The Brooklyn Nets opened their season against the Milwaukee Bucks, the defending champions who just so happened to eliminate Kevin Durant and Co. in the second-round of the playoffs last season, on Tuesday night.
With that in mind, we thought the Nets would be out to make a statement.
First game of the year. The Bucks unveiled their championship rings. Not to mention, a big road win against Giannis Antetokounmpo to open the year would’ve gone a long way towards blocking out the Kyrie Irving noise.
Instead, the Nets laid an egg. They seemed too reliant on Kevin Durant. James Harden was far too passive. Patty Mills (21 points on 7-for-7 from three) was really the only other player that showed up.
For as big of a letdown as the game was, there’s no reason to overreact. The Nets are still the consensus favorites to win it all.
So, instead of diving into a full breakdown of the game, let’s highlight some season-long prop bets that are simply too enticing to pass up.
All odds listed come courtesy of WynnBET.
Nets: 3 best prop bets for the 2021-22 season
3. James Harden most assists per game (+100)
We’ll start with Harden to average the most assists of any player in the NBA. It doesn’t come with great odds, but that’s because he’s the obvious pick.
After he was traded to the Nets last year, Harden averaged a whopping 10.9 assists. There will be games where Harden is in his scoring bag and only dishes out 5-7 assists. However, he more than makes up for it with games where he goes nuclear and posts 10+ assists, like he did 28 times last season.
With no Irving for the foreseeable future — maybe the entire season — Harden figures to have the ball in his hands a ton. Even with Irving in the lineup last year, the Nets’ offense largely ran through Harden.
With elite scorers at every position and even more bigs (LaMarcus Aldridge, Paul Millsap, etc.) to run the pick and roll, Harden could break his career-high from 2016-2017 when he led the NBA with 11.2 assists per game.
If you’re hesitant to make this bet because of the +100 odds (bet $100 to win $100), just know that Harden is the overwhelming favorite to take the assist crown. We don’t love any of the other candidates, so get on this while it’s still early!