Durant deal, Haliburton injury shake up title odds

The Houston Rockets' commercialized for Kevin Durant and the wounded suffered by the Indiana Pacers' Tyrese Haliburton shook up the aboriginal likelihood to triumph adjacent season's NBA title, but the clear-cut favourite remains the champion Oklahoma City Thunder.

The Thunder, who bushed the Pacers successful Game 7 of the Finals connected Sunday, caput into the offseason arsenic the favorites for adjacent twelvemonth astatine +220 astatine ESPN BET. Those are the shortest preseason title likelihood since the 2018-19 Golden State Warriors (-168), according to SportsOddsHistory.com.

The Cleveland Cavaliers and Rockets are next, each astatine +800, followed by the New York Knicks (+850).

Houston moved from +1800 to +800 astatine ESPN BET, aft acquiring Durant successful a commercialized with the Phoenix Suns. For a portion Sunday, the Rockets had the second-best likelihood to triumph adjacent year's rubric astatine sportsbooks, down the Thunder, but sportsbooks moved the Cavaliers up the committee successful the Eastern Conference aft Haliburton went down with a reported Achilles wounded successful the archetypal fractional against the Thunder.

The Pacers fell from 10-1 to 40-1 astatine ESPN BET aft Halibuton's injury.

The Boston Celtics, who were the statement favorites entering the erstwhile 2 seasons, were 13-1 to triumph the title adjacent twelvemonth astatine ESPN BET. The Celtics besides are dealing with a superior wounded to a superstar. Jayson Tatum is rehabbing from an Achilles wounded that is expected to support him retired for most, if not all, of adjacent season. ESPN BET opened the likelihood connected adjacent year's NBA champion successful precocious May, astir a week aft Tatum was injured successful the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Knicks.

"His lack is decidedly the cardinal origin successful the Celtics pricing fixed however integral helium has been to their squad occurrence the past respective years," Adrian Horton, trading manager for ESPN BET, said successful an email. "With a afloat steadfast Tatum, the Celtics mightiness beryllium arsenic precocious arsenic our second-shortest likelihood close now, possibly astir +400, +450 down OKC."

The Minnesota Timberwolves and Los Angeles Lakers were each +1400 connected Monday astatine ESPN BET, followed by the Orlando Magic (+1500) and Denver Nuggets (+1600).