There were probably more big trades during this NBA off season than in any other in recent memory, and those trades had an effect on NBA Futures. In the end though, whose odds to win the NBA championship improved and whose did not?
The 2012-13 NBA season kicks off on November 1st, and following the most tumultuous off-season in recent memory in regards to personnel moves, you need to take a look are which teams actually benefited the most and which are still longshots before making your NBA picks on the futures market.
We will take a look at four trades in particular, all of which made at least one of the teams better. Three of these trades include marquee names, with two of them involving the same team and instantly transforming that team into our choice to win the NBA title.
The third marquee trade transformed a team from a doormat to a probable playoff team, but we still feel that team has a ways to go before being considered championship caliber and thus we would not recommend betting it on the futures at a deflated price after the trade.
The fourth trade we will discuss was just a blip on the transaction sheet involving players most casual NBA fans never heard of, but we actually think is makes a monster longshot playable, for just a fraction of a unit of course.
Note the all NBA future odds referenced are from 5 Dimes.
Los Angeles Lakers acquire Steve Nash from Phoenix Suns for draft picks: Many experts felt that the Lakers could have gone to the NBA Finals last season if they only had a better point guard. So what do they do? Well they went out and acquired one of the best point guards of all-time of course! The acquisition of Nash frees up Kobe Bryant to just concentrate on scoring instead of sharing the point duties occasionally and Nash’s distribution skills instantly helps all of the Lakers’ scorers. Also, running the pick-and-roll with Pau Gasol should be a beautiful thing to watch. The Lakers are currently +310 to win the NBA Championship, and we will express our thoughts on that while discussing the next trade. The Suns are obviously building for the future and can be ignored at odds of +17500.
In a four-team trade, Dwight Howard goes to the Los Angeles Lakers, Andre Iguodala goes to the Denver Nuggets, Andrew Bynum goes to the Philadelphia 76ers and Arron Afflalo goes to the Orlando Magic: This trade may have come after the Nash trade chronologically, but make no mistake, this was the single biggest trade of the summer and in our opinion this is the trade that changed the landscape of the NBA! When the Lakers acquired Steve Nash, they became the leading contender to dethrone the Oklahoma City Thunder (currently +405) as Western Conference Champions, although it was hardly a given that they would do so. When they followed that up by acquiring the premier big man in the game today in Dwight Howard, and doing so without having to give up Gasol, we feel that should make the Lakers the favorites to dethrone the Miami Heat as the NBA Champions. And yet, the Heat are still the actual favorites at +225, so although +310 may not be a huge price to tie up your money for about nine months for, we think it will be well worth it in the end. As for the other teams involved, we think Iguodala is a nice fit in Denver, but we don’t even think +7000 is enough to take the Nuggets to win it all given what the Lakers did and there still being quite a few teams better than Denver in the West. The Magic are looking to the future with Afflalo and can be ignored at +20000. The 76ers are very interesting at +5500 as we like Bynum in the middle as well as another move they made that was far less publicized. We will have more on that later.
Brooklyn Nets acquire Joe Johnson from Atlanta Hawks for Jordan Williams, Johan Petro, Jordan Farmar, Anthony Morrow and DeShawn Stevenson: The Nets are making the move to Brooklyn this season from New Jersey, so they felt they needed to add some star power after a couple of dismal seasons to appease the Brooklyn fan base. They were actually in the hunt for Dwight Howard, but getting Johnson to pair up with point guard Deron Williams gives the Nets an excellent backcourt good enough to propel them into the playoffs this season. But are they good enough to go far? Sadly no because their frontcourt is still rather lacking and they just don’t have enough good complimentary parts to compete with elite clubs. And yet, Brooklyn is now listed at “only” +4500, less than the +5500 on a Philadelphia team that we feel is better equipped to advance further. The Nets will be considerably better than the product they have put on the floor in recent years, but we still pass at their current odds.
Philadelphia 76ers acquire Dorell Wright from Golden State Warriors for Edin Bavcic: This trade did not get national headlines, but remember that the 76ers took the Boston Celtics to seven games in the playoffs last season just with defense alone, as Philadelphia could not make an outside shot if its life depended on it. Well, that changes this season as Wright has a very nice touch from the outside for a player that is 6-foot-9, and the Sixers added another shooter in free agent pick-up Nick Young. Keep in mind that after the Heat, if Jalen Rose goes down for the Bulls again, there would really be no clear-cut second best team in the Eastern Conference. We feel that with their improved shooting, the addition of Bynum and what is still a very good defense, the 76ers could become part of that conversation at a sick +5500.
We will take a look at four trades in particular, all of which made at least one of the teams better. Three of these trades include marquee names, with two of them involving the same team and instantly transforming that team into our choice to win the NBA title.
The third marquee trade transformed a team from a doormat to a probable playoff team, but we still feel that team has a ways to go before being considered championship caliber and thus we would not recommend betting it on the futures at a deflated price after the trade.
The fourth trade we will discuss was just a blip on the transaction sheet involving players most casual NBA fans never heard of, but we actually think is makes a monster longshot playable, for just a fraction of a unit of course.
Note the all NBA future odds referenced are from 5 Dimes.
Los Angeles Lakers acquire Steve Nash from Phoenix Suns for draft picks: Many experts felt that the Lakers could have gone to the NBA Finals last season if they only had a better point guard. So what do they do? Well they went out and acquired one of the best point guards of all-time of course! The acquisition of Nash frees up Kobe Bryant to just concentrate on scoring instead of sharing the point duties occasionally and Nash’s distribution skills instantly helps all of the Lakers’ scorers. Also, running the pick-and-roll with Pau Gasol should be a beautiful thing to watch. The Lakers are currently +310 to win the NBA Championship, and we will express our thoughts on that while discussing the next trade. The Suns are obviously building for the future and can be ignored at odds of +17500.In a four-team trade, Dwight Howard goes to the Los Angeles Lakers, Andre Iguodala goes to the Denver Nuggets, Andrew Bynum goes to the Philadelphia 76ers and Arron Afflalo goes to the Orlando Magic: This trade may have come after the Nash trade chronologically, but make no mistake, this was the single biggest trade of the summer and in our opinion this is the trade that changed the landscape of the NBA! When the Lakers acquired Steve Nash, they became the leading contender to dethrone the Oklahoma City Thunder (currently +405) as Western Conference Champions, although it was hardly a given that they would do so. When they followed that up by acquiring the premier big man in the game today in Dwight Howard, and doing so without having to give up Gasol, we feel that should make the Lakers the favorites to dethrone the Miami Heat as the NBA Champions. And yet, the Heat are still the actual favorites at +225, so although +310 may not be a huge price to tie up your money for about nine months for, we think it will be well worth it in the end. As for the other teams involved, we think Iguodala is a nice fit in Denver, but we don’t even think +7000 is enough to take the Nuggets to win it all given what the Lakers did and there still being quite a few teams better than Denver in the West. The Magic are looking to the future with Afflalo and can be ignored at +20000. The 76ers are very interesting at +5500 as we like Bynum in the middle as well as another move they made that was far less publicized. We will have more on that later.
Brooklyn Nets acquire Joe Johnson from Atlanta Hawks for Jordan Williams, Johan Petro, Jordan Farmar, Anthony Morrow and DeShawn Stevenson: The Nets are making the move to Brooklyn this season from New Jersey, so they felt they needed to add some star power after a couple of dismal seasons to appease the Brooklyn fan base. They were actually in the hunt for Dwight Howard, but getting Johnson to pair up with point guard Deron Williams gives the Nets an excellent backcourt good enough to propel them into the playoffs this season. But are they good enough to go far? Sadly no because their frontcourt is still rather lacking and they just don’t have enough good complimentary parts to compete with elite clubs. And yet, Brooklyn is now listed at “only” +4500, less than the +5500 on a Philadelphia team that we feel is better equipped to advance further. The Nets will be considerably better than the product they have put on the floor in recent years, but we still pass at their current odds.
Philadelphia 76ers acquire Dorell Wright from Golden State Warriors for Edin Bavcic: This trade did not get national headlines, but remember that the 76ers took the Boston Celtics to seven games in the playoffs last season just with defense alone, as Philadelphia could not make an outside shot if its life depended on it. Well, that changes this season as Wright has a very nice touch from the outside for a player that is 6-foot-9, and the Sixers added another shooter in free agent pick-up Nick Young. Keep in mind that after the Heat, if Jalen Rose goes down for the Bulls again, there would really be no clear-cut second best team in the Eastern Conference. We feel that with their improved shooting, the addition of Bynum and what is still a very good defense, the 76ers could become part of that conversation at a sick +5500.
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