Posted on: February 6, 2023, 10:31h.
Last updated on: February 6, 2023, 10:31h.
The Brooklyn Nets are +2000 to win the NBA Championship today, so if you wanted a reading on how Sean Marks did on the Kyrie Irving trade, there you have it. All season long, the Nets had been among the favorites to come out of the East. Now, the Dallas Mavericks (+1800) have surpassed them.
For all of his baggage, Irving is one of the top ballhandlers and scorers in The Association. He is popular, too, which the folks in Texas are about to learn when Irving makes his debut, whether that comes tonight at Utah or Wednesday night in Los Angeles against the Clippers.
At 28-26, the Mavs are a middle-of-the-pack team in the West. But Irving and Luka Dončić gives Dallas the best pair of playmakers in the NBA, and that smoke rising from Dallas is from Mark Cuban’s victory cigar.
NBA trade deadline week brings surprises, and this one was a whopper. Spencer Dinwiddie, Dorian Finney-Smith and a couple draft picks for Kyrie? We just want to know if Niko Harrison got Marks to throw in his company credit card in this lopsided deal.
If so, the Mavs front office is going to be eating steak and lobster on Joe Tsai’s tab while Nets fans come to grips with the fact that their former Big Three of Durant (injured), James Harden (traded) and Irving (dumped) has relegated this franchise to yet another rebuild. And whether Ben Simmons for Harden was the worst trade ever.
The back page: Nets end Kyrie Irving saga with trade to Mavericks https://t.co/FkAZxStTSi pic.twitter.com/msOJ9L7cRg
— New York Post Sports (@nypostsports) February 6, 2023
What Was The Point Of This Trade?
Irving is a polarizing player, and he infuriated New Yorkers last season when he refused to be vaccinated against COVID-19 — not because he was anti-vaccine, but because he was anti-mandate. In the United States, citizens get to choose what goes into their body, and no matter how unpopular Irving’s stance was, it was within his rights.
Whatever else was going on in that locker room was happening behind closed doors, and we will get a reading on that dynamic in the coming days as the Nets begin to leak dirt on what made Kyrie so difficult. Irving and Kevin Durant ended up playing just 74 games together, and the rumor mill this week should be filled with Durant speculation, given the fact that he demanded a trade last summer before backing off.
The Nets had won 18 of 20 when things were going well earlier this season and Durant and Irving were clicking. But that is now ancient history, and eventually the over/under on the Knicks (+25000) championship odds will drop lower than the Nets’ odds. We shall set that date as one month from today, March 6. The ‘Bockers, after all, just knocked off the Sixers. So wager amongst yourselves on that one.
Brooklyn’s odds were +650 on Friday, mind you. If they shed Durant, they drop into Charlotte Hornets territory. Durant suffered a sprained MCL on Jan. 8 in Miami, and hasn’t played since. With teams around the league waiting to see the Nets’ next move, Bleacher Report and TNT’s Chris Haynes reported that the Suns are “prepared to pursue” Durant should he be made available ahead of Thursday’s 3 p.m. NBA trade deadline.
The Lakers also were in the mix for Irving, but maybe now they turn their attention to Durant? Look, Marks still has to restock the Nets draft cupboard after mortgaging the future for Harden. The Nets no longer have the rights to their 2024 first- and second-round picks (to Houston), their 2025 first- and second-round picks (to Houston and New York), their 2026 first-round pick (to Houston) and their 2027 first- and second-round picks (to Houston and Detroit), although they got a 2029 first from Dallas. That is six years out, y’all.
Los Angeles has two expendable first-rounders (2027 and 2029) that they could conceivably sacrifice to get a player of Durant’s caliber. But New Orleans is sitting on six extra first-rounders, and is about to get Zion Williamson back. Durant is from Maryland, and the Wizards are currently a play-in team that has all of its first-rounders in the bank, with the exception of their 2023 pick. Golden State just lost Steph Curry to an injury, but they have been down the Durant road before. Why not a second time?
It should be a wild week of speculation in the NBA, and it also would appear LeBron James was unhappy with not getting Irving. He will want a Plan B.
Maybe It’s Me
— LeBron James (@KingJames) February 6, 2023
How To Wager This Trade Deadline Week Dynamic?
Well, the first thing you do is rip up any ticket that had the word “Nets” on it. And yes, that includes Jacque Vaughn for Coach of the Year, where he is +500 this morning, but will be in Stephen Silas territory by the time April arrives.
Boston (+330) has lost four of six, Milwaukee (+650) has won seven in a row and should probably have a lower price. Denver (+700) is 14-5 since Jan. 1, the L.A. Clippers (+800) are four games over .500 and sit in fourth place in the West, and Philadelphia (+900) is 14-4 since New Year’s Eve. Given what the Phillies and Eagles have done lately, the Sixers may have the most value among those top five championship contenders.
The fact of the matter is that the championship race is as wide open as it has been in years. When he played for the New Jersey Nets, Jason Kidd always used to say he kept an extra bag packed just in case he was traded and needed to hop on a flight on short notice.
Trades can be made until 3 p.m. EST Thursday, and your job as a gambler is to pick one or two teams that you believe everyone is sleeping on, and roll the dice. Right now, it is hard to like anybody aside from Philly, Milwaukee, and Boston … and perhaps Dallas (+1500). Somebody is coming out of the West, and if you are the type of person who abhors wagering against LeBron, the Lakers are +3500. So give that one some thought. The bottom line is that a dozen NBA teams have value odds today. We shall see if that remains the case when 3 p.m. Thursday arrives.
Closing in on history
King Countdown pic.twitter.com/2FpgBwi2jG
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) February 4, 2023
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