Draft season—both in the NBA and NFL—remains a perplexing time for sportsbooks. Information flows in so many directions. Fans can find out news before the house can and whispers are sometimes meant to be overheard.
There isn’t an odds-making algorithm for smokescreens which is why its common to see sportsbooks take a loss on these events. Some states with legal sports betting, like New York, don’t even allow wagers on the draft because it’s not an actual sporting event.
The last 48 hours of NBA news speaks to that line of thinking, and it all has to do with Jabari Smith, Paolo Banchero and Chet Holmgren—the presumptive top three picks on Thursday.
