What a difference a season can make. Around this time last year, the Brooklyn Nets were prepared to enter the 2022-23 campaign with one of the most talented duos in the NBA and were firmly entrenched as title contenders.
Fast forward to a year later, and while the future is still bright for the Nets, the chances of winning a title in the immediate future have changed drastically. Both Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving were traded last season, which completely altered this team’s outlook.
In exchange for their two superstar players, the Nets received Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson, Spencer Dinwiddie, Dorian Finney-Smith, six first-round picks, and four second-round picks. Brooklyn got a haul of young talent and a treasure trove of picks, which should help expedite the rebuild process.
Let’s evaluate a few Nets prop bets with them having an eye toward the future in mind.
Nets Odds 2023
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Nets Prop Bets 2023
NBA lines are current as of Wednesday, Aug. 16, at 8 a.m. ET. To see updated Nets odds and lines, use the widget above.
Nets: Miss Playoffs (-180)
DraftKings Sportsbook • WAGER: 2 Units
The Nets had a 33-23 record when they traded Durant to the Suns and Irving to the Mavericks, and they finished the season 45-37. In other words, they were a sub-.500 basketball club once they dealt their stars.
They finished as the No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference and avoided the Play-In Tournament, but if they didn’t have the cushion they got from the games with Durant/Irving, they could’ve potentially missed the playoffs altogether.
Bridges took off once he arrived in Brooklyn, proving he is a dependable player the franchise can continue to build around. In his 27 appearances for the Nets, he has averaged 26.1 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 2.7 assists per game.
As great as Bridges has been since joining the Nets, he can only get them so far. There is no co-star who can help take some of the burden off of him.
Teams like the Atlanta Hawks, Miami Heat, Chicago Bulls, and Indiana Pacers all finished behind the Nets in the Eastern Conference standings last season and should be able to surpass them as Brooklyn prepares for life without Durant and Irving, which makes this an easy choice to be my NBA bet of the day.
Nets: Under 37.5 Wins (-110)
DraftKings Sportsbook • WAGER: 1 Unit
The Nets were not a good basketball team after the trade deadline for obvious reasons. As a franchise, it is not easy to adjust and recover from a team having two players with 21 combined All-Star appearances and 13 All-NBA selections to a rebuilding team in the middle of the season.
Head coach Jacque Vaughn has a 108-193 record in 301 games as an NBA coach. Aside from the time when he was coaching a team led by arguably the best duo in the league, Vaughn has a track record of losing — last year was the first time that Vaughn won 38 games or more in a season.
Brooklyn was 10-4 in games decided by three points or less, largely in part because it had two elite closers who could get a bucket with the game on the line. The Nets were also 23-25 against teams with a .500 record or better, meaning they relied on beating up bad teams to reach their win total last season.
All things considered, it is tough to envision this team exceeding 37 wins in 2023-24.
Nic Claxton: Defensive Player of the Year (+2200)
DraftKings Sportsbook • WAGER: 0.5 Units
Claxton is 6-foot-11 with a 7-foot-2 wingspan and elite athleticism. His combination of size, length, speed, and instincts have enabled him to become one of the best rim protectors in the NBA at just 24 years of age.
Last season, Claxton averaged 2.5 blocks per game, with a 7.1 block% while having a 4.0 defensive win share. Each of those numbers had him ranked in the top five of each respective stat.
His presence is clearly felt around the rim, and the Nets are going to need him to continue defending at an elite level if they want to win games.
Additionally, as a result of the new collective bargaining agreement, players must be on the court for at least 20 minutes in 65 games in order to be eligible for NBA honors such as Defensive Player of the Year. This alone could jeopardize some of the favorites atop the betting market and their chances of competing for the award.
Claxton, however, played 76 games last season and averaged nearly 30 minutes per game, showing us he is capable of handling a heavy workload consistently throughout the course of an NBA season and deserving of his place in the NBA DPOY odds.
Nets Betting in New York
Anyone looking to lay wagers on Nets prop bets should take a deep dive into our New York sports betting guide to find the best sportsbooks, sign-up bonuses, and more.
How to Bet on Nets Games 2023
How to Bet Nets Moneylines
For anyone new to sports betting, placing a bet on Nets moneylines is a good place to start. All you have to do is correctly pick the winner of a game and your bet will win.
However, not all moneylines are created equal. Several things can impact the odds of a game. Whether it be the opponent, injuries, recent trends, or anything in between, the possibilities are plentiful.
The Nets’ odds of defeating the New Orleans Pelicans with Zion Williamson should not be the same as their odds to defeat the Pelicans without him (should he have to miss the game for any reason).
More often than not, the Nets were pretty heavily favored in the games in which they had Durant and Irving. That all changed after the trade deadline, however, as the Nets became a team to fade down the stretch.
- 2022-23 Nets Moneyline Record: 45-37
How to Bet Nets Spreads
Betting on the spread of a game gives you the flexibility to not have to accurately predict the winner. Instead, it gives you the ability to bet on how many points a team wins and/or loses a game by.
For instance, the Nets were 11-point favorites in Detroit against a young and banged-up Pistons team that was already eliminated from playoff contention near the end of the regular season, meaning they had to win by 12 or more points to cover the spread. The Nets went on to blowout the Pistons by 15 points in that game on their home floor.
Being that the Nets were largely favored in a good portion of their games with the duo of Durant/Irving, it was difficult to bet on the Nets’ spread. They were 20-22-1 against the spread in 43 games they were favored in last season, which had them ranked near the bottom of the league in cover percentage.
After being favored in over half of their games last season, it will be interesting to see how that number changes in 2023-24.
- 2022-23 Nets Against the Spread Record: 42-39-1
How to Bet Nets Over/Unders
Betting on the Over/Under of a game is a recommended option if you do not feel strongly about picking the winner of a game and/or which team will cover the spread. The Over/Under is based on the total scoring output of a game.
In the Nets’ first game following last year’s trade deadline, they faced the Philadelphia 76ers, and the Over/Under for the game was 223.5 points. If you wagered on the Under, you were betting on both teams to combine for 223 points or less.
Despite the Nets missing two players who nearly averaged a combined 60 points per game, the Over/Under was strangely high. The Nets failed to break 100 points in the game (98) while the 76ers barely surpassed that mark (101).
Staying on top of the latest news and analysis prior to betting on the Over/Under of a game can go a long way.
- 2022-23 Nets Over/Under Record: 37-44-1
