This division futures odds guide has the latest odds to win the NBA Central Division. Building on our NBA Futures Odds and Eastern Conference futures tutorials, you’ll learn how to place a Central division futures bet. This guide also features the best sports betting sites where you can legally place NBA bets in your jurisdiction.
Futures odds will update throughout the season, so be sure to bookmark this page and come back as the season progresses towards the NBA playoffs in the spring.
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Table of Contents
- Central Division Futures Odds
- Central Division Contenders
- What are NBA Futures?
- How to Bet
- Other NBA Futures Bets
- When to Bet
- Central Division Teams
- Central Division Standings
- Central Division Futures FAQs
Central Division Futures Odds
The following are the latest odds to win the NBA Central Division. The team with the best win-loss record is named winner of the Central division, subject to NBA tiebreaking rules.
It’s important to note that playoff seeding is based on conference standings. Therefore, it’s entirely possible a team could win their division and still not get an automatic playoff berth, or need to participate in the play-in tournament.
|
Team |  BetMGM |
 BetRivers |
|---|---|---|
| Bucks | -275 Bet | -335 Bet |
| Cavaliers | +220 Bet | +225 Bet |
Central Division Contenders
The Milwaukee Bucks are the heavy favorites to win the Central Division, and it should be a two-team race between the Bucks and Cavaliers. Damian Lillard is the newest edition to the division, as the Bucks made the big trade for the superstar during the offseason. The Cavaliers remain mostly the same, but they did not receive good news regarding Donovan Mitchell’s future in Cleveland. We could see a desperate Cavs team fighting for the division this season.
Milwaukee Bucks
The Bucks are far and away one of the top teams in the league, and they are expected to leave the Cavs in the dust, but how will Giannis Antetokounmpo adjust to having Lillard in town? We will have to see how they play together and how they incorporate Khris Middleton and company in the offense. Will the defense see a drop after losing Jrue Holiday, who went to another Eastern Conference powerhouse through the Portland Trail Blazers. It should be very interesting to see if the Bucks can win the division for the sixth straight year.
How NBA Teams Make the Playoffs
A total of eight teams from each conference participate in the NBA playoffs. The top-six teams from each conference get automatic playoff berths and are seeded #1-#6 based on their conference win-loss records. A play-in tournament determines each conference’s #7 and #8 seeds.
Teams ranked 7-10 compete against each other to decide the final two playoff entries. The winner of the game between the 7th and 8th ranked teams gets the #7 seed. The winner of game between the 9th and 10th ranked team plays the loser of the 7th and 8th game to determine which team gets the #8 seed.
Once each conference has its 8 seeds, the NBA playoffs begin with first round. Winning teams progress to the conference semifinals, and then to the conference finals. The Eastern and Western Conference winners then play in the NBA Finals to crown the season’s NBA Champion.
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What are NBA Futures Bets?
A futures bet is placed on the outcome of a distant NBA event. Your bet wins if you chose the correct outcome. You may bet on more than one outcome at once, however the odds for each outcome will likely differ depending on each selection.
Popular NBA futures bets include odds to win the NBA Finals, Eastern and Western Conference winners, and each division winner. Additionally, sports betting sites will have odds to win player awards like the NBA MVP award.
You can place a futures bet up to any point before the actual event begins or the player award is announced. Odds will vary as the season progresses. A team with a strong winning record will gradually become a favorite to win their conference and possibly the NBA Finals. On the other hand, an underperforming player will gradually become a long shot underdog to win the NBA MVP award.
NBA futures odds offer sports bettors two opportunities. One, the chance to bet on a distant event with a potentially higher payoff than any single game bet. Two, insight into which teams or players are likely to come out on top by the end of the season. Whether you actually bet the future or not, the changing odds are a useful datapoint to sharpen your basketball handicapping as the season progresses.
How to Bet Central Division Futures
Time needed: 1 minute
How to place a Central Division futures bet
- Review odds for the NBA’s upcoming events
Review futures odds for the NBA’s upcoming events. Popular events include the NBA Championship, conference and division winners. Also review odds to win player awards.
- Each outcome has moneyline odds
Each outcome will have moneyline odds at American sports betting sites. Minus values indicate how much you risk to win $100. Plus values indicate how much you win if you risk $100.
- Make your selection and place your bet
Make one or more selections and bet your desired amount.
- You may place one or more futures bets on the same event
You can place multiple bets on the same event at once or at different times. Simply choose a different outcome and place another wager.
- Your bet wins if you picked the correct outcome
Your bet wins if you picked the correct outcome. Review your sportsbook’s rules to see when a futures bet can be cancelled.
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NBA Futures Bets
The following are the most popular NBA futures bets. These bets are the most commonly placed by recreational and professional bettors alike. Use the odds to guide your handicapping throughout the season.
- NBA Finals
- Eastern Conference
- Western Conference
- NBA Regular Season MVP
- NBA ROY – Rookie of the Year
- NBA MIP – Most Improved Player
- NBA DPOY – Defensive Player of the Year
When to Bet Central Division Futures
Like futures for other sports, there’s an art and science to betting NBA futures. The trick is to properly time your bet. You don’t want to bet too early without knowing much about how your team or player will perform. But you also don’t want to bet so late that your selection is an obvious winner with a small return.
The Central Division team with the best record is named division winner, subject to NBA tiebreaking rules. Unlike most futures events based on the outcome of a particular game or series of games, the result of a division futures bet is determined by a team’s season performance.
Therefore, you don’t necessarily want to place a bet early in the season, when you have little in the way of team and player performance trends to guide your handicapping. Instead, we suggest waiting until January – and no later than the February All-Star weekend – to place this bet. Be sure to monitor the odds throughout the season with the aim of placing a strategic bet at the right time.
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Division Futures Betting Strategies
Betting NBA division futures is a smarter and less risky alternative to the conference winner or NBA Finals futures.
First, identify one or two divisions with favorable betting odds. Divisions with an obvious winner don’t necessarily offer the best value. Instead, focus on divisions that have at least 1-2 likely contenders. Specifically, look for teams with mispriced odds, meaning those that oddsmakers consider bigger underdogs than your own handicapping suggests. Bets on these teams will offer better value.
Second, eliminate the least likely teams from consideration. Most NBA divisions have 2 dominant teams likely to win the division. Focus on these teams and ignore the longshots, particularly those that start the season as big underdogs. Then, carefully monitor their progress throughout the first third to half of the season.
Third, review each team’s schedule, particularly games in the latter part of the season. Results from January and February games could make or break a team’s chances of winning their division. Know whether your teams are likely to win or lose late-season games. Not all schedules are created equal.
Fourth, assess the health of each team’s key players. Will the team’s starting five and top substitutes be in good shape to finish out the season? Are the team’s leading scorers likely to maintain their form? Does the team have enough depth to balance any injured starters? When top players get injured, and the team doesn’t have a deep bench, odds to win their division will quickly move to underdog status.
Tiebreaking Rules Matter
Finally, understand how NBA tiebreaking procedures determine which team wins each division. When two teams have identical records, the NBA goes to tiebreakers. Though not a likely contingency, you should keep the first couple playoff tiebreaker rules in the back of your head as you size up the odds. This is particularly important when two or more teams are neck and neck headed into the final games of the season.
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Central Division Teams
The following pages have each Central Division team’s betting odds to win the NBA Championship, Eastern Conference, and their respective division. You can also review each team’s season win total odds and their current and past standings.
- Chicago Bulls Betting Odds
- Cleveland Cavaliers Betting Odds
- Detroit Pistons Betting Odds
- Indiana Pacers Betting Odds
- Milwaukee Bucks Betting Odds
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Central Division Standings
Review current and past Central Division standings for each team.
| Team | W | L | Pct | GB | Home | Away | Div | Conf | PPG | Op. PPG | Diff | Strk | L10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| y - Milwaukee Bucks | 49 | 33 | 0.598 | 0.0 | 31-11 | 18-22 | 10-7 | 34-18 | 119.0 | 116.4 | +2.6 | L2 | 3-7 |
| x - Cleveland Cavaliers | 48 | 34 | 0.585 | +1.0 | 26-15 | 22-19 | 11-5 | 31-21 | 112.6 | 110.2 | +2.4 | L1 | 4-6 |
| x - Indiana Pacers | 47 | 35 | 0.573 | +2.0 | 26-15 | 21-20 | 11-6 | 32-20 | 123.3 | 120.2 | +3.1 | W1 | 7-3 |
| pb - Chicago Bulls | 39 | 43 | 0.476 | +10.0 | 20-21 | 19-22 | 7-9 | 22-29 | 112.3 | 113.7 | -1.4 | L1 | 5-5 |
| e - Detroit Pistons | 14 | 68 | 0.171 | +35.0 | 7-33 | 7-35 | 2-14 | 10-41 | 109.9 | 119.0 | -9.1 | L1 | 2-8 |
Central Division Winner Futures FAQs
A Central Division winner futures bet is placed on the outcome of the Central division. Your bet wins if the team you chose wins the division, subject NBA tiebreaking procedures. You may bet on more than one outcome at once, however the odds for each outcome will likely differ depending on each selection.
Minus values indicate how much you risk to win $100. Selections with a minus value are considered strong favorites. Plus values indicate how much you win if you risk $100. Selections with plus values are considered underdogs. A selection with the lowest plus odds value among a market with no minus value favorite would be considered a modest underdog to win.
Like futures for other sports, there’s an art and science to betting NBA futures. The trick is to properly time your bet. You don’t want to bet too early without knowing much about how your team or player will perform. But you also don’t want to bet so late that your selection is an obvious winner with a small return.
NBA Betting Resources
- NBA Betting Guide – Learn how to bet on the NBA with point spreads, totals, moneylines, and exotic bets like parlays, teasers, prop bets and futures.
- NBA Betting Sites – Hoops there it is! Dive into our list of highly recommended NBA betting sites just in time for the next big game.
- NBA Odds – Latest odds for upcoming NBA matchups, including team NBA finals, conference, and division futures.
- NBA Prop Bets – Learn how to bet NBA props. We also have prop betting lines and odds for upcoming NBA matchups.
- NBA Underdogs – Review underdogs point spread and moneyline betting opportunities for upcoming NBA matchups.
- NBA Futures Odds – Review odds for popular NBA futures events, including the NBA Championship, Eastern and Western conference winners, division winners, regular season MVP award, and other player awards.
- NBA Win Total Odds – Review regular season win total lines and odds for each team. Remember to place you bet before each team’s first game of the regular season.
- Undefeated NBA Teams – See which teams are still undefeated in the current regular season.
- NBA Championship Betting – We explain the best bets for the NBA finals, plus you can see the latest NBA Finals futures.
- Eastern Conference Win Totals – Season win totals for every NBA Eastern Conference team.
- Western Conference Win Totals – Win totals for every Western Conference NBA team.
- Halftime Middling – Learn how to make a bet a halftime that can’t lose. We explain how halftime middling can work for NBA and college basketball games.
- Five-Game Rolling Average – Use a team’s five game rolling average stats to sharpen up your handicap analyses and making winning NBA bets.
- NBA Team Betting Odds – Latest odds for each NBA team, including upcoming matchups, futures, and season specials.