With gambling just starting to blow up in the sports world, it’s never been more relevant to know the odds on your favorite team. Sports gambling was legalized in Illinois in the summer of 2019 when Governor J.B. Pritzker signed an order for the state. In the spring of 2020, the first legal bet was placed at Rivers Casino in Des Plaines.
Since that day, many different sportsbooks have opened up in the state as sports betting has begun to grow tenfold since the day it was legalized. All of whom are vying for a market share in one of the most sports-centric states in the country. The Coronavirus Pandemic has crippled the in-person casino industry, as for the past year they have been extremely limited as to how many can be inside at a time. As such, legislators have responded by passing a bill that allows Illinois residents to bypass registration in-person to register online. This made sportsbooks like DraftKings and FanDuel jump at the opportunity to enter the digital market and gain customers. Early numbers showed millions of dollars’ worth of revenue that sports betting had gained the state. Eventually, every state in the U.S. will legalize sports gambling.
Now that you are able to bet, many Chicago Bulls fans will be lining up to wager on the team this year. In this section, we’ll go over the current odds for the Bulls to win the NBA Championship, the Eastern Conference, and the Central Division. We’ll also talk about the many different ways that fans will be able to place wagers on the team, including going over player prop bets and more.
If you are new to gambling and you’re not sure about it or how to get started, this is the place for you. We will include information on how to bet each type of wager. Some FAQs will be included at the end of the page to help you learn how to be a better gambler.
Remember, you will not win all of the time. The best sports gamblers in the world win about 57-60% of the time. However, gambling can make any event you watch exciting when you have something riding on it. Always make sure to bet responsibly, and don’t wager more than you can afford to use at the moment. Gambling can become addicting, but you have to know when to stop. Set a certain amount per day/week/month and stick to it. Every once in a while, a sportsbook will have a “no-brainer bet” where the bet can’t lose. These are special promotions to help get you more cash fast. They are a good way to make a quick profit.
Now that we have all of that stuff settled, let’s dive into the Bulls and how they stack up against some of the NBA’s best competition when it comes to their odds to win anything relevant this season. One hint: they are not very good.
Chicago Bulls NBA Finals Odds
Let’s start off by being kind. The Bulls are a team that is currently rebuilding under a new regimen after being mismanaged for so many years under Gar Foreman and John Paxson. The new front office has made it a point to get younger and evaluate what talent they have on their roster that they want around for the future. When you take all of that into account, you come away with a team that not only isn’t ready to compete for a championship this year but may be several years away.
The new front office has a ton of work to do in order to clean up the mess left behind by GarPax, and Bulls fans must be patient. The Bulls currently are tied for the lowest odds in the NBA to win the championship at +25000. They are tied with several other teams at that mark, including the Cleveland Cavaliers, Detroit Pistons, Minnesota Timberwolves, New York Knicks, and Oklahoma City Thunder.
If you know anything at all about the current NBA and where teams are at, these teams are all at the bottom of the barrel when it comes to the standings and reputation around the league. Unfortunately, the Bulls as a franchise have never really recovered from the Derrick Rose injury many years ago. They have been trying to rebuild the team ever since Rose was traded in 2016, but haven’t been able to find the right pieces to make it work. They haven’t sniffed a winning record since the failed “big 3” project of Rajon Rondo, Dwayne Wade, and Jimmy Butler in 2017.
While GarPax certainly failed to fix the team after the Rose injury, they did add some nice pieces towards the end of their tenure that could be used as foundational pieces for the future when this team finally gets back into title contention. Guys like Coby White and Wendell Carter Jr. could be long term guys who can help the team win a championship.
What got GarPax the pink slip to the door was their inability to draft or attract a superstar to Chicago. In this league, you need at least two of those guys in order to vie for a title, and the Bulls haven’t had one since Rose. You could argue Butler for sure, but I still wouldn’t put him in the Bonafede superstar range. Their failure to lure one to the Bulls due to their pretty awful reputation around the league cost them their jobs. That, and hiring someone like Jim Boylen to coach your team will almost certainly get you to the unemployment line fairly quickly. Paxson actually is still working for the team, albeit in a much-reduced role.
At +25000, you’d be throwing your money away if you placed a bet on the Bulls to win the 2021 NBA Championship. They are at least several years away from winning a title at this stage and need to attract a star to the Windy City. With the new regime in place, the future looks bright.
Chicago Bulls Eastern Conference Finals Odds
As I mentioned previously, the Bulls are several years away from winning a national title. But just how far away are they from winning the Eastern Conference and competing for a championship?
Well, according to the sportsbooks, pretty far away still. The good news for them is that they don’t have the worst odds in the Eastern Conference to make it to the NBA Finals. At +19000, they still are an extreme long-shot to win the Eastern Conference, tied with the Knicks at that number as it currently sits. However, the Cavs and Pistons each hold worse odds to win the East, both currently sitting at +22000. Hopefully, this is a sign that the Bulls have at least shown enough improvement to not be considered an afterthought in basketball.
If you take the past several years into account, this is certainly a major step up for Chicago, as they have been ranked dead last in both NBA Finals odds and NBA Eastern Conference Finals odds. The bookmakers are starting to see that this team now has some fight in them, mixed in with some young talented athletes. The Bulls seemed oftentimes to quit under former head coach Jim Boylen, who got into many different squabbles with players and even had a locker room mutiny on his hands at one point. That was pretty much the low point for the Bulls as a franchise, and most players and teams around the league had no respect for the team or the organization.
New general manager Arturas Karnisovas made the swift decision to fire Boylen when he got into power and hired a proven head coach and winner in Billy Donovan. With a competent head coach onboard and a team with some young pieces to build with, Karnisovas will be able to manipulate and move around the pieces he sees as potential blue-chip prospects in order to create the team he desires. Not to mention, Karnisovas has a pretty good reputation around the league, so look for him to be able to lure in a star or two to Chicago.
At +19000, we still know the Bulls aren’t near winning anything as it stands. There is too much competition in the East, with the Brooklyn Nets going all in to win, the Boston Celtic’s young players starting to gel and play well, and the Milwaukee Bucks right back in it with superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo. With all these teams, it will be very hard for the Bulls to finish even with a playoff berth.
Don’t count them out next year though, as with a full offseason under his belt, Karnasovas will probably have this team in the NBA Playoffs as soon as 2022. It all depends on how he will be able to get players to sign here and who he decides to take in the draft. They are not as far away as you might think. Lookout.
Chicago Bulls Central Division Odds
Here’s where it gets pretty promising for the Bulls. Still, at +19000 odds, they won’t be winning this either this season, so don’t waste your hard-earned cash here. The positive to take from this is that the Bulls are actually predicted to place 3rd in the division out of the five teams in it.
The Bucks, as previously mentioned, are the favorites to win the Central at -900. They are heavy favorites and for good reason. Antetokounmpo is one of the best players in the association and a dominant athlete with elite skills. Around him are several really good players, including who people consider being his “sidekick” Khris Middleton, who leads the team in assists this season. At the point, Jrue Holiday runs the offense efficiently and is a great defender. Center Brook Lopez mans the middle and leads the team in blocks with 1.5 per game.
In a distant second comes the Indiana Pacers, sitting at +600 odds to win the Central. Easily the second-best team in the division at this point, they are the only real threat to unseat the Bucks at the top. Guard Malcolm Brogdon, a former Buck, leads the Pacers into battle each night. He leads the team with 23ppg and is able to score from anywhere on the court. He’s also a great distributor, averaging 7 assists per contest. Power Forward Domantas Sabonis hauls in an incredible number of rebounds and leads the team grabbing the ball off the glass. Meanwhile, T.J. McConnell adds great depth off the bench and center Myles Turner holds down the middle with authority, blocking 4 shots per game.
The last three teams are long-shots to overtake either of these two teams, but anything can happen. The Bulls lack the star power and defense to hold up against Milwaukee or Indiana consistently, but they have the offense to keep up with both of those teams.
Coming in fourth place is the Cavaliers, who are in the same position with the Bulls right now at +19000 to win the Central. They have the opposite problem of Chicago, as they have one of the better defenses in the association, but they lack the offense to keep up. They need guards Collin Sexton and Darius Garland to go crazy every night if they want to win.
The last-place team is the Pistons, coming in at +22000. They really don’t have anything going for them currently besides the emergence of Jeremi Grant. The rest of the roster is older and aging, including former Bulls star Derrick Rose.
The Bulls aren’t winning the Central this season, but it’s nice to see that they aren’t the worst team in the division. It shows that they are on the upward arc that we have been waiting for, and it’s very relieving after the Boylen era to see.
How To Bet On The Chicago Bulls
There are several ways for you to bet on the Bulls and many sportsbooks out there that will be trying to earn your business. The key to finding the best value is by going to every book and searching to find the best price and odds available for each bet. Using a single sportsbook is disadvantageous because you probably aren’t getting the best of a line by shopping at only one place. It’s like grocery shopping, you want to go to the store that has the best deals on certain products. There are many different books in Illinois, but the most prominent are DraftKings, FanDuel, PointsBet, BetMGM, and William Hill. Each of these will have different numbers and prices, so make sure to look around to find the best promotions. There are also many different types of bets, all unique and have different meanings that bettors should understand. Here are the basics:
Point Spread – A point spread is the most common way of betting an NBA game. Let’s use the Bulls game against the Knicks tomorrow as an example. The Bulls are currently -2.5 against the Knicks. What this means is that the Bulls are favored to win by 2.5 points. If you were to place a bet on them, they would need to win by 3 for you to win your bet. On the other side, the Knicks are +2.5. This means that you are getting extra points with New York. They can lose, but only by 2, and you’ll win the bet. That’s how the point spread betting works.
Money Line – The money line is basically just betting straight up who you think is going to win the game. Obviously, if a team is favored on the point spread like the Bulls are tomorrow, they will be favored here as well. They currently sit at -140 on the money line. The -140 means that they are favored, but not by too much. Normally, prices are -110 on point spread bets, meaning you would have to bet $110 to win $100. Here, the Bulls are -140 to win by any number regardless of the point spread, so you will have to pay a little extra. The Knicks are +120, which means that betting $100 wins you $120 since they are the underdog.
Total – Betting the total is pretty self-explanatory. You are just betting over or under the total amount of points scored in the game. The total for this game is 216, so you would have to decide whether or not the game will go over that total or under.
Chicago Bulls Player Prop Betting
Betting on player props is also pretty easy. It’s very similar to total betting, but instead of the entire game, you are betting on a certain player’s stat.
For Instance, if Zach LaVine’s points player prop is set at 23.5 points, you have to bet if he will score over or under that number in the game. This is the same type of system that is used for pretty much all stats, including total assists, rebounds, steals, blocks, etc. You can really bet on just about anything for pretty much any player. These bets will also have a certain price to pay just like the ones listed above. Prices all depend on where the money is going. If a ton of money is being placed on LaVine OVER 23.5 points in the game, the cost will increase from -110 all the way up to usually around -192. After that, the oddsmakers usually move the number up to 24.5 points. This continues moving the number all the way until tip-off.
Chicago Bulls FAQs
“I’m new to sports betting, should I be concerned about losing lots of money?”
This is a common question and why many don’t even start. You will only potentially lose what you put in. You MUST set limits for yourself and stick to them. Otherwise, you do risk betting more than you can afford. Bet responsibly.
“Are there ways that I can increase my chances of winning a bet?”
Yes. They are called teaser bets, where you move the number further in your favor. If the Bulls are -2.5 against the Knicks, you could move them to +2.5 if you wanted to. Of course, doing this means you are going to have to pay a premium price.
“What if I really like a certain team a lot to win by more than what the line is? Can I move it up?”
Absolutely. These are called pleaser bets, where you move a line further in the sportsbook’s favor. This sounds bad clearly, but for making this type of bet, you get better prices usually at plus numbers. You can make more money here, but with more risk.
“When do you think the right time to bet on the Bulls to win a championship would be?”
I can’t really know when exactly the Bulls will be relevant in championship discussions again, but a number I would look for going into a season would be around +1000 or +1200. These aren’t quite longshot numbers and offer great value.
“Which sportsbook have you found has the best odds?”
As I mentioned above, there really isn’t a certain sportsbook that should be used. Always shop around for promotions and offers, while also searching for the best odds available. Don’t stick to one place if somewhere else can get you more winnings.
“Can I combine bets into a single bet?”
Yes. These are called parlays. Keep in mind, some bets can’t be combined into a parlay, and most sportsbooks don’t allow you to have two bets on the same game. Still, it’s fun to play around with them, and you can potentially win a fortune if they hit.
“When will the Bulls be competitive again?”
They are right now. The Bulls aren’t a terrible basketball team. They aren’t great by any means, but they have been able to stay in games and be competitive night in and night out. The Boylen stench is starting to fade.
“How do I bet on the Bulls to win the championship?”
These types of bets are called futures bets. When you go into the NBA tab of whatever sportsbook you are using, you should see an area called team futures. There you can bet on any team to win the championship or conference/division.