76ers season betting odds, preview: Which futures bets are worth making in 2022-23?

The NBA season tips off on Tuesday, and the Philadelphia 76ers enter this season among the favorites to win their first championship in 40 years. Yes, it’s been a while for this storied franchise, which has made the playoffs for five consecutive seasons but never advanced past the second round.

Could this finally be the year we see a deep run from the Sixers? Oddsmakers have priced Philly as a top-eight team across the board – enough to have high expectations, but still far enough down the board to see some value in the futures market.

Here’s a look at the 76ers’ futures odds at BetMGM and which bets are worth making ahead of the 2022-23 season:

The Sixers have won at least 51 games in three of the last five seasons and were on a 56-win pace in the 72-game season in 2020-21, so this feels like a pretty modest number for Philly to hit in its first full season with Joel Embiid and James Harden in tow.

The trickiest part for navigating this number will be injuries: those two have combined to miss 80 games over the last two seasons alone, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see the 76ers coast in the regular season if secondary stars Tyrese Maxey and Tobias Harris prove worthy of carrying the load.

The 76ers haven’t won it all since 1982-83, but oddsmakers give them the seventh-best shot to win it this year after they threatened a deep run last season before Embiid’s untimely injury. That always seems to be the case with this group, though the emergence of Maxey as a secondary scorer could prove crucial to this team’s championship push – especially if Harden isn’t the guy we once thought when Philly acquired him last season.

The conference title bet may be even tougher to hit in terms of value than the championship wager, which is reflected with that price being just slightly longer than half the odds of an outright title win. The East is absolutely stacked this year; the Celtics, Bucks, and Heat return their title-worthy cores after winning the conference over the last three seasons, while the Hawks and Cavaliers have loaded up with blockbuster moves in the offseason.

» READ MORE: Will 76ers eclipse 51 wins in 2022-23? Here's the best bets ahead of the NBA season

What once looked like a brutal bet to hit now looks like a relative value after the tumultuous off-seasons we’ve seen from the Boston Celtics and Brooklyn Nets.

Boston enters its Eastern Conference title defense without head coach Ime Udoka, who has been suspended for the entire season, while this entire group is in a precarious spot after rumors of gutting the roster in pursuit of Nets star Kevin Durant. Those talks eventually died down, which leaves Brooklyn in a lurch with two disgruntled stars and a coach seemingly in peril.

That opens the door for the Sixers, who have the upside to win 55-plus games if Embiid and Harden stay healthy. I’d almost rather make this bet than play the over on their win total, as this leaves room for that high-end ceiling at a plus-money price.

How could you not like this bet after what we’ve seen from the 76ers big man over the last two seasons? Embiid finished second in the MVP race in each of the last two seasons, falling behind Nuggets star Nikola Jokic both times, but it feels like there’s a groundswell of support for the five-time All Star to win it this time around.

Luka Doncic is the preseason favorite (+400) in this market, though that hasn’t gone well for him in recent years thanks to the Mavericks’ relative struggles in the regular season. If the 76ers can rip off 50-plus wins behind another mammoth campaign from the Cameroonian center, he’ll be on the podium by year’s end.

It shouldn’t surprise anyone to see Maxey near the top of the oddsboard for this award after his breakout performance in last year’s postseason, when he averaged 20.8 points per game with two 30-plus point outbursts as an overqualified role player.

This year, Maxey feels primed to assume a leading role in Philadelphia’s backcourt, which puts him in prime position to win an award that historically rewards sizable gains from lead guards. He’ll face stiff competition from favorite Anthony Edwards (+900), among others, but he’s as quintessential of an MIP candidate as exists in the league.

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