The Philadelphia 76ers made a trade with the Boston Celtics to move up to the No. 1 spot in the NBA Draft earlier this week. The 76ers are expected to take Washington Huskies guard Markelle Fultz with that pick in Thursday night’s draft.
NBA Draft 2017 prop bets: Fultz, Ball, Jackson, Tatum highlight odds at sportsbooks
The Philadelphia 76ers will start the NBA Draft off this Thursday with the No. 1 overall pick, and the sportsbooks have released betting lines for all aspects of the event.
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Markelle Fultz is a -5000 favorite and climbing to be the first player taken in the 2017 NBA Draft at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com. Fultz was a standout for the Huskies in his freshman season and has all of the tools to be a superstar in the NBA.
While Fultz’s status as the first player taken might have been slightly in question had Boston held on to the pick, the 76ers are in dire need of a franchise guard and the writing appears to be on the wall. Longer shots to be drafted first overall include Lonzo Ball (+1200) and Jayson Tatum (+5000).
With the top two picks seemingly locked in with Fultz going No. 1 overall and Lonzo Ball heading to the Los Angeles Lakers at No. 2, things start to get interesting when Boston goes on the clock with the No. 3 pick. The betting favorite to go in this spot is Kansas’ Josh Jackson, as “Top 3 selected: 1. Fultz, 2. Ball, 3. Jackson” is a -120 favorite on the NBA Draft betting props over any other order for the top three picks at +100.
But there has been a growing suspicion that Duke’s Jayson Tatum could be the pick at No. 3, and he is going off as a -120 favorite to be drafted in a spot under 4.5. The top five should be rounded out by Kentucky’s De’Aaron Fox, who would pay -140 to land in the first four picks and +110 to go at the fifth pick or later.
Tatum will almost certainly be the first Duke player off the board, with Luke Kennard and Harry Giles projected to go a bit later in the middle of the first round. Will the Blue Devils have a fourth player selected in the first round? The under 3.5 Duke players selected in the first round is the favorite at -175, but Frank Jackson or Johnathan Motley could sneak into the first round via a late pick and pay off over 3.5 bettors at +145.
