This weekend Kevin Durant was sitting on a stage at Fanatics Fest in New York City when the host of the panel he was on informed him that he was just traded to the Houston Rockets. Durant seemed stunned by the move and had little to say other than "We will see what happens."
What happened following that news in the sport betting space was a massive futures line adjustment. Just hours before a game 7 in the NBA Finals was about to tip off sports books around the country had to quickly adjust their numbers, and it didn't involve either team that would be playing in Sunday night.
A line maker told me "KD still moves the needle for the public, and that moves the number for us." The Houston Rockets shot up the futures board moving the Rockets’ championship odds next season from +1200 to +700. That now makes them the second-best odds in the league to win it all. Regardless of the outcome of game 7 the Thunder still led the field to come back and win the NBA Finals next season with 5 to 2 odds.
Durant joins a Rockets team that finished the season with a 52-30 record which earned them the #2 seed in the Western Conference. They lost to the Warriors in the first round of the playoffs. Durant now joins his fifth franchise after a solid season, but not the MVP levels that some are used to with KD. Durant averaged 27 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists for Phoenix last season. The scoring is certainly still there as the 18-year veteran has a career average of 27 points per game, sixth-best in NBA history.
In return the Suns will get Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks, the 10th pick in this week's draft and future picks.
The Cavaliers and the Knicks are tied for the 3rd lowest odds at 9 to 1, followed by the Pacers at 10 to 1, the Lakers and Minnesota at 12 to 1, Boston and the Nuggets are 16 to 1, and the Spurs at 20 to 1. Every other team, including the Suns have fallen back past 20 to 1 odd. Phoenix now sits as high as 50 to 1 in some books.
Durant certainly still has star power, and he can still move that betting needle, or number in this case.