| Yahoo! Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski reported Thursday that the Cavaliers have a deal in place to acquire Kevin Love from the Timberwolves, but Las Vegas sports books had long seen the move coming. The South Point, in fact, moved Cleveland’s odds to win the 2014-15 NBA title down to 5-to-2 about three weeks ago, sports book director Bert Osborne told The Linemakers on Sporting News. There was no further adjustment on Thursday. “We’ve had it at 5-to-2 for a while because we pretty much knew it was going to happen,” Osborne said. “So I was ahead of the curve on this one.” William Hill, meanwhile, dropped the Cavs’ price to win the NBA title from 7-to-2 to 3-to-1, the shortest price on its board, and from -120 to -125 to win the Eastern Conference. "They definitely have the best team (in the NBA)," Nick Bogdanovich, director of trading at William Hill U.S. said. "With LeBron James in his prime, Kyrie Irving in his prime and now Kevin Love in his prime, this team is something else." The Thunder at 3-to-1 and the Spurs at 4-to-1 follow the Cavs on the South Point’s NBA futures board. OKC’s number is as low as it is because of a large bet placed on them, according to Osborne. The fact the Cavs are alone atop the oddsboard is not necessarily an indication of bookmakers' belief that they’re the best team in the league. Says The Linemakers on Sporting News’ Micah Roberts, himself a former book director, “By no means do the odds suggest that the books think the Cavs are better than the Spurs or Thunder. It just means they have an easier path in the East to make the NBA Finals than the crowded West, especially with Indiana’s chances reduced due to the Paul George injury." Osborne said he booked a large bet on the Cavs when they were 15-to-1, before LeBron James’ return to the franchise became official. “The books also have considerable risk at this early stage on the Cavs from high odds posted before the LeBron announcement,” Roberts adds. “So until the season starts and we actually see how good the Cavs are going to be, the books are in the mode of basically saying ’we don’t want any more Cavs money, and if you want to bet them, you’re going to have to accept this lousy number.’” | 
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.