Ok, this isn't going to be a debate about who should be traded, and why. Quick question for the general consensus..... We have the trade deadline coming up. When do you think the best odds of the Blazers winning the championship are going to be? I mean, when would be the best time to put some money down on them? Before the trade deadline? After? Ya know, my income has doubled since the bottle deposit went up to 10 cents a can. I be like..... We're gonna drop some bucks on the Blazers winning it all. Maybe a grand. Timing. When would be best, is my question....
And..... I ask it here, since I know this is the most knowledgeable site concerning the Blazers. You posters know your shit, even when you are annoying as hell; with all of your bitching at each other!!!!! Come on, let's get along.....
Not this season. If you insist on putting money down on them for this year, I'd say now is as good a time as any. If they have any prayer of contending, pieces are still going to have to fall into place (Nurk/Zach returning, another trade for a vet role player), and anything that will improve the Blazers' chances will only lower your (clearly inevitable) payout.
I'd say ^this, but also the piece that could probably net you the best is to wait until after the Finals but before the draft and free agency and put down a Futures bet on the 2021 Finals. IIRC, most books won't let you go more than 364 days in the future, and depending on how much we shock the world this post-season you'll be able to get good odds and hedge against us picking up a great pick or doing a trade or signing during free agency. Plus, next year we'll have Dame/CJ/Hood/Collins/Nurk all healthy-ish and under contract, but also have the ability to have some combo of Ant/Melo/Whiteside/draft pick/FA signing/Ariza/traded player filling that out. That's not horrible even if nothing changes, and could be really good. For instance: If we miss the playoffs, most books will likely look at the overall NBA picture and believe that most bettors will say that a (say) 36-win team with a #14 pick coming and not much cap space will not be great the next year, and you'll have good odds. If we make the 8-seed and get housed, even if Nurk and Collins come back and play well, they'll believe most bettors will think the same thing, except change "36" for "43" and "#14 pick" for "#17". If we somehow make a run like last year's to the WCF, we'll still be considered a longshot to make it back, so it won't be that much of a hit to the odds. If we win this year, they won't believe we can repeat. You're good!
Next season. Look, Dame is on a stretch rarely seen in the NBA, but it's just that... a stretch. Unless he magically finds it twice in the season (Never doubt Dame, though) their title chances are next year. Especially if Ariza comes back.
If we win this year, won't the odds for winning next season be much much better than right now for winning this year? (Even if we aren't the favorite). For example what are the odds that we win this season compared to the third favored team at the moment. Also, since the Blazers did make a good run last season, what were the odds at the beginning of the season that they would win it all, compared to what they are now?
I was being slightly tongue-in-cheek for that, as our success for getting to WCF last year was rewarded in the lines by a -7 to our win total over/under and we're usually underrated nationally. But yeah, you'd expect that if we won the 'ship our Future odds would be a bit lower. It's interesting, because after making the WCF (so, theoretically, being one of the 4 best teams?) our odds this summer were 10th...not a ton of respect. Now, that's played out so far with 2 major injuries outside of Nurk, but they didn't know that in July.
Blazers currently +6000 on Oregon Lottery Scoreboard app... so $10 bet can win $600. Was at +8000 after Lakers win, and will probably keep going down as Blazers secure a playoff spot.
