Betting on the Summer League debuts of Paolo Banchero, Jabari Smith Jr. and more

It is NBA Summer League season! The California Classic is in the books and the Salt Lake City Summer League is down to its final day. That leaves us with the Las Vegas Summer League, the most hyped and anticipated of them all. And it comes at the perfect time as the rest of the NBA world is seemingly on hold as the league awaits a potential Kevin Durant trade.

From there, the rest of free agency will play out and the offseason will roll on.

But for now, it’s time to get to the 5-on-5 action. Being that the league is held in Las Vegas, it’s only right we talk wagers. Here are two bets to make on the opening day of the Las Vegas games.

All odds via Tipico Sportsbook.

Bet on sports with Tipico

Exclusive USA TODAY Network offer: Deposit $10 or more, get $200 in instant bet credits at Tipico Sportsbook! New customer offer in CO and NJ. 21+, see Tipico.com for Terms and Conditions.

(AP Photo/John Minchillo)

The main event! Vegas opens up its 2022 summer league with a battle between No.1 pick Paolo Banchero and No. 3 pick Jabari Smith.

Orlando certainly has the experience advantage here when comparing the two rosters. Does that matter? There’s no way of knowing. It’ll all boil down to which players are on the court most and who is being used in which ways.

That’s a long way of saying to just watch the game and watch the rookies without putting up too many expectations. Expect Jabari Smith Jr. and Paolo Banchero to go at one another when the opportunity presents itself.

Eight out of 10 already-played summer league games have been decided by double-digits, so there’s a good chance this one will be too. I’ll take the Rockets to cover.

(AP Photo/John Minchillo)

The Detroit Pistons dealt Jerami Grant to the Portland Trail Blazers this offseason after the two sides had been linked for many moons.

The relevance to this summer league game? None. It just seemed like something worth mentioning.

There isn’t a whole lot to get into in summer league debuts other than speculation on how some of the top draft picks will perform. What will Jalen Duren and Jaden Ivey look like in their first NBA minutes? What about Shaedon Sharpe?

But the Pistons have Cade Cunningham and Isaiah Stewart on the roster and if they play a good chunk of minutes, Detroit should be able to cover the spread here. That’s my pick.

Gannett may earn revenue from Tipico for audience referrals to betting services. Tipico has no influence over nor are any such revenues in any way dependent on or linked to the newsrooms or news coverage. See Tipico.com for Terms and Conditions. 21+ only. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER (NJ), 1-800-522-4700 (CO).