The 5 Best Bets to Make the 2018-19 NBA Playoffs

Minnesota Timberwolves

Projected playoff probability: 71.9%
Odds to make the playoffs: -110

Another team that seems to be having their betting odds driven down by the intimidating prospect of playing in the West, we project the Minnesota Timberwolves to finish seventh in conference with 44.8 wins.

The Wolves have made very few changes -- at least so far -- since their 47-win 2017-18 campaign. Despite Jimmy Butler's trade request, their starting-5 remains relatively unchanged, and Gorgui Dieng, Derrick Rose and Tyus Jones are all back and figure to play significant minutes off the bench.

They lost Jamal Crawford and Nemanja Bjelica to free agency but signed Anthony Tolliver and Luol Deng, while also drafting Josh Okogie and Keita Bates-Diop.

Crawford offered double-digit points per game off the bench last year, but the Wolves posted an offensive rating 4.9 points higher and a defensive rating 8.2 points better with Crawford off the floor compared to on. He was highly inefficient, with a .485 effective field goal percentage, but that didn't stop him from posting the team's third-highest usage rate (23.7%).

Deng played in only one game last year for the rebuilding Lakers, but the season before that, the Lakers did play better on the defensive end with Deng than without him. He may not see significant minutes, but he could serve as a competent defensive role player off the bench.

The 33-year-old Tolliver played 22.2 minutes per game in Detroit last year, scoring at an efficient clip with a career-best .632 effective field goal percentage. That came with him attempting a career-high 4.6 3-pointers per game and posting a defensive rebound rate north of 12 for the 4th-straight season, and he looks to be an upgrade over Bjelica on the offensive end (career .543 effective field goal percentage with 2.5 3-point attempts and 5.5 field goal attempts per game).

Over the last three seasons, an average of 43 wins have been needed to score the final playoff spot in the West, and even with James' arrival in the conference, we like the Wolves to pass that mark, projecting them soundly ahead of the what the betting odds suggest for playoff probability.