NBA Summer League 2025 Predictions and Best Bets Today

Chicago Bulls vs. Indiana Pacers: Over 188.5 (-110)

The Bulls and Pacers meet in Summer League play to open the new week in Las Vegas. It should be a high-scoring matchup between these two, as both defenses have been awful through the start of the tournament.

Chicago has gotten pushed around and is losing battles in the paint against stronger opponents. They’ve yielded 112.5 points per game, for dead last defensively in the Summer League. The Bulls are getting worked on defense, and with their lineup, I’m not surprised.

There isn’t any communication or chemistry on the defensive floor for the Bulls. The starting five includes Javon Freeman-Liberty, Noa Essengue, and Jahmir Young. Essengue was selected with the 12th overall pick of the 2025 NBA Draft. He is the most hyped player on this roster, though Essengue doesn’t know how to guard the perimeter at this point in his career.

Essengue’s defense needs some work and patience from Bulls’ fans. He can score, but he has to be quicker defending outside the paint. The rest of the lineup doesn’t offer much resistance, either. With this in mind, the Pacers should manage to make it look simple offensively. The Pacers are 1-1 with an average of 100.5 points per game in two Summer League matchups.

Kam Jones goes to work 💪 pic.twitter.com/xldOQYYGHX

— Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) July 12, 2025

However, they are also struggling defensively and are the third-worst team in points allowed at 109.5. Kam Jones, Johnny Furphy, and Enrique Freeman should wear down the Bulls’ struggling defense, though. In short, the over 188.5 points is one of the best NBA Summer League picks today!

Charlotte Hornets vs. Dallas Mavericks: Hornets -7.5 (-110)

After first overall pick Cooper Flagg showed promise in the Summer League, the Mavericks are shutting him down in Las Vegas. Flagg won’t play in any more games until the preseason. That’s bad news for the Mavericks winning the Summer League title, though it was the right move to avoid an injury.

The entire strategy for the Mavericks in their first two games was to feed Flagg and watch him go to work. Dallas’ one-dimensional game plan worked out horribly against the San Antonio Spurs in a 76-69 loss. Flagg scored 31 points in an impressive performance, and that’s a win for most fans.

However, as a team, the offense struggled with just 69 points! In other words, Flagg scored roughly half of the points on the scoreboard for the Mavericks. Now that he’s absent, the Mavericks will have to look elsewhere for offensive production. I don’t see it being readily available versus the Hornets.

Charlotte is off to a quick start and have asserted themselves as one of the better teams in Las Vegas. They’re 2-0 with a 96-64 win over the Philadelphia 76ers, and 111-105 over a Jazz team that was playing fantastic basketball before that loss. Kon Knueppel is coming off a tough performance, as he scored only five points on 1-of-9 shooting.

The burst of speed.
The elevation.
The tough finish.

THIS AND-1 BY KJ SIMPSON IS SIMPLY AMAZING 🤯 pic.twitter.com/QKe5xTPyTr

— NBA (@NBA) July 13, 2025

The rest of the team picked up the slack, with KJ Simpson and Tidjane Salaun putting in dominant showings. If Knueppel can avoid being a liability on Monday, the Hornets should be able to cruise to a victory. Flagg’s absence should prove to be huge!

With this in mind, I recommend laying the points on the favorite as one of the best NBA Summer League bets Monday.

1. Compare Rosters and Starting Lineups

Betting on the Summer League is not as simple as placing your wagers on the best teams in the NBA. Using last year’s regular season standings and playoff results to formulate your NBA Summer League picks is a terrible strategy.

No, LeBron James, Nikola Jokić, Jaylen Brown, and the rest of the stars of the league are not participating. You can’t bet games based on players that won’t be playing, so ensure to analyze each team’s roster and starting lineup before proceeding.

When searching for the best Summer League rosters, consider circling teams who are giving playing time to second and third-year players who showed potential last year or were injured. Furthermore, players who started turning a corner in the second half of last season are worth noting.

2. Evaluate NBA Draft Results and Undrafted Rookies

The rookies are widely seen as the stars of the NBA Summer League. Unless they are injured or a special circumstance holding them out, organizations want their rookies to get experience.

Consequently, I recommend doing homework and analyzing the selections from the 2025 NBA Draft. These players will be a huge focal point of each squad’s strategy, so our expert NBA Summer League bets include a close evaluation of how teams did.

Don’t forget about the undrafted rookies and international squads! They play an important role during the NBA Summer League.

3. Ride Hot Players and Teams

The NBA Summer League schedule includes each team playing at least five games. The top four teams after the first four games advance to the semifinals and then a championship game.

There isn’t much time for teams to recover from a slow start, so I recommend taking note of red-hot and cold players in the early stages. It only takes a short spurt of success to win games and profit on point spread bets in the Summer League.

Also, find teams that are putting an effort into their defensive strategy. Oftentimes, defense is lax in the Summer League, thus squads that prioritize playing hard-nosed defense differentiate themselves from their opponents.

In review, trends against the spread and over/under, for example, aren’t so important for your NBA betting strategy in the Summer League. There isn’t an ample sample size of games to value team trends. Instead, focus on teams that pass the eye test.