Early Vegas Odds on the Celtics 42.5 wins, 100:1 for a title

[jambr380]

56.5 for Cleveland? I wish I knew more about sports gambling because I'd be willing to be a lot of money that they will win more than that.

Also they have the 8/9 seeds in the east as both being above .500 - I am not sure how realistic that is given recent history.

[Moranis]

56.5 for Cleveland? I wish I knew more about sports gambling because I'd be willing to be a lot of money that they will win more than that.

Also they have the 8/9 seeds in the east as both being above .500 - I am not sure how realistic that is given recent history.

Irving probably doesn't start the year and they are going to be very careful with Irving, Love, and James and give them a ton of rest.  In fact, there is a pretty good chance those 3 don't play in 5 straight games together until after the all star break.  Cleveland knows it just has to make the playoffs healthy so that will be the only two goals i.e. make the playoffs and be healthy.  They can make the playoffs as the 8th seed, but if they are healthy they would still be favored to come out of the East.  They just have that much talent.

[Big333223]

56.5 for Cleveland? I wish I knew more about sports gambling because I'd be willing to be a lot of money that they will win more than that.

Also they have the 8/9 seeds in the east as both being above .500 - I am not sure how realistic that is given recent history.

Irving probably doesn't start the year and they are going to be very careful with Irving, Love, and James and give them a ton of rest.  In fact, there is a pretty good chance those 3 don't play in 5 straight games together until after the all star break.  Cleveland knows it just has to make the playoffs healthy so that will be the only two goals i.e. make the playoffs and be healthy.  They can make the playoffs as the 8th seed, but if they are healthy they would still be favored to come out of the East.  They just have that much talent.

Agreed. Ceveland is clearly the best team in the East right now but there are reasons to think that (like last season) their final record won't be reflective of just how good they are.

[saltlover]

I've never bet on sports, but I really really really want to take the over on that win total.  How does one do this?  I have no desire to ever go to Vegas...

[LooseCannon]

Find a friend who is going to Vegas and ask him/her to place a bet for you.  I believe that many sportsbooks allow you to redeem a betting slip by mail.

[slamtheking]

Team - Wins
Golden State Warriors   60.5
San Antonio Spurs   58.5
Oklahoma City Thunder   57.5
Cleveland Cavaliers   56.5
Los Angeles Clippers   56.5
Houston Rockets   54.5
Memphis Grizzlies   50.5
Atlanta Hawks   49.5
Chicago Bulls   49.5
New Orleans Pelicans   47.5
Miami Heat   45.5
Toronto Raptors   45.5
Washington Wizards   45.5
Milwaukee Bucks   43.5
Boston Celtics   42.5
Indiana Pacers   42.5
Utah Jazz   40.5
Dallas Mavericks   38.5
Phoenix Suns   36.5
Detroit Pistons   33.5
Charlotte Hornets   32.5
Orlando Magic   32.5
New York Knicks   31.5
Sacramento Kings   30.5
Los Angeles Lakers   29.5
Brooklyn Nets   28.5
Denver Nuggets   26.5
Portland Trail Blazers   26.5
Minnesota Timberwolves   25.5
Philadelphia 76ers   21.5

seems the sports books see the East playing out like I've been mentioning.  Teams that finished better than the C's will do so again and Miami will pass them leaving C's and Indy fighting it out for 8th seed.  Also backs up what I've said about Brooklyn finishing in the worst 5 records.

I do think Minny finishes a bit better and Dallas a bit worse though.

[RAAAAAAAANDY]

I must be missing something on the Lakers, because that roster looks like it'll take a miracle to win 30 games from my perspective.

Luckily a good coach can maximize his talen- Wait, Byron Scott is still there.

I'm over on Boston, Detroit, and Philly.

Under on GSW, Atl and Dallas (and LAL).

[clover]

Team - Wins
Golden State Warriors   60.5
San Antonio Spurs   58.5
Oklahoma City Thunder   57.5
Cleveland Cavaliers   56.5
Los Angeles Clippers   56.5
Houston Rockets   54.5
Memphis Grizzlies   50.5
Atlanta Hawks   49.5
Chicago Bulls   49.5
New Orleans Pelicans   47.5
Miami Heat   45.5
Toronto Raptors   45.5
Washington Wizards   45.5
Milwaukee Bucks   43.5
Boston Celtics   42.5
Indiana Pacers   42.5
Utah Jazz   40.5
Dallas Mavericks   38.5
Phoenix Suns   36.5
Detroit Pistons   33.5
Charlotte Hornets   32.5
Orlando Magic   32.5
New York Knicks   31.5
Sacramento Kings   30.5
Los Angeles Lakers   29.5
Brooklyn Nets   28.5
Denver Nuggets   26.5
Portland Trail Blazers   26.5
Minnesota Timberwolves   25.5
Philadelphia 76ers   21.5

seems the sports books see the East playing out like I've been mentioning.  Teams that finished better than the C's will do so again and Miami will pass them leaving C's and Indy fighting it out for 8th seed.  Also backs up what I've said about Brooklyn finishing in the worst 5 records.

I do think Minny finishes a bit better and Dallas a bit worse though.

I guess the good news is where they're projecting the Nets.

[Moranis]

Philly seems like a pretty good over bet to me.  I think they are in the upper 20's if not low 30's. 

[dreamgreen]

I have them at 45 +/- 2 so I would take the over on that.

[slamtheking]

Team - Wins
Golden State Warriors   60.5
San Antonio Spurs   58.5
Oklahoma City Thunder   57.5
Cleveland Cavaliers   56.5
Los Angeles Clippers   56.5
Houston Rockets   54.5
Memphis Grizzlies   50.5
Atlanta Hawks   49.5
Chicago Bulls   49.5
New Orleans Pelicans   47.5
Miami Heat   45.5
Toronto Raptors   45.5
Washington Wizards   45.5
Milwaukee Bucks   43.5
Boston Celtics   42.5
Indiana Pacers   42.5
Utah Jazz   40.5
Dallas Mavericks   38.5
Phoenix Suns   36.5
Detroit Pistons   33.5
Charlotte Hornets   32.5
Orlando Magic   32.5
New York Knicks   31.5
Sacramento Kings   30.5
Los Angeles Lakers   29.5
Brooklyn Nets   28.5
Denver Nuggets   26.5
Portland Trail Blazers   26.5
Minnesota Timberwolves   25.5
Philadelphia 76ers   21.5

seems the sports books see the East playing out like I've been mentioning.  Teams that finished better than the C's will do so again and Miami will pass them leaving C's and Indy fighting it out for 8th seed.  Also backs up what I've said about Brooklyn finishing in the worst 5 records.

I do think Minny finishes a bit better and Dallas a bit worse though.

I guess the good news is where they're projecting the Nets.

that is the good news. 

as much as I like to be right, predicting the C's just miss the playoffs is something I hope to be proven wrong about very quickly this season. 

[slamtheking]

Philly seems like a pretty good over bet to me.  I think they are in the upper 20's if not low 30's. 

I don't know about that.  Unless Noel and Okafor can play on the court together effectively and 2 of their D-league all-stars make a leap to good NBA-rotation level players, I think 21 wins is about the max. 

looking at the list a bit more thoroughly, I think good candidates for betting the Under are OKC, Portland, Brooklyn and Dallas.  I think the Over candidates are Minny, Milwaukee and Atlanta.

[Moranis]

Philly seems like a pretty good over bet to me.  I think they are in the upper 20's if not low 30's. 

I don't know about that.  Unless Noel and Okafor can play on the court together effectively and 2 of their D-league all-stars make a leap to good NBA-rotation level players, I think 21 wins is about the max. 

looking at the list a bit more thoroughly, I think good candidates for betting the Under are OKC, Portland, Brooklyn and Dallas.  I think the Over candidates are Minny, Milwaukee and Atlanta.

Philly won 18 games last year.  They added Okafor, Landry, Staukas, and Wallace.  Get Wroten back.  Get a full year from Aldemir.  Another year of health from Noel (you are always better in year 2 than year 1 with his injury).  Not to mention anticipated growth from Noel, Wroten, Aldemir, Thompson, Covington, Grant, Sampson, Canaan, etc.

I would be pretty surprised if Philly isn't at least a 25 win team.  Okafor alone is worth 4 wins from last year, which puts them over 21.5.  Okafor will easily win rookie of the year and I wouldn't be all that surprised if he was a 20/10 player almost immediately. 

[littleteapot]

Don't people know Philly has no reason to tank this year?