NBA betting: Cavs' NBA title odds shorten precipitously after Donovan Mitchell trade
The Cleveland Cavaliers’ NBA Finals odds have gotten a lot lower after acquiring Donovan Mitchell.
The Cavaliers began Thursday at +10000 to win the NBA title at BetMGM. But after news broke that Cleveland would be getting Mitchell from the Utah Jazz for a package of three players, three first-round draft picks and two pick swaps, the Cavaliers’ title odds quickly dropped to +4500 and then all the way to +3000.
Before the trade, the Cavaliers had worse title odds than teams like the New York Knicks (now +6600) and Portland Trail Blazers (+8000). But after trading for Mitchell — something the Knicks had long been rumored to do — Cleveland has better title odds than teams like the Atlanta Hawks (+5000), Toronto Raptors (+5000) and Chicago Bulls (+4000). Mitchell averaged 26 points and five assists per game a season ago and has three years left on his contract.
The Cavs even have better odds to win the title than the Minnesota Timberwolves, another team that made a massive offseason trade with the Jazz. The Timberwolves are at +3500 after getting Rudy Gobert from the Jazz for a bevy of players and picks.
Cleveland is still a long shot among teams in the Eastern Conference, however. The Boston Celtics are the title favorites at +500 while the Milwaukee Bucks are at +650 and ahead of the Brooklyn Nets at +700. Cleveland now ranks fifth among Eastern teams on the board and 13th overall in the NBA behind the Mavericks at +2200.
Adding Mitchell to the lineup in Cleveland means the Cavaliers will have three players who were selected to the All-Star Game in February. Cavaliers players Jarrett Allen and Darius Garland were on Team LeBron in February while Mitchell was also on the team but did not play due to illness. Cavs center Evan Mobley is also seen as a future All-Star after averaging 15 points and eight rebounds in 69 games as a rookie in 2021-22.
Will that starting lineup be enough to challenge the behemoths in the East? We’ll see. Some bettors clearly think so given how quickly the Cavs’ odds dropped.
