How Big Moves Have Impacted Odds to Win the 2017 NBA Championship

How Big Moves Have Impacted Odds to Win the 2017 NBA Championship There have been a lot of landscape shifts over the past month in the Association. Free agent signings, trades, huge draft picks and even retirements have all been part of the fun. Of course the biggest tectonic plate shifter would have to be that of Kevin Durant heading to Golden State. Say what you will about KD and his motives, the Warriors just went from the record setters to who knows what! This deal has easily given them the upper edge, despite finishing in second place last year.

With that said, one would think the reigning champions would take top spot on our list, but that’s definitely not the case though. The Golden State Warriors are slated to take it all. The Cavaliers – also known as the current champs – are coming in at +300.

No Big Changes for the Champs Cleveland lost Timofey Mozgov to the Los Angeles Lakers but quickly replaced him with Chris “The Birdman” Anderson. The resigning of LeBron James and JR Smith are expected and all other pieces remain in place for the Cavs. However, they will need to keep a few pennies in the bank because their star guard Kyrie Irving is entering the final year of his current deal.

Retooling in Manhattan Meanwhile, over in New York, the Knicks brought in Derrick Rose, Brandon Jennings and Joakim Noah. Their moves haven’t brought them up the ladder too drastically just yet though. They are currently +6,000 underdogs for the title. The bookmakers are always concerned about the health of Derrick Rose and rightfully so. It’s always a big question mark – hence the addition of their insurance man Brandon Jennings.

Replacing a Rose The Chicago Bulls also made a huge splash in the market by replacing D-Rose with Dwayne Wade. Wade spent all of his 13 seasons with the Heat, winning multiple championships. He now joins a Bulls squad that is tied with the Knicks at +6000 odds.

Happy Trails Tim The other big odds changer came in San Antonio. No, they didn’t make another LaMarcus Aldridge-sized signing. In fact, they lost one of the best players their franchise has ever seen.

On Monday July 6, 2016, Tim Duncan – arguably the best power forward in NBA history – called it quits. He played each of his 19 season for the Spurs and never felt the pain of missing the playoffs once. He also leads the league with most postseason double-doubles. We all know how good he was, but now how good will the Spurs be? That’s the biggest question.

With the TD’s absence, they currently sit at +1,000 to take the title. Should those odds change in the near future, keep an eye on the Spurs, because they could potentially be the best steal in the league.