NBA Summer League 2024 Championship Best Bets, Odds, Picks: Miami Heat Vs. Memphis Grizzlies

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The Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas hosts the 2024 NBA Summer League Championship between the Miami Heat and Memphis Grizzlies at 8 p.m. ET Monday. Both are 5-0 entering the title game. The Heat eked past the Golden State Warriors 102-99 in the Summer League semifinals Sunday, while the Grizzlies held off the Los Angeles Clippers 99-98. 

Miami will be without one of the leading Summer League scorers in Jaime Jaquez Jr. for the title game. Rookie C Zach Edey won't play for Memphis either. Both only played in two games. Jaquez's 26.0 points per game (PPG) is the second-best in Summer League. Edey became the 2024-25 NBA Rookie of the Year betting favorite after his fantastic debut this summer. 

NBA Summer League Championship 2024 Odds (DraftKings) 

  • Moneyline: MEMPHIS (-142) | Miami (+120)
  • Spread: GRIZZLIES -2.5 (-110) | Heat +2.5 (-110)
  • Total — 186.5 — Over (-110) | Under (-110)

With that in mind, the Grizzlies have more NBA regular-season talent playing Monday. Memphis second-year wing GG Jackson II is scoring 20.8 PPG in Summer League. Grizzlies PG Scottie Pippen Jr. put up a 23-10-10 triple-double in the semifinals and is averaging 8.2 assists per game in Summer League. Jackson started 18 games last season, Pippen started 16, and Memphis' starting Summer League big, C Trey Jemison, started 14. 

Memphis Grizzlies SF GG Jackson goes to the basket on San Antonio Spurs C Victor Wembanyama at FedExForum in Tennessee. (Petre Thomas-USA TODAY Sports)

Memphis Grizzlies SF GG Jackson goes to the basket on San Antonio Spurs C Victor Wembanyama at FedExForum in Tennessee. (Petre Thomas-USA TODAY Sports)

Jackson in particular is someone to watch moving forward. He was the No. 1 high school recruit in the Class of 2023 and committed to North Carolina. However, Jackson decommitted from UNC and reclassified in the Class of 2022. He played one year at South Carolina before going in the second round of the 2023 NBA Draft. 

Jackson made the NBA All-Rookie Second Team last season and will be a rotation player for a Grizzlies squad that was a 2-seed in 2022-23. He was Memphis's fourth-best scorer last season, averaging 14.6 PPG. Sure, the Grizzlies sucked in 2023-24. Yet, Jackson is the best player in the 2024 NBA Summer League title game. 

Meanwhile, none of the Heat's Summer League starters from the semifinals started for Miami last season. The Heat have a veteran squad that may be on their "last stand" this season after two NBA Finals appearances in 2020 and 2023. Aside from 2024 first-round pick C Kel'el Ware, Miami's Summer League guys aren't in next season's projected rotation, according to RealGM.com. 

Finally, barring health luck, Memphis will be a better team next season. Pippen could take over the backup point guard role and Jackson is a sleeper for 2024-25 NBA Sixth Man of the Year. Since a lot of these Summer League games have been nail-biters, I'm not betting the spread. Granted, the Grizzlies will probably win by margin, but I'd rather play them on the moneyline. 

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Geoff Clark serves as OutKick’s sports betting guru. As a writer and host of OutKick Bets with Geoff Clark, he dives deep into the sports betting landscape and welcomes an array of sports betting personalities on his show to handicap America’s biggest sporting events. Previously, Clark was a writer/podcaster for USA TODAY's Sportsbook Wire website, handicapping all the major sports tentpoles with a major focus on the NFL, NBA and MLB. Clark graduated from St. John University.