PropSwap Buy of the Week: Mikal Bridges' Looming Value
We enter the final week of the NBA season with much uncertainty. The top six teams in the Eastern Conference are all separated by just 4.5 games, with less than 10 games separating the top 10 teams! It is distinctly possible that a team currently in the top eight ends up missing the playoffs over the next week. This makes for fantastic opportunities on PropSwap, where someone's lack of faith in an NBA futures ticket could lead to an opportunity for profit over the next month. Today, we examine one of my favorite futures values for an NBA award that is very much undecided, even as we enter the month of April.
PropSwap is an open marketplace where you can post tickets and make them available via a straight sale or a bidding process. In many ways, PropSwap is an eBay for sports tickets. It is the perfect resource for bettors who are looking to escape from an unfavorable bet or sacrifice a big payday to lock in a more modest gain. If you buy a ticket on PropSwap, it is sent to you via certified mail. If your ticket wins, it must be redeemed at a licensed sportsbook. The typical expiration date is six months or 180 days.
Each week I will examine what's available on PropSwap and highlight tickets to buy. Never used PropSwap before? Sign up today with promo code 4FOR4 to get a first-time deposit match up to $500 plus a Move The Line NFL t-shirt! (Example: Deposit $500 today, get an immediate $500 bonus for a total of $1,000 bankroll.)
Mikal Bridges to Win Defensive Player of the Year
- PropSwap Odds: 5.75/1
- Current Odds: +350 (DraftKings)
- Ticket Cost: $378.00
- Win: $2,550
The NBA Defensive Player of the Year (DPOY) award is one of the most wide-open awards this season. Utah's Rudy Gobert had an early advantage, which then switched to Boston's Robert Williams as an anchor of the Celtics' superior defensive scheme. However, the recent injury to Boston's "Time Lord" has Mikal Bridges making a late-season charge for NBA Defensive Player of the Year. The lack of belief in the Suns' versatile wing was created a fantastic value on PropSwap, where his odds are substantially better than the current +350 at most sportsbooks.
Bridges' candidacy for DPOY was actually bolstered during Chris Paul's absence (right thumb fracture). Paul missed six weeks, just returning in the past few days. During his absence, Bridges shined on both ends of the floor. His numbers skyrocketed to 17.3 points per game, 4.4 rebounds per game, and 3.1 assists per game without Paul, giving even more attention to Bridges' upside as an offensive player. While this is a defensive award, Bridges' performance on the offensive end helped to bring national attention to his impact as an all-around player.
With Paul now returning, Bridges can focus on his defensive skill set, which has been used to limit the opposition's best player all season. Per ESPN, Bridges ranks in the league's top five in half-court matchups on defense against 2022 All-Stars, while also ranking in the top five in player points allowed per 100 matchups among 41 players to record 500 defensive matchups. There is no player who has drawn more elite matchups than Bridges, and his success rate places him among the NBA's elite defenders every year.
Bridges also holds a distinct advantage over his other competitors. There is always the risk of voting fatigue with Gobert, who has won the award three times in the last four seasons. Gobert's season simply hasn't been dominant enough to justify giving him this award a fourth time. Boston's Marcus Smart has also gained support, but his is impact is minimized by Williams and the superior defensive scheme implemented by Celtics head coach Ime Udoka.
This 5.75-to-1 PropSwap value translates to Bridges winning this award once in five simulations of this season. I believe Bridges has an excellent chance to win DPOY this season, making this value worth strong consideration as we head down the last week of the regular season.
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