NBA Draft Fallout: Trades Trump Futures Market
NBA Draft Fallout: Trades Trump Futures Market
The 2009 NBA Draft has come and gone, but it wasn't the young college stars who became instant millionaires on Thursday night making the biggest news. Trades leading up to the draft, like Shaquille O'Neal going to the Cavaliers and Vince Carter heading to the Magic, stole the spotlight and will ultimately have a larger impact on futures betting. The Spurs pulled off the double-whammy (big trade, strong draft) to improve their odds.
The NBA will never be the same again.
Thursday was the eagerly anticipated 2009 NBA Draft in New York City, but it was a series of trades that stole the spotlight from the youngsters – and assured instant obsolescence for the betting odds on the 2010 championship. In short, the rich are getting richer and the poor have a lot of cap space to work with next year.
- Cleveland Cavaliers (3-1 to win the title at press time) acquire Shaquille O’Neal from Phoenix Suns (30-1) for Ben Wallace, Sasha Pavlovic, a second-round pick in the 2010 draft, and cash.
- Orlando Magic (5-1) acquire Vince Carter and Ryan Anderson from New Jersey Nets (50-1) for Rafer Alston, Courtney Lee, and Tony Battie.
- San Antonio Spurs (7-1) acquire Richard Jefferson from Milwaukee Bucks (125-1) for Kurt Thomas, Amir Johnson (received earlier from Detroit for Fabricio Oberto), and Bruce Bowen.
These are three of the top five favorites in the NBA getting that much better; the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers (3-1) and 2008 champion Boston Celtics (6-1) have some work to do if they’re going to keep up. But are you really going to bet on one of these five teams to win the title? At this time of year? The further we are from the 2010 playoffs, the bigger potential return you want for your investment. That means risk.
The teams at the top of the draft list this year were all “have-not” teams with little or no hope of winning the championship next year. The Los Angeles Clippers (200-1) should be significantly better with No. 1 overall pick Blake Griffin at power forward, but getting from 19 wins to above .500 would have to be considered a successful year for L.A.’s second team. And the Memphis Grizzlies (also 200-1) are in no position to contend this season despite the addition of Hasheem Thabeet, the 7-foot-3 center from UConn who cannot help but draw comparisons to Dikembe Mutombo.
If you go down the draft list to No. 7, you have the interesting case of the Golden State Warriors (100-1). This is a team that made the second round of the playoffs two years ago. It’s been turmoil since then – injuries, trades, the GM switch from Chris Mullin to Larry Riley – but Golden State will have an intriguing collection of players in 2009-10. The Warriors drafted guard Stephen Curry with the seventh pick; he could join Monta Ellis in the backcourt, or he could be part of a package that brings Amare Stoudemire from the Suns. Golden State is closer to a championship at this point than Phoenix.
The Washington Wizards (35-1) were supposed to draft at No. 5, but they engineered a deal with the Minnesota Timberwolves (250-1) that could put the Wiz right back into the thick of the Eastern playoffs – provided Gilbert Arenas can stay healthy. Washington received Randy Foye and Mike Miller in exchange for the No. 5 pick and spare parts Oleksiy Pecherov, Etan Thomas, and Darius Songaila. The Wiz finally have some quality support players in Foye and Miller as well as a proven coach in Flip Saunders.
Of the elite teams picking at the bottom of the draft, the Spurs made out like bandits as they often do. They didn’t even get to pick until the second round, and yet they got a player at No. 37 overall who could help them right away: former Pittsburgh PF DeJuan Blair. Concerns about his knee caused Blair to slip from a possible late lottery pick all the way out of the first round, but this is a premium offensive rebounder who fits the San Antonio work ethic.
The Spurs even managed to grab ex-Miami SG Jack McClinton with the No. 51 overall pick. McClinton shot 45.3 percent from behind the arc for the Hurricanes last year. Depth is not going to be a concern for the Spurs even after unloading three players to get Jefferson. If they stay at 7-1 in the wake of the draft, that’s a compelling value coming out of the West at more than twice the payout you’d get with the Lakers.
The 2009 NBA Draft has come and gone, but it wasn't the young college stars who became instant millionaires on Thursday night making the biggest news. Trades leading up to the draft, like Shaquille O'Neal going to the Cavaliers and Vince Carter heading to the Magic, stole the spotlight and will ultimately have a larger impact on futures betting. The Spurs pulled off the double-whammy (big trade, strong draft) to improve their odds.
The NBA will never be the same again.
Thursday was the eagerly anticipated 2009 NBA Draft in New York City, but it was a series of trades that stole the spotlight from the youngsters – and assured instant obsolescence for the betting odds on the 2010 championship. In short, the rich are getting richer and the poor have a lot of cap space to work with next year.
- Cleveland Cavaliers (3-1 to win the title at press time) acquire Shaquille O’Neal from Phoenix Suns (30-1) for Ben Wallace, Sasha Pavlovic, a second-round pick in the 2010 draft, and cash.
- Orlando Magic (5-1) acquire Vince Carter and Ryan Anderson from New Jersey Nets (50-1) for Rafer Alston, Courtney Lee, and Tony Battie.
- San Antonio Spurs (7-1) acquire Richard Jefferson from Milwaukee Bucks (125-1) for Kurt Thomas, Amir Johnson (received earlier from Detroit for Fabricio Oberto), and Bruce Bowen.
These are three of the top five favorites in the NBA getting that much better; the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers (3-1) and 2008 champion Boston Celtics (6-1) have some work to do if they’re going to keep up. But are you really going to bet on one of these five teams to win the title? At this time of year? The further we are from the 2010 playoffs, the bigger potential return you want for your investment. That means risk.
The teams at the top of the draft list this year were all “have-not” teams with little or no hope of winning the championship next year. The Los Angeles Clippers (200-1) should be significantly better with No. 1 overall pick Blake Griffin at power forward, but getting from 19 wins to above .500 would have to be considered a successful year for L.A.’s second team. And the Memphis Grizzlies (also 200-1) are in no position to contend this season despite the addition of Hasheem Thabeet, the 7-foot-3 center from UConn who cannot help but draw comparisons to Dikembe Mutombo.
If you go down the draft list to No. 7, you have the interesting case of the Golden State Warriors (100-1). This is a team that made the second round of the playoffs two years ago. It’s been turmoil since then – injuries, trades, the GM switch from Chris Mullin to Larry Riley – but Golden State will have an intriguing collection of players in 2009-10. The Warriors drafted guard Stephen Curry with the seventh pick; he could join Monta Ellis in the backcourt, or he could be part of a package that brings Amare Stoudemire from the Suns. Golden State is closer to a championship at this point than Phoenix.
The Washington Wizards (35-1) were supposed to draft at No. 5, but they engineered a deal with the Minnesota Timberwolves (250-1) that could put the Wiz right back into the thick of the Eastern playoffs – provided Gilbert Arenas can stay healthy. Washington received Randy Foye and Mike Miller in exchange for the No. 5 pick and spare parts Oleksiy Pecherov, Etan Thomas, and Darius Songaila. The Wiz finally have some quality support players in Foye and Miller as well as a proven coach in Flip Saunders.
Of the elite teams picking at the bottom of the draft, the Spurs made out like bandits as they often do. They didn’t even get to pick until the second round, and yet they got a player at No. 37 overall who could help them right away: former Pittsburgh PF DeJuan Blair. Concerns about his knee caused Blair to slip from a possible late lottery pick all the way out of the first round, but this is a premium offensive rebounder who fits the San Antonio work ethic.
The Spurs even managed to grab ex-Miami SG Jack McClinton with the No. 51 overall pick. McClinton shot 45.3 percent from behind the arc for the Hurricanes last year. Depth is not going to be a concern for the Spurs even after unloading three players to get Jefferson. If they stay at 7-1 in the wake of the draft, that’s a compelling value coming out of the West at more than twice the payout you’d get with the Lakers.