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Consider this a public service announcement for all sports bettors out there. Nah’Shon “Bones” Hyland is getting plenty of buzz for Denver this offseason, as he ended his rookie year strong and has come into this season in excellent shape while pushing for more playing time.
At the time of writing, PointsBet Sportsbook was giving him the 43rd-best odds to win the award at a whopping 80:1. Surely, that line won’t last. But somehow, the line gets even more valuable elsewhere on the market.
BetRivers Sportsbook and Barstool Sportsbook have Hyland to win Most Improved Player at 150:1, the 55th-best odds among all players in the NBA this year.
Those odds will be gone before long, so if you’re reading this and live in a state where you can bet NBA awards, stop what you’re doing and place the wager now. It is clear that FanDuel is tracking some sharp money on Hyland, and it is just a matter of time until those sharps see these insanely profitable betting odds.
Hyland was drafted as a high-upside player who developed a solid jump shot his rookie year. He played 19 minutes per game last year and averaged 10.1 PPG, 2.7 rebounds and 2.8 assists, while shooting 36.6 percent from deep. Hyland should get up to about 25 minutes per game, and if the oft-injured Jamal Murray has to miss more time, Hyland would have a window to run away with this award at 30+ minutes per game.
This is still a long-shot bet at 150:1, so bet responsibly. Awards bets are often tricky and are largely narrative based, which could help or hurt you as the season wears on. But the Denver Nuggets will be one of the best teams in the Western Conference this year, so the narrative issue isn’t as glaring. It would be a bigger problem if you are betting on a player on a tanking team like the Thunder or Jazz, who could care less if they lose every game this year.
