Who'll be Best in the West?
By Richard Gardner
It’s no secret that NBA bettors will be paying a good share of attention to the Eastern Conference this year. Headlined by Miami but also featuring some intriguing rivalries with Boston, Orlando and Chicago, the conference promises to be a true battle. Ergo, it’s fair to assume that the sun will be shining on the East quite a bit this season.
But although the sun shines in the East, we all know it sets in the West. With that said, let's take a look at some upcoming NBA futures bets on the Western Conference, courtesy Bodog’s online sportsbook:
Los Angeles Lakers, 5/6: Lost in the hoopla surrounding the Miami Heat is the fact that the Lakers are still the team to beat in the NBA. They return all the key pieces from last year’s championship team – Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, Ron Artest – but have made a few key offseason acquisitions that should only bolster the team. Veteran PG Derek Fisher was re-signed and a new backup – the cerebral Steve Blake – was brought on board to lessen the load on Fisher. SF Matt Barnes was scooped up at a bargain price and should provide a lot of energy and enthusiasm to the reserve group. Basically, the Lakers addressed the few problem areas they had a year ago and look as good, if not better, than the 2009-10 edition. No surprise that they’re the heavy odds-on favorites to win the West.
Oklahoma City Thunder, 6/1: Easily the biggest mover and shaker in the NBA basketball betting community, the Kevin Durant-led Thunder have been steadily moving up the charts in terms of overall handle. Lots of bettors like this young, exciting team and with good reason – the core of last year’s 50-32 squad returns with some nice additions. Former University of Kansas standout Cole Aldrich will patrol the middle with his 6-foot-11 frame; they also got a veteran presence in SG Morris Peterson. If they can get some wins in the hyper-competitive Northwest Division – Minnesota will be terrible as per usual, but Denver, Utah and Portland are all formidable foes – they could make a run at top spot in the West…but it’ll be tough to eclipse the Lake Show.
Dallas Mavericks, 8/1: For the first time in a long time, the Mavericks go into a season without the usual overhaul of role players and sidekicks for Dirk Nowitzki. There’s actually some familiarity to this squad, as the core of Nowitzki-Jason Kidd-Jason Terry has now played together for quite some time. The cast of role players – Shawn Marion, Brendan Haywood, Caron Butler, DeShawn Stevenson – have been around for a while as well. On paper, the Mavs have the kind of depth other Western Conference teams can only dream of – seven players averaged 10 points per game or more last season – but will it translate into enough wins? Dallas is almost always good for 50, but that might not be enough to take top spot in the conference. The Lakers have won back-to-back Conference crowns with 65 and 57 wins, respectively.