The Bulls put the East on notice Thursday morning by trading for All-Star center Nikola Vučević. But it wasn’t just players, fans or even pundits who got the message. Oddsmakers took heed as well.
After news of the blockbuster trade that brought Vučević and Al-Farouq Aminu to Chicago in exchange for Wendell Carter Jr., Otto Porter Jr. and a pair of first-round picks, odds for the Bulls to win both the Eastern Conference, and the NBA Finals shortened dramatically.
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That means bettors would now win $15,000 for a $100 wager for the Bulls to win it all. Similarly, a $100 bet for the Bulls to make it out of the East would win $5,000.
To be fair, this change in odds doesn’t make the Bulls favorites to win the title, or the conference, but it does drag them out of the basement on the betting board. In the East, the jump from +25000 to +5000 took them from 13th to ninth, in terms of shortest odds to win the conference finals. As for winning their seventh NBA Championship, the Bulls’ +15000 odds place them 16th among favorites to bring home the Larry O’Brien trophy.
