The big news around the league this week was the deal that sent James Harden to the Sixers for Ben Simmons, Andre Drummond, Seth Curry, and two first-round draft picks.
There is some argument to be made that the Nets came out even better after this deal due to the fact that they got more depth and outside shooting with Curry. Harden and Kyrie Irving’s playing styles seemed to clash. The other big trade involved the Mavs Kristaps Porzingis getting shipped to the Wizards for Spencer Dinwiddly and Davis Bertans which make the Mavs more athletic and give them a shot to keep up with the up temp teams at the top of the Western standings, the Suns, and the Warriors. Head over to our basketball tips page if you need to get caught up on the NBA action.

The Nets are hoping to have a big second half after their big trades
The Nets won’t have Ben Simmons but they should have Seth Curry and Andre Drummond combined paired with Kyrie Irving to take on the Heat in Miami. Simmons hasn’t played in nearly a year and it looks like he will need some time to get into shape. Expectations are that Simmons will be back after the All-Star break in a few weeks along with Kevin Durant and the Nets will look to make a big second-half push and improve their standings in the Eastern Conference. A few weeks ago the Nets were the top seed in the East before Durant went out, but things have spiraled out of control for the Nets and they have fallen to 8th in the East. The good news for the Nets is that they are only 6.5 games out of first place in a super competitive Eastern Conference.
The Heat are significant favorites against the Nets at home but I think the Nets have a great chance to cover the spread. The Nets are the more desperate team and they will need to start to put some wins together to avoid getting left out of the playoffs altogether.

Klay Thompson and the Warriors are playing great over the past week
The Lakers didn’t make any major moves at the deadline which was a bit of a surprise considering they are 9th in the West and nearly 20 games back of the Suns. Lebron has made some comments in recent weeks that concede the Lakers ceiling may not be nearly what many had hoped for as well. The Lakers roster needs a total overhaul to compete with the Suns, Warriors, and Grizzlies and many are start to wonder if Lebron may finish his career on a different team. One team with plenty of familiarity to Lebron James is the Cavs, who have one of the best young rosters in the league. Lebron will be heading back to Cleveland for the All Star game in a couple of weeks and I think the Lebron to Cleveland rumors will start to pick up significantly heading into this offseason.
The Warriors will be at home and I like their chances to win this game in a blowout and cover the spread. Klay Thompson is looking better each night he is on the floor and this Warriors team is too big of a mismatch for the Lakers team
The odds for who will win the NBA title are starting to get closer together and it looks like this year’s title will come down to one of the five teams above. The Bucks and Suns have been playing the most consistently all season and I think we could be looking at a rematch of last year’s NBA finals between Phoenix and Milwaukee. A team that gets not much national attention that is leading the East is the Miami Heat, who are +1100 to win the title and have been playing great all season.

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