Monday NBA Betting Guide: 2 Player Props and Best Bet for February 3

Late Saturday night, the NBA world shifted. Somehow, someway, Nico Harrison managed to trade Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers as Anthony Davis is on his way to Dallas.

In the biggest, most questionable move in league history, we are picking up pieces from this weekend with three of the best bets for Monday night, including Malik Monk to fill the playmaking void in Sacramento with DeAaron Fox off to the Spurs.

Later in the night, look for the Denver Nuggets to handle the New Orleans Pelicans, who might look to dump off a few more of their assets as they compete for the Tank-a-Flagg.

G Malik Monk (SAC) OVER 28.5 Points+Assists

After one of the wildest weekends in the NBA off the court, we turn to a team that has just traded away their franchise cornerstone. With DeAaron Fox off to San Antonio to play with Wembanyama (scary), the Sacramento Kings will need to turn to Malik Monk on the offensive end to control the pace and obtain even more ball handling duties with Fox gone.

Monk has quietly had a career-year this season, totalling his highest PER, PPG, and APG, and RPG for the Kings who currently sit in a Play-In spot out West. Against a Minnesota Timberwolves team that is coming off a shocking loss to the Washington Wizards, I’m expecting a high scoring game here.

Over his last three matchups against Minnesota, Monk has scored 27.7 PPG and 5.7 APG. Expected to play around 35 minutes in this one, take Monk’s over on points & assists as their new leader in the backcourt.

C Isaiah Hartenstein (OKC) OVER 3.5 Assists

The Oklahoma City Thunder are rolling and Luka to the Lakers and Fox to the Spurs shouldn’t phase this nearly unstoppable force. Defense turns into offense so easily for this team, but when they need to play in the half court, Isiah Hartenstein has been a key playmaker for OKC.

Hartenstein has dropped six dimes in each of his last three games, while averaging a solid 5.1 APG in the month of January. With the Thunder shooting the 3-ball at a 38% clip in January and making 19 of their 46 three’s last game against Sacramento, this is the best player prop play of Monday night.

Best Bet: Denver Nuggets -11.5

Just as the New Orleans Pelicans were finding some answers to their early season woes, Dejounte Murray went down with a season-ending Achilles injury. Not ideal for the Pels, who currently sit tied for last place in the West, losing their last five games right after winning four straight.

New Orleans has lost two straight games by one possession, a Tatum jumper giving Boston the victory on Friday night. That loss which included the Murray injury is going to be extremely tough to bounce back from – especially as they begin their away trip in Denver tonight, before playing the Nuggets again on Wednesday, then the Kings and Thunder over the next week away from New Orleans.

With Denver sitting fourth in the West and needing to make up some ground on Memphis and Houston to compete for better playoff positioning, these next two games against the Pels should end in big wins for Jokic and the Nuggets.