams have won an NBA Championship in the last 10 years. The Sacramento Kings are desperate for a winner and perhaps will have extra motivation to win the NBA In-Season Tournament 2023.

What is the NBA In-Season Tournament?

The NBA In-Season Tournament is brand new for the 2023-24 NBA season. The tournament will begin on November 3 and the championship game will be on December 7. The 30 NBA teams are randomly drawn into six groups (three per conference) of five teams each. The first portion of the tournament is group play, in which the teams will compete against the other four teams in their group. 

Following group play, eight teams will advance to the knockout round: the winner of each of the six groups, plus two wild-card teams. The wild-card teams are determined by the team from each conference with the best record in group play games that finished second in its group. Single elimination begins in the knockout round until we reach two teams left for the championship game.

In terms of records, all games except for the championship game will count toward the regular-season standings. The winner of the NBA In-Season Tournament will receive $500,000 per player. There is also an NBA In-Season Tournament MVP and All-Tournament Team.

NBA In-Season Tournament groups

As mentioned earlier, the teams were randomly drawn into six groups of five teams. However, the drawing wasn’t completely random; teams were drawn out of “pots” based on their record from last season. The pots were as follows:

• Pot 1: The teams with the three best previous-season records in a conference.
• Pot 2: The teams with the fourth- through sixth-best prior-season records
• Pot 3: The teams with the seventh- through ninth-best prior-season records.
• Pot 4: The teams with the 10th-through 12th-best prior-season records.
• Pot 5: The teams with the 13th-through 15th-best prior-season records.

You can see the groups for the NBA In-Season Tournament 2023 in the table below.

Remember, each group winner will advance to the knockout round, plus one wild-card team from each conference. This is potentially why the odds for the Milwaukee Bucks are greater than the Boston Celtics for the NBA In-Season Tournament but less than the Celtics for the NBA Finals. Milwaukee’s group appears to be tougher with teams such as the Knicks and Heat.

How do sportsbooks calculate NBA In-Season Tournament betting odds?

It’s likely that sportsbooks begin calculating NBA In-Season Tournament odds by simply applying the NBA Championship odds to each team. From there, the group is taken into account. The teams expected to be the best this season will likely not have odds that are that much different, but other teams may have longer odds based on the group in which they were placed.

How to read NBA In-Season Tournament betting odds

Since the NBA In-Season Tournament odds are an example of a futures market, all teams are listed with “+” odds to win the tournament. This means that all teams are “plus-money” to win the tournament and there is not an overwhelming favorite to win it.

How to calculate NBA In-Season Tournament betting odds

The “plus-money” odds in the NBA In-Season Tournament odds market represent how much a $100 bet would pay out. For example, a $100 bet on the Milwaukee Bucks at +750 odds would profit $750 if the Bucks were to win the NBA In-Season Tournament 2023. You’re not required to bet $100, but that makes the odds easier to understand.