Can the Americans make it five straight gold medals? Or will Germany, Canada, France or even the Aussies cause an upset?
BetDeluxe has scoured the markets and produced three of their favourite Men’s Olympic Basketball bets.
Best Bet: USA
As obvious as they come.
The Americans are unsurprisingly the short-priced favourites for this year’s Olympic gold at $1.22 and even the most unbiased fan could argue it’s still overs.
Team USA is stacked with talent from LeBron James to Anthony Edwards, Steph Curry and Kevin Durant. LeBron returns to the line-up for the first time since London 2012 after debuting at Olympic level in 2004.
From a fixturing perspective, the reigning gold medallists could notch six from six in Group C before progressing. While Nikola Jokic and Serbia will undoubtedly cause a few headaches, the Americans will have no issues dispatching South Sudan and Puerto Rico before even having to think about Germany, Canada, and France.
The only thing getting in their way is ego at the backend of the tournament. Otherwise, it should be a fifth straight gold for the champs.
Suggested Bet: USA to win @ $1.22
Best Value: Germany
While it will be awfully difficult for Team USA to slow down, we can’t resist the $26 offer for the reigning world champions.
Led by Dennis Schroder and Franz Wagner, the Germans boast talent that could easily cause an upset in the competition’s knockout stages. Schroder, who’s currently running point at the Brooklyn Nets, is the reigning FIBA Basketball World Cup MVP and comes into the tournament following a 13-point, 10-assist double-double (with no turnovers) against the USA in just 17 minutes of action.
As for Wagner, who was Player of the Game in the World Cup Final, he recently dropped 27 points in just 20 minutes of play against Japan and provides the ideal #2 alongside Schroder.
Germany’s team-first mindset and chemistry could cause issues for a roster stacked with A-grade individual talent, such as the Americans.
Suggested Bet: Germany to win @ $26
Best Value: Australia
Are we biased? Yes. Does this mean the Aussies can’t cause an upset at $34? Absolutely not.
If it wasn’t for the fact Group A contains four contenders, including Canada, Spain and Greece, the Aussies would be much shorter after producing a bronze medal performance in Tokyo.
Led by patriot and Olympic-specialist Patty Mills, the Aussie team boast talent the ilk of Josh Giddey, Joe Ingles, Dante Exum, Kock Landale and Dyson Daniels, they’re certainly not without a shot at the nation’s first Olympic gold.
They’ll need to grind their way through an incredibly difficult Group stage, but if they can edge past Spain and Greece, the knockout stages might feel like a walk in the park.
Suggested Bet: Australia to win @ $34
