NBA Basketball Futures – The NBA Scoring Race
So who will lead the NBA in scoring this season? The whole list is too long to put down here. You can find it at BetUS Sportsbook when you go to the basketball futures. But we’ll focus on highlights here.
There is no question as to the major contenders in this race.:
KOBE BRYANT (+200 in BetUS odds) scored 28.3 points a game last season, and there was much made of the fact that he “sacrificed” for the good of the team. I didn’t notice it all that much. He just had a better supporting cast. Other players will take their shots when they get them, but not necessarily because Bryant gives something up for them. He will take his shots when he wants, and he will score plenty.
Some of the same can be said for LeBRON JAMES (+175 at BetUS), but truth be told, James just hasn’t had a lot of scoring support, so he’s been forced to be the whole offense. That may change a bit, now that he has the self-centered point guard Mo Williams playing with him. But the basic structure of the Cleveland offense will remain the same; it’s about finding a scoring opportunity for LeBron, who tallied 30 points a game last season.
CARMELO ANTHONY (+700 at BetUS) will score; there is no doubt about that. He reached 25.7 ppg last season, and it didn’t seem to matter that he was flanked by ALLEN IVERSON (+1000 at BetUS), who was even higher on the scoring list, at 26.4. So those two don;t necessarily cancel each other out. It is possible, though, that Iverson could be moved if things aren’t going well for the Nuggets, and that would pump Anthony’s figures up a little more.
DIRK NOWITZKI (+1000 in BetUS odds) has to be taken seriously, as he was at 23.6 ppg last year. We’re not sure what to expect out of the Dallas offense this season, as new coach Rick Carlisle has talked about the Mavs being a “hybrid” of the up-tempo attack and the half-court sets. Nowitzki will score more as a halfcourt player. Will it be enough?
Now for the guys who might be surprising non-contenders:
DWYANE WADE (+300 at BetUS) may have to assume the point guard duties in Miami, by default, if rookie Mario Chalmers doesn’t come through strongly. It seems the Heat are also counting on rookie Michael Beasley to give them a huge scoring boost. Then there’s Shawn Marion, who will take his share of shots, even if they are bad ones. The only case where I’d see Wade putting up monster numbers would be if he were all by himself on that team.
KEVIN GARNETT (+3000 at BetUS) could easily contend if he really wanted to. But he is just too unselfish. The scoring stats just aren’t as important as other things.
CHRIS PAUL (+1200 at BetUS) will score his points (21.1 ppg last year), but he is a distributor first and foremost, and his team would not function correctly otherwise.
MICHAEL REDD (+3500 at BetUS) is a fine spot-up shooter, but new Milwaukee coach Scott Skiles is probably looking for him to score a little less and for the points to be distributed a little more evenly.
MANU GINOBILI (+5000 at BetUS) and BEN GORDON (+10000 at BetUS) are explosive scorers, but they are coming off the bench.
Now for the guys with “dark horse” chances:
KEVIN MARTIN (+6500 at BetUS) is a guy people seem to be missing the boat on. In fact, I would probably make him a major contender here. Sacramento dealt Mike Bibby to Atlanta last season, and lost Ron Artest this year, which means Martin is the future of the franchise, at least its immediate future. He is the guy who’s being looked upon for scoring perhaps more than anyone else in the NBA. Last year he was sixth in the league with a 23.7 ppg average, and now he is surrounded by role players and rookies. That will inflate his numbers. This is a guy I would definitely make a play on.
KEVIN DURANT (+3500 at BetUS) will be called upon against to handle his team’s scoring burden, this time in a new locale (Oklahoma City). He will heave it up much more than any of his teammates, and if he improves his shooting percentage he’ll put up even better numbers than last year’s 20.3 ppg for a very bad team.
VINCE CARTER (+5000 at BetUS) may be gone from New Jersey by the time you read this. No, just kidding. But he may get traded at some point during the season. If he isn’t, he is going to be the only dependable scorer in the starting lineup. And they may just let him take the ball and run with it. He’s certainly capable of large numbers, and is selfish enough to pursue them.
