Shaq Trade Changes Sports Betting Futures For NBA
Sports betting operators typically make adjustments to their future lines after the NBA draft as trades and new players cause minor changes to gambling lines and predictions for team success. But the huge deal pulled yesterday by the Cleveland Cavaliers, teaming Shaquille O'Neill with LeBron James, is likely to shift numbers significantly.
"The presence of a player like Shaq, even as his career winds down, in the middle for Cleveland makes them a probable prohibitive favorite for the title next year," says Edmund Crumley, Online Casino Advisory sports analyst. "Shaq gives this team the inside force Zydrunas Ilgauskas has not been able to provide."
Cleveland finished this year with the best record in the league, and the Most Valuable Player in LeBron James. But, after sweeping the first two rounds in the playoffs and looking unstoppable, the team was upset by the Orlando Magic, a team with an extremely tall front line and a great young center in Dwight Howard.
By adding a future Hall of Fame center, and current All-Star, to their already-accomplished team will certainly make Cleveland the team to beat, says Crumley.
"O'Neill will bring far more to Cleveland than any draft pick will add to any team," said Crumley. "Shaq won titles with Kobe, a title with Wade, and now it might very well be LeBron's turn."
