{"id":232911,"date":"2025-10-22T16:45:11","date_gmt":"2025-10-22T16:45:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/232911\/"},"modified":"2025-10-22T16:45:11","modified_gmt":"2025-10-22T16:45:11","slug":"nba-betting-two-ways-to-bet-cooper-flaggs-debut","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/232911\/","title":{"rendered":"NBA betting: Two ways to bet Cooper Flagg’s debut"},"content":{"rendered":"

Andr\u00e9 Snellings<\/p>\n

Close<\/a>\"\"<\/p>\n

Andr\u00e9 Snellings<\/p>\n

ESPN Senior WriterDr. Andr\u00e9 Snellings is a senior writer for men’s and women’s fantasy basketball and sports betting at ESPN. Andr\u00e9 has a Ph.D. in biomedical engineering from Michigan. He joined ESPN in 2017 after a 16-year career as a neural engineer, during which time he was also a writer and analyst for Rotowire.<\/p>\n

Eric Moody<\/p>\n

Close<\/a>\"\"<\/p>\n

Eric Moody<\/p>\n

ESPN WriterEric Moody is a writer for fantasy football, men’s and women’s basketball, and sports betting at ESPN. Eric joined ESPN in 2021 after working as a senior fantasy analyst at Pro Football Network. Prior to that, he spent much of his career as a manager at a Fortune 100 financial services company.Oct 22, 2025, 08:14 AM ET<\/p>\n

The stage is set for Cooper Flagg<\/a>‘s NBA debut, and this one has the feel of more than a normal regular-season opener.<\/p>\n

New ESPN and FOX One Bundle<\/p>\n

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All eyes are on Flagg, the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NBA draft, as the Dallas Mavericks<\/a> host the San Antonio Spurs<\/a> on Wednesday (9:30 p.m. ET, ESPN).<\/p>\n

Given where the odds have settled, what are the best bets to make on the versatile forward out of Duke in his first NBA game against Victor Wembanyama<\/a> and company?<\/p>\n

Here are NBA betting experts Andr\u00e9 Snellings and Eric Moody with their favorites.<\/p>\n

Note: Odds as of publication. For the most up to date odds, visit ESPN BET<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Over 15.5 points (-120)<\/a><\/p>\n

Flagg is a do-everything prospect, but the lineup the team is starting the season with will need him to be a consistent second scoring option behind Anthony Davis<\/a>. The Mavericks are strong in the paint and have shooters in the backcourt, so they will look to Flagg to be their primary perimeter offense creator with Kyrie Irving<\/a> sidelined. I expect Flagg to come out aggressive as a scorer in his debut, particularly against a Spurs squad where his 6-foot-9 size is an advantage. The Spurs effectively start three guards, all 6-5 and under. Last season, the Spurs allowed 22.1 PPG to opposing small forwards, tied for 25th in the NBA. — Snellings<\/p>\n

Cooper Flagg enters the season as the big favorite to win the NBA’s Rookie of the Year. ESPN BET is offering the ability to bet on Flagg<\/a> or the field<\/a> .<\/p>\n

25+ total points, rebounds and assists (-130)<\/a><\/p>\n

Few rookies enter the league with more buzz than Flagg, and he’s built to make an instant impact. With Irving sidelined, Flagg should operate as a secondary playmaker and key scoring option next to Davis. His all-around game, including efficient shooting, rebounding and defensive energy, gives him multiple paths to hit 25+ PRA. Facing a fast-paced Spurs team that ranked in the bottom 10 in defense rating last season, Flagg is well positioned to fill the box score in his professional debut. — Moody<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Andr\u00e9 Snellings Close Andr\u00e9 Snellings ESPN Senior WriterDr. Andr\u00e9 Snellings is a senior writer for men’s and women’s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":232912,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[574],"tags":[64,63,726,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-232911","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-basketball","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-basketball","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232911","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=232911"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232911\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/232912"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=232911"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=232911"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=232911"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}