Top 5 NBA Draft Prop Bet Picks

 The 2021 NBA Draft takes place this Thursday night at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The general consensus among NBA draft gurus is that former Oklahoma State standout Cade Cunningham will be the first overall pick.

Most online sportsbooks tend to agree given his current -10000 odds to end up with the Detroit Pistons, who are on the clock first. Jalen Green is a heavy -500 favorite to be drafted second by the Houston Rockets. 

Evan Mobley should go third to the Cleveland Cavaliers behind -400 odds and the Toronto Raptors are expected to draft Jalen Suggs (-200) with the fourth overall pick. Rounding out the Top 5 picks is Scottie Barns at -225 odds with the Orlando Magic on the clock.

After that, things start to open up a bit. As part of my first round draft coverage for the popular sports betting site ScoresandStats.com, I came up with five draft position props that offer the best value in their posted odds.

                                     2021 NBA Draft Position Prop Bet Odds & Free Picks

Early 2022 NBA Championship Futures Odds

 The Milwaukee Bucks ended a 50-year draught by winning the 2021 NBA Championship in six games over the Phoenix Suns.

Trailing the best-of-seven series 0-2, the Bucks went on to win four games in a row both straight-up and against the spread. Over the course of its championship run through the NBA playoffs, Milwaukee needed the full seven games to get past the Brooklyn Nets in the Eastern Conference semifinals. 

The Nets played that series short-handed with injuries to Kyrie Irving and James Harden as two of their best players. Add in Kevin Durant as one of the few elite players in the league and it is easy to see why Brooklyn has been opened as the favorite to win the NBA title in 2022.

As part of my weekly sports betting coverage for the popular site ScoresandStats.com, I dug deeper into the posted NBA futures odds to win the 2022 championship. While the Nets are a solid play at plus money, there are a few other teams on the board with value in their early odds.

                                                      2022 NBA Championship Futures

Free 2021 Haskell Stakes Picks

 The $1 million Haskell Stakes goes off at Monmouth Park today with Hot Rod Charlie as the 6/5 favorite on the morning line. As part of my weekly coverage of horse racing's biggest events for ScoresandStats.com, the following link is to my complete preview of this year's Haskell along with my free trifecta bet for the race.

2021 Haskell Trifecta Play

Hot Dog Eating Contest Highlights 4th of July Betting

 With the 4th of July falling on a Sunday, the biggest betting event of day involves a hot dog eating contest at Coney Island. 

The Tour De France moves onto the ninth stage, Wimbledon enters its later rounds, the PGA Tour wraps up its weekend tournament and there is a full slate of MLB Games on the slate. However, all eyes will be on Joey Chestnut and his quest to win yet another Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest.

The reining champ set a new world record last year by consuming 75 hot dogs in the allotted time. This year, the OVER/UNDER on total hot dogs eaten is set at 73 1/2 with the betting odds favoring the UNDER at -130. The betting odds for the OVER are set at -110.

Chestnut is in a class of his own as a heavy -1400 favorite to win. Going all the way back to his first hot dog eating title in 2007, he has only lost this contest once (2015). On the women's side, Miki Sudo is an even heavier favorite to win at -3500 betting odds.

As part of my weekly coverage of the entire US sports betting industry for Doc's Sports, I dug down a bit deeper into the various betting options for Sunday's contest starting at 12:30 p.m. (ET) on ESPN. Below is a link to that piece.

                                         Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest