NBA Raptors Odds: Will Fred VanVleet Make 250+ 3s?
As we gear up for the start of the 2022-23 NBA season and wait out those last three months until mid-October, we still have plenty of speculative fodder to play with at the Bodog sportsbook.
While the first games are scheduled to set the competitive wheels in motion from October 19, Raptors betting markets are starting now… and they don’t just relate to the entire team.
Some of the most popular NBA online betting specials you’ll find at Bodog are based around individuals, with one such question on the books: where will Carmelo Anthony and Dennis Schroder play game one of the upcoming season?
Or how about this one for the contemplative analysts among us: Will Fred VanVleet go where no Raptors player has gone before, and rack up 250 three-pointers next season? This would be a seriously impressive feat for the 28-year-old point guard, but is it something we can consider a genuine prospect?
Well – let’s put that question under lights and interrogate it.
3-Pointers: 250 Is The Magic Number
Scoring 250 three-pointers in a single season is almost superhuman. Although the NBA held its very first matches back in 1949, it wasn’t until the 1995-96 season that this kind of milestone was surpassed. Twice.
Just like waiting for the bus, it took decades for an NBA player to net 250 baskets in a season from a distance no closer than 22 feet… and then two rock up at the same time.
That year, George McCloud smashed through this barrier while playing for the Dallas Mavericks with 257 three-pointers made from 79 games. Then, Orlando Magic’s Dennis Scott rode on those coattails before snatching McCloud’s hat, and did him ten better to finish with 267.
However, there is a bit of an asterisk over these two stats, and the timing tells the story. Starting from 1994-95 and lasting for three seasons, the NBA shortened the distance of the three-point line at the centre point to try to encourage more point scoring. It was, therefore, somewhat easier scoring 3s from a universal 22ft (6.71m) rather than 23ft 9in (7.24m) away from the basket.
After it was moved back, it looked as though we wouldn’t see those kinds of achievements again for some time. Ray Allen bucked the trend when he smashed 269 three-pointers in 2005-06, an entire decade later. In doing so, he opened the floodgates, with this achievement unlocked a total of 25 times as of today.
The record is easily held by Stephen Curry who, in 2015-16 managed a whopping 402 three-pointers from 79 games, and has whacked it out of the park seven times.
It’s an exclusive club with very few members, but it is probably one that VanVleet deserves to be a member of.
Can VanVleet Pull It Off?
We recently discussed which Raptors player would average the most points per game and noted that, while Spicy P is still the star of the show, VanVleet is a serious contender for taking that lead role.
He’s made big steps forward in the last few years, on top of making some serious progress throughout his time in Toronto. Last season the Illinois native was 0.037 away from his personal best 3P%, but he did manage more three-pointers than in any other season.
At 242, VanVleet came very close to smashing through the 250 three-pointers barrier, and it certainly seems he’ll have gathered extra momentum in his wrecking ball for 2022-23.
This is reflected in the current NBA betting Canada odds of -175 in favour of him joining the exclusive list next season, while the odds of him missing out currently sit at +135.
Other Raptors Odds
Of course, this isn’t the only market available for Raptors fans. Here at Bodog, you’ll find plenty of other Canadian NBA betting options, and the choices are vast.
NBA Drake Betting
If you recall from 2019, famous rapper Drake caused a humorous stir at the Raptors NBA playoff game with “disruptive behaviour”. For 2022-23, we go over the Drake betting market to see if Toronto’s unofficial and unpaid mascot will be booted out of a game next season.
Right now, the rapper’s odds for behaving well enough to keep his seat at every game he attends – in full – are currently set at -2500, which he’s probably quite happy about.
NBA Championship Winner (+2500)
On a more tangible note, you’ll find all of the traditional options for Raptors betting on Futures, including the ever-popular NBA Championship Winner.
In that market, the Toronto Raptors have odds of +2500, which makes them the 13th favourite (or 18th least-favourite). That shouldn’t put many longer-term Raptors fans off, knowing that the Canadian side started the 2018-19 season much lower down the odds table and still managed to come out on top. History still counts for something.
NBA Eastern Conference (+1100)
At the conference level, the Toronto Raptors are currently the 6th favourite to win the title. This corresponds with the previous odds quite well given that this will see the team only competing against half the teams in the league.
The Raptors have only managed one Eastern Conference title before and that was in 2019 as they charged towards their NBA Championship title.
Again though, they’ve been in worse positions at the time of the year and achieved a lot, so it could still happen, especially if VanVleet is able to get 250 three-pointers.
NBA Atlantic Division (+650)
Focusing just on the Atlantic Division, the Raptors are the fourth favourites. Of course, you can flip that on its head and say that they’re the second-least favourites, albeit quite a way from the New York Knicks (+650 vs +2000).
But let’s keep that Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy half full, because the Atlantic division is a tough division to be in right now. Let’s line them up: among the competition we have the Boston Celtics, the Philadelphia 76ers, and the Brooklyn Nets; two teams of which finished higher than the Raptors in the division last season.
But trajectory matters, and even when faced against some of the top teams in the league, it is entirely possible the Raptors could pull this off. It only takes a run of injuries at one or two of the competing teams, or the rising and falling mojos of key players at crucial moments and Toronto could find their way to the top. That danger is always on the NBA table, though.
There’s already a ton of action going on for Raptors betting in 2022-23, but we’ve got our eyes on one: Can VanVleet get 250 three-pointers this season? He’s certainly in his strongest position yet, so it wouldn’t take much more for him to achieve it. His success is his team’s success too, so if you think he can manage it, snatch up those Toronto Raptors odds on VanVleet, and prepare yourself for even more mega-value in the odds to come.