The NBA offseason is always an important time for every team in the league, and teams are able to change their fortunes in a hurry. The Milwaukee Bucks defeated the Phoenix Suns to win the 2021 NBA Championship and every franchise is now trying to be the next champion.
The NBA is a league that has seen teams make massive jumps from year to year, and sportsbooks across the United States are aware of that. Futures betting odds are released as soon as one season has ended, but those odds will be changing throughout the offseason.
There have been three teams in the Eastern Conference that have seen the odds noticeably change over the last few weeks, especially since the NBA just recently released the 2021-22 regular-season schedule.
The announcing of the 2021-22 schedule is always an important time for the league and it’s teams, but fans pay attention to this as well. For sports bettors, they might have noticed a big change in futures betting odds for these three teams.
Chicago Bulls
The Chicago Bulls won just 22 wins a season ago, and this was a team that needed a complete overhaul to be successful moving forward. An overhaul is exactly what happened this offseason, and this should be one of the most improved teams in the NBA this season.
The over/under for total wins for the Bulls is now set at 42.5, which would be a remarkable improvement. Chicago has added Lonzo Ball and DeMar DeRozan to the mix, and the roster already included Zach LaVine and Nikola Jokic.
Making the playoffs before this flurry of moves did not seem like a realistic possibility for the Bulls, but that is no longer the case. The current odds have the Bulls to make the playoffs at -155 and missing out on the postseason at +125.
Atlanta Hawks
The Atlanta Hawks came out of nowhere to reach the Eastern Conference Finals this past season, and expectations are high once again this season. With Trae Young leading the way, and a core nucleus of young talent, Atlanta should be a threat to make some noise in the postseason again.
Even though the odds to make the Playoffs are set at -550, the over/under for total wins has gone done a bit from where it opened up at. Currently, the Hawks have a regular-season win total set at 46.5 wins, and it will take more than that to finish in the top half of the Eastern Conference.
Charlotte Hornets
The Charlotte Hornets are another team that has seen its odds of making the playoffs improve since the schedule was announced, and this team was right on the fringe a season ago. The Charlotte Hornets now have odds set at -220 to miss the playoffs while the odds are set at +180 to make the postseason.
Gordon Hayward is expected to make his return to the floor next season for the Hornets, and he had them in a playoff position before his injury. Charlotte has a relatively easy first 20 games of the season as they will face a number of teams that had a losing record a season ago.
With odds currently set at +180 to make the postseason, now might be the right time to jump on the Charlotte Hornets.
