Best NBA Prop Bets Today (Predictions for Jalen Brunson, Cade Cunningham, Jalen Williams, More)

Opening night in the NBA is finally here, and it’s hard to find a better three-game slate to begin a season:

Boston Celtics @ Detroit Pistons
Philadelphia 76ers @ New York Knicks
Oklahoma City Thunder @ San Antonio Spurs

Jayson Tatum and the Boston Celtics open things with an afternoon matchup on the road against last season’s No. 1 seed in the East before the league turns to Madison Square Garden for the New York Knicks’ ring ceremony after their shocking NBA Finals win.

Plus, we’ll get a look at many of the NBA Finals contenders, including the new-look Philadelphia 76ers and the two top teams in the West (OKC and San Antonio).

It doesn’t get much better than that, but there is something to be aware of for bettors when it comes to player props.

Entering the 2026-27 season, the prop market may look a little different in the NBA. The NBA and its sports betting partners have limited player prop offerings for the 2026-27 season, though most of those apply to bench players expected to play less than 12 minutes per game. The goal of the rules is to curtail any betting scandals after the Terry Rozier and Jontay Porter incidents over the last few seasons.

It’s something to be aware of for many prop bettors, and despite the changes, I’ll be breaking down the market all season long to find some of the best value plays across each slate.

Even with just three games on Tuesday, there are four players that I’m targeting to have strong starts to the season, including All-Star guards Jalen Brunson and Cade Cunningham.

In fact, there are a bunch of All-Star and MVP candidates in action, including Joel Embiid, Tatum, LeBron James, Tyrese Maxey, Jaylen Brown, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Chet Holmgren, Victor Wembanyama and more on opening night.

Let’s take a look at the latest odds for each of these props and why I’m targeting these four players on Oct. 20.

Best NBA Prop Bets for Tuesday, Oct. 20

Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook

Mitchell Robinson OVER 7.5 Rebounds (-130)

Mitchell Robinson averaged 8.8 rebounds per game in a bench role for the Knicks in the 2025-26 campaign, and now he’s stepping into a prominent role in the Boston frontcourt this season.

I expect Robinson to see more playing time with the C’s – even though he and Neemias Queta will likely split the center minutes. Still, Robinson is no longer backing up Karl-Anthony Towns, who is one of the best centers in the NBA.

Robinson has finished with eight or more boards per game in five of his last six seasons and has statistically been one of the best offensive rebounders in the league. He has a great matchup to be around the paint against Detroit and Jalen Duren, who is not a stretch five at this point in his career.

Cade Cunningham OVER 23.5 Points (-119)

Detroit’s offense ran through Cade Cunningham during the 2026-27 season, as he averaged 23.9 points and 9.9 assists per game to lead this team to the No. 1 seed.

With Tobias Harris now in San Antonio, I think an even bigger scoring burden is going to fall on Cunningham – at least to start this season.

The All-NBA guard took 20.8 shots per game in the 2024-25 season and averaged 26.1 points per game, but he took two fewer shots per game in the 2025-26 campaign. That usage could tick up, and the Pistons are going to need all the points they can get against a Boston team that was No. 2 in the league in offensive rating last season.

Cade finished with 25, 32 and 42 points in three of his four meetings against Boston last season and averaged over 23 per game against the Celtics in his career.

Jalen Brunson OVER 27.5 Points (-122)

Jalen Brunson’s ascension over the last few seasons in New York is one of the most unexpected stories in the NBA, and he’s going to have a raucous crowd behind him in Game 1 of the 2026-27 season after the Knicks hang their championship banner.

The Knicks guard averaged 26.0 points per game in the 2025-26 season, and he torched this Philadelphia team both in the playoffs and the regular season. Brunson scored over 30 points in two of the four games over Philly in the postseason and has scored 30-plus points against the Sixers in four of his last six regular-season matchups against them.

Sure, Philly could throw Jaylen Brown or Dean Wade on Brunson, but he showed during last year’s Finals run that he is matchup proof. I think this prop is high for opening night, yet it’s hard not to love Brunson against a Philly team that lacks a true defensive stopper in this rotation.

Jalen Williams OVER 17.5 Points (-109)

An All-NBA player in the 2024-25 season, Jalen Williams had his 2025-26 season limited by wrist and hamstring injuries and averaged just 17.1 points per game.

I believe he’s being undervalued on opening night, even against a San Antonio defense that was a top-three team in defensive rating last season.

J-Dub averaged 19.1 and 21.6 points per game in his two seasons before the 2025-26 campaign, and he had really come into his own as an offensive engine for an OKC team that needs more shot creation outside of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in the 2026-27 campaign.

Ajay Mitchell and Jared McCain should help in that department, but I’m betting on Williams returning to his All-NBA form this season. He averaged 17.1 points in a career low 28.4 minutes per game in the 2025-26 campaign, and I expect both his minutes and shots per game (just 13.5 last season) to take a jump.

Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

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Find Peter Dewey's NBA betting record here (futures included). You can also follow my daily plays on BetStamp here.

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