Kevin Durant Trade to Suns Shakes Up NBA Title Odds
The Suns are now tied for the second-best odds in the NBA to win their first championship in franchise history after they acquired Kevin Durant Wednesday night in a blockbuster deal ahead of the trade deadline.
Phoenix sent Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson, Jae Crowder and four unprotected first-round picks to Brooklyn in exchange for Durant and T.J. Warren, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. The trade improved the Suns’ title odds from +1700, which was tied for ninth-best, all the way down to +400, tied with the Bucks and trailing only the Celtics (+275).
This trade comes just days after Kyrie Irving was sent to the Mavericks along with Markieff Morris in exchange for Spencer Dinwddie, Dorian Finny-Smith, a first-round pick and two second-round picks. The Nets’ odds dropped then and they took an even larger hit when they dealt Durant, a 13-time All-Star.
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A little over a week ago, it was Brooklyn that was tied with Milwaukee for the second-best odds to win it all at +550. That quickly dropped to +1200 after Irving requested a trade and then to +1900 once that trade was agreed upon. Now, with Durant and Irving both gone a year after James Harden was traded at the 2022 deadline, the Nets’ odds have plummeted to +9000, tied for 14th-best with the Kings.
Durant has not played since Jan. 8 due to an MCL sprain. He will miss the Feb. 19 All-Star Game, but he could make his debut with his new team after the break.
For all the turmoil that has gone on at Barclays Center, Jacque Vaughn has his team in fifth place in the Eastern Conference with a 2.5-game lead on the sixth-place Heat. Phoenix is also in fifth place in the West, and Devin Booker just returned to the lineup this week after he missed more than a month due to a groin injury.
The deal happened a day after the Suns beat the Nets, 116-112, on the road in the second and final regular-season meeting between the two teams.
Earlier Wednesday evening, the Lakers, Jazz and Timberwolves agreed to a three-way trade that sent D’Angelo Russell to Los Angeles, Russell Westbrook to Utah and Mike Conley to Minnesota. The Lakers also added Jarred Vanderbilt and Malik Beasley in the deal while Utah brought in Juan Toscano-Anderson, Damian Jones and a future first-round pick from L.A. The T-Wolves also get Nickeil Alexander-Walker and four second-rounders from the Jazz.
The betting impact for the three teams involved was negligible. The Lakers’ odds did not budge from +6000, the Timberwolves’ odds dropped slightly from +22000 to +25000 and the odds for the Jazz doubled from +25000 to +50000. Eighth-place Minnesota is the only team involved that’s currently in the playoffs or play-in. Utah is in 11th place and Los Angeles is in 13th.
The NBA’s trade deadline is at 3 p.m. ET on Thursday.
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