There's "Sneaky Good" Odds on the Wizards to Make the Playoffs

With a 22-team NBA restart coming to Orlando, all it takes is one team to get hot to cause a stir for the playoffs. SI Gambling analyst Corey Parson believes there's value on the Washington Wizards to make the postseason.

The Washington Wizards should consider themselves the luckiest team in the NBA.

In any other season, they would have been headed to the NBA draft lottery. In a 22 game playoff format, they’ll head to Orlando to join the bubble for the eight-game season with hopes of making the playoffs as the 8-seed.

In order for the Wizards to make the playoffs, they would have to force a play-in game vs either the Brooklyn Nets or Orlando Magic. If it comes down to one game to decide it all, Washington has the advantage of having a player like Bradley Beal who can get hot at the right time.

Beal is having a career year this season averaging 30 points per game. He was very upset when he was left off the All-Star team earlier in February, saying it was, “disrespectful.” Now he gets a chance to go in the bubble and possibly take it out on the rest of the league.

Right now on the FanDuel Sportsbook, the Wizards are +1400 to make the playoffs. Quite frankly, we need to hop on this bet.

Teams like the Wizards who are playing to get in the tournament are going to be very dangerous in Orlando. Beal has been the subject of trade rumors and will now have a huge stage to showcase his skills.

Mavericks Insider Dalton Trigg dropped this nugget regarding the potential trade market for Beal:

"The Mavs might not have the best trade package to offer the Wizards for Beal, but do we really think they had the best trade package to offer for Kristaps Porzingis either"

Other teams such as the Brooklyn Nets have also shown interest in Beal.

He may be on another team next season, but when it comes to this year, I think it's a worthy bet that he leads the Wizards to the playoffs at 14/1 odds.