NBA Championship & MVP odds and Best Bets after the Durant, Irving trades
Kevin Durant was traded to the Suns in the middle of the night (morning) on Thursday, ending dreams in Brooklyn and giving the Suns a four-headed monster in Phoenix. We’ll break down the trade and take a look at how the Kyrie Irving and Durant deals impact NBA championship odds, as well as the MVP race.
A year ago, James Harden, Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving had Brooklyn Nets fans foaming at the mouth and making plans for a championship or two. But all three stars have now forced their way out of Brooklyn, leaving guys like Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson, Ben Simmons, Cam Thomas, Nic Claxton, Spencer Dinwiddie and Edmond Sumner alone on an island of mediocrity.
Here are the trade details:
The Suns get Kevin Durant and T.J. Warren
The Nets get Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson, Jae Crowder, four first-round picks and a 2028 pick swap.
The Nets at least now have a stockpile of first-round picks, if nothing else. They get the Suns’ first-round picks in 2023, 2025, 2027 and 2029, and have their own first-rounders in 2023, 2025, 2027 and 2029, plus the Sixers’ in 2027 and the Mavs’ in 2029. The Sixers pick is protected 1-8 but the rest of them are unprotected. So there is some hope, especially depending on how many of those turn out to be lottery picks.
From a fantasy standpoint, Thomas is now The Man after three straight 40-point games and no one left in Brooklyn to challenge him. Bridges also has some star appeal as a Net, and Claxton, Cam Johnson, Dinwiddie and Sumner should all be worth rostering the rest of the way. Johnson, in particular, could really benefit from this move. And then there’s poor Simmons. Who knows what losing all the alpha dogs around him could do to his fragile psyche but this doesn’t feel like it’s going to end well for him.
As for the Suns, they now have four superstars and a bunch of scrubs, making them a real-life version of a ‘stars and scrubs’ DFS lineup where you blow all your money on four big names and fill in the holes with cheap, shaky possibilities. A starting five of Chris Paul, Devin Booker, Torrey Craig, Durant and Deandre Ayton is nothing to sneeze at and they’ll immediately become one of the favorites to win it all this season. And with CP3 being 37 years old and KD getting ready to turn 35 before the start of next season, the pressure will be on to get it done this year. Let’s not forget that KD is still out through the All-Star break with his knee injury and Paul and Booker have both missed extended time this season with injuries. But the fact the Suns got Durant without giving up Ayton is nothing short of a miracle and Suns fans should be celebrating.
For all the Best Bets in Thursday night's action check out the link by clicking here.
Race To The Finals
Let’s look at the latest FanDuel odds on which team will win the NBA championship this season.
Boston Celtics +280
Milwaukee Bucks +420
Phoenix Suns +460
Denver Nuggets +700
L.A. Clippers +1300
Philadelphia 76ers +1400
Golden State Warriors +1500
Memphis Grizzlies +1500
Dallas Mavericks +2400
Cleveland Cavaliers +2700
New Orleans Pelicans +4500
Miami Heat +5500
L.A. Lakers +6500
First of all, taking ten bucks and throwing at the Lakers for a chance to win $650 doesn’t sound like a horrible idea. Of course, the Lakers will need to go on a run to even make the playoffs, as they sit 2.0 games below the No. 10 play-in seed. But they got D’Angelo Russell and got rid of Russell Westbrook on Wednesday and no one is going to be excited about dealing with a healthy LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Russell in a playoff series.
Secondly, the Suns’ odds probably won’t be better than this going forward, so locking them in for $100 to win $460 might make sense. The Warriors and Grizzlies at +1500 and Mavericks at +2400 are also intriguing to us. In any case, the race to a championship is on and while the Celtics and Bucks are the favorites in Vegas, this thing is wide open.
Pick: Suns +460
MVP Race
It wasn’t that long ago we were excited about Durant’s chances of winning the MVP as a member of the Nets, but that was before KD got hurt and Nikoa Jokic turned back into a monster after a pedestrian start to the season. Here is how Vegas sees the race today, via FanDuel.
Nikola Jokic -145
Joel Embiid +350
Giannis Antetokounmpo +850
Luka Doncic +1000
Jayson Tatum +1700
Ja Morant +5000
LeBron James +5500
Kevin Durant +9000
Stephen Curry +13000
Damian Lillard +16000
Unfortunately, Joker’s odds aren’t even fun at this point and since the award is based on the regular season, it’s going to take quite a push from someone down the stretch to surpass him. Could Durant do it if he gets healthy, goes on a one-man tear on a loaded team and leads the Suns to the top of the West? Yes, but not likely, given that he’ll be sharing the ball with Booker and Ayton. Could the Grizzlies go off the rest of the way and push Morant further into the hunt? Sure, but the West just got a lot more difficult and they still have to play @Boston, vs. Denver, @Denver, @LAC, vs. Golden State, vs. Dallas, @Dallas, @Miami, vs. Golden State, vs. Dallas, vs. LAC, vs. LAC and @Milwaukee, in addition to the other half of their remaining games against teams they should beat. So, that’s not an easy road for Morant.
Unfortunately, as far as this MVP race is concerned, it looks like it’s Jokic’s world and the rest of the MVP candidates (and us) are just living in it. But if we had a spare $100 burning a hole in our pocket today, throwing it at Giannis for a chance to win $850 seems like the best idea right now.
