Double Vision: Zach’s rack attack

After a busy trade deadline and some moderately entertaining All-Star festivities, the NBA returns with a slate of nine Thursday games. The recent flurry of player movement has produced several changes in team dynamics – and expanded roles equate to good betting values in the prop market. This space aims to identify opportunities to more than double your money by backing a player to post double-digit totals in at least two categories (points, rebounds, assists, blocks, steals). We’re directing our gaze at the Lone Star State for tonight’s action:

The bet: A double-double for Spurs center Zach Collins (+300 DraftKings)

The 10th overall pick in 2017 after just one year at Gonzaga, Collins played his first three seasons for the Trail Blazers but his third was cut short by a devastating ankle injury. He missed the entire 2020-21 campaign and then joined the Spurs last season, largely serving as Jakob Poeltl’s backup.

But with Poeltl having been dealt back to the Raptors, the starting job now belongs to Collins. In San Antonio’s first game after the trade, he scored a career-high 29 points and pulled down 11 rebounds. He double-doubled again right before the break, notching 14 and 12, and now averages 12.3 and 10 per 36 minutes.

Tonight Collins is in Dallas to take on a Mavericks squad boosted by the acquisition of Kyrie Irving. The Spurs sit 31 games below .500 and have justifiably been installed as 14-point underdogs. While there’s some risk that his minutes could be limited if the game gets out of hand, Collins should do work on the glass against the poorest rebounding team in the league.