NBA Trade Deadline Moves and what they mean to Bettors
NBA Trade Deadline Moves and What they mean to Bettors
The NBA Trade Deadline is over and while there were some huge deals involving Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, most were minor in scope and won’t cause huge movement in sports books.
One team that began yesterday as ninth or eighth in the odds depending on the book was the Phoenix Suns. They are now +480 to win the NBA title and Fan Duel (third) and +425 at Draft Kings (second). Should the Suns be the team to beat out West after adding Kevin Durant?
When you take a look at the NBA standings, the Suns are tied for 4th in the Wes with Dallas, who also made a big move in acquiring Irving from the Nets. They lost Cam Johnson (13.0ppg, 45.5% 3pt) and Mikal Bridges (17.2 ppg) in the deal. Those are two pretty good players. When Johnson is healthy, he’s a very good three-point shooter, while Bridges is a long defender. Devin Booker is one of the league’s top scorers and Chris Paul is still a quality point guard, so when Durant returns from his knee injury after the All-Star break, this will be a dangerous team. But right now, I would say go against them in most circumstances.
The LA Clippers are +900 to win the NBA Finals from Draft Kings and +1200 from Fan Duel. If you are looking for a team to ride, they are the team to beat in the West aside from Denver. When they are healthy and that’s a big if, they can beat anyone in the league. They just added some shooting help with Eric Gordon, a quality big man who can start or backup in Mason Plumlee and a point guard in Bones Hyland. The last pickup was an interesting one and we’ll see how that fits since they just got rid of John Wall and Reggie Jackson. But Paul George and Kawhi Leonard can handle the ball most of the time so Hyland doesn’t need to be spectacular.
Milwaukee is +600 and third to win the Finals from Draft Kings and +390 (2nd) from Fan Duel. They brought in Jae Crowder, who hasn’t played all season for the Suns. But he fits their bruising style perfectly, though giving up five second-round picks was a strange move for a guy who is a role player at best at 32. Still, he should be able to help their second unit with his toughness.
Golden State is +1500 to win the title on Draft Kings and Fan Duel. Their key is the health of Step Curry, but they did make an interesting move by adding wing Saddiq Bey for James Wiseman. The 7-footer played just 60 games for the Warriors and they play small ball so it was time to move on. Bey should help some but this was in some ways addition by subtraction.
Dallas is +1600 at Draft Kings and +1800 at Fan Duel to win the title. Getting Irving was a shocker in many ways because he needs the ball and Luka Doncic has it most of the time. Irving was able to fit in with LeBron James, who was more willing to share the ball. Irving is one of the most talented guards in the league and Dallas desperately needed to replace Jalen Brunson, who has become a start with the Knicks. Irving can do it all on the court, but whether he can co-exist with the Mavs organization is another
