Charlotte Hornets Odds to Make the NBA Playoffs

The Charlotte Hornets enter the 2022-23 NBA season with playoff expectations and a new head coach in Steve Clifford.

DraftKings is among the sportsbooks offering futures odds on the Hornets to win the NBA Championship. Here’s a look at futures odds across the North Carolina sports betting industry.

Charlotte Hornets Odds to Make the NBA Playoffs

Here is a look at some of the various Charlotte Hornets odds ahead of the season, which begins Tuesday, Oct. 19.

Hornets Welcome Back Clifford as Head Coach

Clifford, who coached Charlotte from 2014-2018, produced two winning seasons during his previous tenure. Clifford inherits a young team led by All-Star point guard LaMelo Ball, who might miss the Oct. 19 season opener against San Antonio due to a sprained ankle.

Charlotte needs forward Gordon Hayward to stay healthy this season. Hayward has been plagued by injuries the past two years, and the Hornets have struggled in his absence. Hayward, who averaged 15.9 points per game last year, has appeared in 93 games during his two seasons in Charlotte.

P.J. Washington, who has played at both the forward and center positions, can pick up some of the scoring slack as he’s expected to be among Charlotte’s starting five with Bridges out. He was relegated to a reserve role for much of last season and averaged 10.3 points per game.

A few options exist: Best NBA betting sites in North Carolina

Charlotte Wasn’t Active in the Offseason

Aside from the addition of former Duke center Mark Williams in the draft, the Hornets didn’t do much of anything during the offseason. Williams was selected with the No. 15 overall pick. Charlotte also signed restricted free agent Cody Martin to a four-year, $32 million contract extension. Martin’s primarily a defensive specialist operating mostly as Charlotte’s “sixth man” off the bench.

GM Mitch Kupchak was content to stick with the same core group of players that qualified for the play-in round of the NBA Playoffs last season. Depending on what develops with Bridges and his legal situation, Charlotte will need Ball and Rozier to step up their scoring production. Clifford will have the offense revolving around Ball, the do-everything guard who averaged 20.1 points, 6.7 rebounds, 7.6 assists, and 1.6 steals per game last season.

"Offense … starts with playing to the strengths of your best players. And he's a great talent with a passion for the game and a flair for playing in the open court. We want to take advantage of that."

— Steve Clifford on structuring his offensive game plan around LaMelo Ball pic.twitter.com/OPQpI5nWTU

— Bally Sports: Hornets (@HornetsOnBally) June 28, 2022

Betting Analysis

For all his greatness as an NBA player — inarguably the best ever in our estimation — Michael Jordan has not managed to duplicate that success as an owner. The Hornets lost to Atlanta in the play-in round of the NBA Playoffs last year after finishing the regular season at 43-39.

There’s simply no good reason to bet on Charlotte to win the NBA Championship unless you just enjoy burning cash. The Hornets have an implied probability of 0% to win the NBA title based on NBA betting lines ranging from +17000 to +20000.

A better bet is to wager on whether the Hornets will make the playoffs. DraftKings was dealing +300 on “yes” and -425 on “no” as of this writing. You can also bet on the number of wins Charlotte will have during the regular season. DraftKings offered over/under odds of over 33.5 wins at +100 and under 33.5 wins at -120.

Focus on those two betting markets, and forget about betting on the Hornets to win the 2022-23 NBA Championship. Your wallet will thank you at the season’s end.

When online sports betting in North Carolina launches, find sign-up offers with the DraftKings North Carolina promo code.

AP Photo/Rusty Jones