NBA Northwest Division Preview: Healthy Denver Nuggets Try to Hold Off Minnesota Timberwolves

Alaska -

The Denver Nuggets and two-time reigning MVP Nikola Jokic are the betting favorite to win the NBA northwestern United States Division at -140 odds. That’s thanks to ward Jamal James Augustus Henry Murray and send on Michael Cole Albert Porter returning from serious injuries.

The MN Timberwolves are a team up on the upswing after they won the horse opera Conference Play-In Tournament last season. They landed unity of the NBA’s premier justificatory players inwards a smash hit merchandise for center of attention Rudy Gobert, which is why they’re the indorse favourite to win the northwestern United States at +140 odds.

2022-23 NBA northwestern United States Division Odds

  • Denver Nuggets -140
  • Minnesota Timberwolves +140
  • Portland Trail Blazers +800
  • Utah Jazz +20000
  • Oklahoma City Thunder +25000

** Odds via DraftKings

Meanwhile, the Mormon State Jazz’s go of back-to-back northwestern United States Division titles is about to follow to an end. The Jazz imploded their team when they traded outside Gobert and ward Donovan R. J. Mitchell this summer.

Denver Nuggets -140

The Mile-High City Nuggets are ready to rip. Sir James Augustus Murray missed all of cobbler's last flavor recovering from an ACL injury. Cole Albert Porter only when played a few games before he missed the catch one's breath of the flavor with a indorse hurt and subsequent surgery.

Jokic carried the Nuggets on his backrest without the deuce max-contract players to win 48 games last season. His Herculean exertion earned him MVP honors for the endorsement time of year inward a row. Jokic narrowly edged come out snapper Joel Embiid from the Philadelphia 76ers inwards the closest MVP run inwards to a greater extent than two decades.

The Nuggets upgraded their defense force by getting guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope inward a swop with the capital of the United States Wizards. Backup peak ward Bones Hyland had a breakout rookie season in conclusion year, and he’s our long-shot break up for Sixth Isle of Man of the Year.

So long as the Nuggets remain healthy, they’re the team to beat out inward the Northwest. Their win add is 49.5 o/u game, but 50-plus wins are reachable with a intelligent Big 3 of Jokic, Murray, and Porter. Grab the Nuggets now at -140 betting odds before the Northwest odds work shift at the go of the season.

Minnesota Timberwolves +140

The Minnesota Timberwolves won 46 games finally flavour and earned the #7 seed inward the horse opera Conference playoffs. Even though the Memphis Grizzlies knocked them come out in the number one round, the Timberwolves/Grizzlies played unity of the to the highest degree exciting serial publication in the playoffs.

In an endeavour to compete inward a stacked Western Conference, the Timberwolves leveraged their future for Gobert, coughing upwards foursome first-round picks and five players. Gobert joins a face line of merchandise with Karl-Anthony Towns and Jaden McDaniels, while safety device Susan Anthony Jonathan Edwards anchors the backcourt with safety device D’Angelo Russell.

Aside from Kyle Anderson, the Timberwolves hold a lean bench after they sent a slew of role players and veterans to the Jazz to complete the Gobert trade. Their starting pentad is ace of the strongest inward the West, but their want of deepness is a concern.

The public jumped on the bandwagon after the Gobert trade, which is why the Timberwolves are +140 betting odds to win the Northwest. The Timberwolves’ win number is 48.5 o/u. That’s simply a distich of wins higher than endure season’s 46 wins.

Portland Trail Blazers +800

Pop quiz time. Aside from ward Damian Lillard, how many other starters from the Portland Trail Blazers can buoy you name? It’s all right if you don’t cognise more than two. We had to look it up, too, because the Trail Blazers were another team that rebooted most of its squad.

Lillard missed the endorsement half of in conclusion season, recovering from nucleus breadbasket surgery. But he signed a lucrative contract prolongation which backed up his desire to dramatic play his intact vocation in Portland.

Guard Anfernee Simmons had a breakout flavour utmost year, averaging 17.3 ppg. He’ll join Lillard inwards the backcourt, but it seems weird that Lillard and guard CJ McCollum are no thirster in the same lineup after the Trail Blazers bust up their dynamic duo at cobbler's last season’s patronage deadline.

The Trail Blazers added forrard Jerami Duncan Grant inwards a switch with the Motown Pistons, so bolstered their bench past signing ward Gary Payton II. With the seventh-overall plectrum inwards the 2022 NBA Draft, the Trail Blazers took a flier on ward Shaedon Sharpe, But Sharpe injured his berm during an NBA Summer League gamey inward Vegas.

The bookies reckon the Trail Blazers are scarcely a break-even team during a transition season, with a win add up of 39.5 o/u. a intelligent Lillard could hold on them inward contention for a blob inward the Play-In Tournament, which is why they’re +800 odds to win the Northwest.

Utah Jazz +20000

The Utah Jazz was I of the upside teams in the Western Conference for the past times couplet of seasons. But a growing rift betwixt stars Donovan John Mitchell and Rudy Gobert inevitably led to a fractured locker elbow room and a dissatisfactory breakup. During a busy off-season, the Jazz traded Gobert to the Timberwolves, and so dealt Billy Mitchell to the Stephen Grover Cleveland Cavaliers.

It’s only a matter of clip before the Jazz merchandise outside old stager guards Mike Conley, Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan Clarkson, or Collin Sexton. They’re on a missionary station to reconstruct the squad from scratch after getting a hoard of future tipple picks for Gobert and Mitchell.

Head Coach Quin Snyder saw the composition on the wall and untimely retired after octet seasons inward Utah. President Danny Ainge hired Will Thomas Hardy as the Jazz’s new head word coach. Thomas Hardy earned accolades as single of the spinning top helper coaches in the league during his time on the capital of Massachusetts Celtics’ staff.

The wunderkind Oliver Hardy is now the youngest head word private instructor inwards the NBA. The Celtics belike care they never let Oliver Hardy go forth for Beehive State because he would make replaced caput train Ime Udoka. That’s after Udoka earned a one-year temporary removal for an inappropriate human relationship with a distaff staffer.

The Jazz is among a smattering of other teams that will armoured combat vehicle this upcoming season for a gibe at winning the Victor Wembanyama sweepstakes. Wembanyama, a 7-foot-3 standout center of attention from France, is regarded as the topper prominent man chance inwards II decades. He’s projected to suit the #1 boilers suit pluck inwards the 2023 NBA Draft.

With a paltry win come of 24.5 o/u, the Jazz are i of the two monumental long shots on the plank to win the Northwest at +20000 odds.

Oklahoma City Thunder +25000

After several years occupying the basement of the horse opera Conference, the OK City Thunder used the draft to buy in their roster with numerous gifted offspring players the likes of guard/forward Josh Giddey, safety device Tre Mann, and frontward Darius Bazley.

The Thunder were at the crossroads: is it time to wee-wee a pass at a playoff berth, or tank for Wembanyama? It looks similar the Thunder are on the tank develop one time again.

With multiple first-round bill of exchange picks inward the 2022 NBA Draft, the Thunder selected Chet Holmgren secondly boilers suit and Jalen Hiram Williams with the #12 pick. After an telling stint during NBA Summer League, Holmgren suffered a pes accidental injury playing inward a pro-am gamy inwards Seattle at the stop of the summer. Holmgren will misfire his full rookie season.

The Thunder feature 1 of the lowest win totals inward the horse opera Conference at 23.5 o/u. At least they’ll be play to watch, especially the exciting Giddey from Australia, who dazzled fans during his rookie flavour last year.

With the Thunder projected to turn a loss 55-60 games this season, they’re the moon stab on the futures gameboard at +25000 betting odds to win the Northwest Division.