How does Kevin Durant returning to Brooklyn affect their title odds?
This morning the public received the news that the Brooklyn Nets will be retaining Kevin Durant, and he has taken away his trade request from the team. This is huge news for the NBA as a whole, as it not only makes the Nets back to contending status but also takes away whatever chances other teams had of getting Kevin Durant.
In this article, I will be going over how Kevin Durant returning to the Nets affects both their chances at a championship, as well as how Las Vegas views their title odds according to the betting lines. So without further ado, let us begin with how this news changes the league:
How does Kevin Durant returning affect the rest of the league?
The main way this move affects the league is that it takes away the opportunity for other teams to try and make a deal for Kevin. It forces the Boston Celtics to stick with their current roster as well, who were the frontrunner seemingly for Kevin Durant due to their high trade value. This is what most Celtics fans wanted, however, as many were not willing to part with Jaylen Brown.
The Phoenix Suns, Miami Heat, and other teams involved also have to move on and try to find other ways to improve their team if they want to make postseason pushes. As for the Nets, they can now go into the season with their 3 main players on the roster, as well as their GM and HC still in the building.
The main priority now should be attempting to deal picks to get more talent around this core or even trading some of their younger players in an attempt to make one or two postseason pushes. With KD at 33 years old, and Kyrie at 30 years old, neither of them are going to significantly improve beyond what we have seen from them before. So focusing on bringing in talent around them will be a key to success.
They have already made a few moves, such as bringing in TJ Warren and Royce O’Neale to the team, as well as bringing back Patty Mills who was effective from the perimeter for Brooklyn this past season.
How does KD on the Nets affect their championship odds?
The Brooklyn Nets were somewhat viewed as a middle-of-the-pack team in terms of odds to win the championship when both KD and Kyrie Irving wanted a trade-out. Now, with both of those issues settled, the Nets’ odds of winning the title have returned to where they were prior to the offseason.
According to BetMGM the Nets’ title odds currently are +700, or 7/1 odds. This gives them the 4th best odds to win a title, tied with the Los Angeles Clippers, and behind the Boston Celtics (+500), Golden State Warriors (+600), and Milwaukee Bucks (+650). The Nets had +1600 odds at a title just yesterday on the same source, which shows how heavily just KD can impact the Nets’ odds at a ring.
While we have not seen a full season of KD and Kyrie together, never mind either of them with Ben Simmons yet, they have the talent to make a postseason run. It mostly comes down to health factors for all three players, as well as if they can produce as they have in the past.
