The Cleveland Cavaliers slashed their NBA Finals odds a lot after acquiring Donovan Mitchell.
The Cavaliers start Thursday with +10,000 odds to win the NBA Championship at BetMGM. But after news broke that Cleveland would acquire Mitchell from the Utah Jazz in exchange for three players, three first-round picks and two picks, the Cavaliers’ title odds quickly dropped to +4500 and then all the way down to +3000 .
Before the trade, the Cavaliers had worse title odds than the New York Knicks (now +6600) and the Portland Trail Blazers (+8000). But after trading Mitchell — the Knicks have long been rumored — Cleveland has a better chance of winning the title than the Atlanta Hawks (+5000), Toronto Raptors (+5000) and Chicago Bulls (+4000), among others The team has a higher chance of winning. Mitchell, who averaged 26 points and five assists a season ago, has three years left on his contract.
The Cavaliers have even better odds of winning a championship than the Minnesota Timberwolves, another team in a massive offseason trade with the Jazz. The Timberwolves are +3,500 after acquiring Rudy Gobert from the Jazz for a batch of players and draft picks.
However, Cleveland is still far ahead of the Eastern Conference teams. The Boston Celtics are at +500, while the Milwaukee Bucks are at +650 and lead the Brooklyn Nets at +700. Cleveland is now fifth in the East and 13th in the NBA overall, behind the Mavericks, +2200.
Adding Mitchell to Cleveland’s roster means the Cavaliers will have three players selected for February’s All-Star Game. Cavaliers players Jarrett Allen and Darius Garland joined Team LeBron in February, and Mitchell was on the team but didn’t play due to illness. Cavaliers 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.
Is the starting lineup good enough to challenge the behemoths in the East? Just wait and see. Some bettors apparently think so, given how quickly the Cavaliers’ odds have fallen.
