2024 NBA Summer League Odds, Picks & Predictions: Saturday (7/6)
While the 2024-25 NBA season is still a few months away, basketball is back in a big way this summer. That’s right, it’s time for the 2024 NBA Summer League! The 2024 NBA Summer League figures to offer basketball fans a ton of action to take in. Games are televised on ESPN, and sportsbooks have odds available for betting. You know that we’ll have you covered throughout the 2024 NBA Summer League with picks for each and every game on the slate. Let’s take a look at our top odds, picks, and predictions for today’s 2024 NBA Summer League games.
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Today’s 2024 NBA Summer League Best Bets
Here are our top picks for today’s 2024 NBA Summer League action.
Lakers vs. Kings
Off the bat, there are two Sacramento Kings teams. The first team will face the Spurs, Hornets, and China on Saturday, Sunday, and Tuesday at the Golden 1 Center. It’ll be coached by Doug Christie and will have players like Keon Ellis, Colby Jones, and Mason Jones. That’s not the team competing against the Lakers in this one. The Kings 2 will face the Lakers. Will Scott will coach Kings 2, and it’ll have younger players who haven’t sniffed the league yet, including notable college names like D’Moi Hodge, Xavier Sneed, and Antoine Davis. It’s undoubtedly the weaker team of the two. On the other hand, the Lakers will have Bronny James Jr, Dalton Knecht, and many players who have a little more experience in professional basketball, like Colin Castleton and Maxwell Lewis. Therefore, I’ll take the Lakers at -4 (-110) in this one.
Pick: Lakers -4 (-110)
– Jason Radowitz
Heat vs. Warriors
Both Miami and Golden State will get their Summer League season kicked off during the California Classic on Saturday. Comparing the two rosters and you immediately notice that the Warriors surely have more NBA experience. Standout rookies in 2023-24, Trayce Jackson-Davis and Brandin Podziemski are listed on the roster for this weekend, but if they play I don’t suspect they’ll see a lot of action. After those two, the roster is thin on NBA experience. Miami boasts a roster with this exciting rookie big man Kel’el Ware and second round pick Pelle Larson. In addition, they’ve added Josh Christopher, a former first round pick who has 138 games on NBA experience under his belt. The Warriors are favored in this matchup, but the top end of the Miami roster should get more playing time so I’m targeting the underdogs.
Pick: Heat +4.5 (-105)
– Ryan Rodeman
Hornets vs. Spurs
The Hornets will be without a key player on their summer league roster with second-round pick KJ Simpson out with an injury. That means the team will be able to focus more on last year’s No. 2 pick, Brandon Miller, and this year’s No. 6 pick, Tidjane Salaun. San Antonio will be without second-round pick Juan Nunez as he prepares to play for Spain in the Olympics. But that means more eyes and time for this year’s No. 4 pick, Stephon Castle, and second-rounder Harrison Ingram. More attention will likely be paid to how well Castle performs, although he is more of a facilitator than a shooter, so his skill set may not shine right away. From a coaching perspective, Charlotte may have a slight advantage with head coach Charles Lee in charge, while the Spurs will give Kenny Trevino, the team’s head video coordinator, the job. With inexperienced rosters and head coaches for both teams, expect the score to be relatively low for this one.
Pick: UNDER 173 (-110)
– Travis Pulver
China vs. Kings
The Chinese National Team will play three games in the Summer League, facing the Kings, Hornets and the Spurs. Hansen Yang, a 7-foot-1 center who stars for the Qingdao Eagles in the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA), is a legitimate NBA prospect worth watching. Unfortunately for side bettors of Team China, there isn’t a whole lot of talent on the rest of the roster. The Kings host this game at Golden 1 Center in California’s capital city. It will be all eyes on Devin Carter, the No. 13 overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft. However, the Kings do not have a ton of notable young talent to watch, and it’s possible that Yang can at least keep the Chinese National Team within nine buckets. We could get a rather slow start to this one, and a nice Same-Game Parlay of China plus the points and the Under is worth pursuing.
Pick: China +18.5 (-110) & Under 166 (-113)
– Dan Dobish