“We’re not ready right now. No way. Of course, I want to win next year, but I’m realistic. It will be a long process, much longer than it was in 2010. My patience will get tested. I know that. I’m going into a situation with a young team and a new coach.”
—LeBron James, in his essay on why he decided to return to Cleveland
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The betting public does not see things the way LeBron James does.
LeBron sees a process but bookmakers — always trying to cover their potential losses — have the Cavaliers as the odds-on favorites to win the title next year. Here are the odds for the top 10 teams, as put up by bovda.com.
Cleveland Cavaliers 4/1
San Antonio Spurs 5/1
Oklahoma City Thunder 6/1
Chicago Bulls 7/1
Houston Rockets 8/1
Los Angeles Clippers 10/1
Indiana Pacers 18/1
Golden State Warriors 25/1
Portland Trailblazers 25/1
Dallas Mavericks 33/1
The MGM has “quite a bit of risk” on the Cavs, sports book hub manager Jeff Stoneback told The Linemakers on Sporting News.
A surge of action on Cleveland at the LVH SuperBook, meanwhile, prompted an adjustment on the Cavaliers’ futures odds at that bet shop from 30-to-1 to 12-to-1.
Most places have numbers lower than that. These numbers show that the betting public is showering money on the Cavaliers.
Don’t do it. If you’re thinking of betting on the Cavs donate that money to charity instead so it does some good. You don’t need to worry about if Steve Wynn’s children will be able to eat.
Listen to LeBon people — this is a good Cavaliers team but they have a ways to go to win. New coach Dave Blatt has no experience and runs an unconventional offense. Kyrie Irving is a fantastic player but has no playoff experience. Same is true of everyone on that roster save LeBron and Anderson Varejao — and if they trade for Kevin Love he has no playoff experience either. Still a process.
The Cavs may not be better than however the Bulls end up, whatever the Pacers come back as. They are in the ballpark, maybe they make the Finals, but it’s tight. Bottom line is they are not as good as the Spurs or Thunder or Clippers, and maybe a few other teams in the West (depending on how that conference shakes out).
I think with LeBron the Cavs will win multiple titles in the next five to seven years. But not next season.
Take a deep breath people.