Morning Coffee: Durant reaches agreement with Nets

Remember when Kevin Durant requested a trade from the Brooklyn Nets?

I do.

It wasn’t that long ago.

The Phoenix Suns were reportedly listed as a preferred trade destination.

The Boston Celtics had the assets to trade for Durant, but were reportedly unwilling to meet the Nets demands.

The Toronto Raptors were talked about as a potential dark horse team that could be in the mix to land the 12-time NBA All-Star, but nothing ever materialized.

Media entertained all potential trade scenarios.

Speculation fueled shifts in FanDuel futures markets.

Friends of mine reached out wondering if there was value taking a chance on one of Durant’s potential landing spots at longer odds to win the NBA championship at FanDuel in an attempt to get ahead of the curve.

How did it turn out?

On Tuesday, exactly 55 days after Durant’s trade request became public knowledge, it was revealed that the two-time NBA champion had reached an agreement with the Nets to stay in Brooklyn.

After all of the trade talk, market adjustments and speculative bets, Durant will play for the Nets this season.

Or will he?

Here’s the TSN EDGE Morning Coffee for Wednesday August 24th, 2022.

Durant Reaches Agreement To Remain With Nets

Bettors are always looking for untapped information that they can capitalize on to gain an edge in betting markets.

From time to time, they can hit big.

Think about everybody that bet on Paolo Banchero to be the first overall pick when he was +900 to go No. 1 at FanDuel on the morning of the 2022 NBA Draft.

At the same time, it can be easy to get carried away with speculation and place a bad bet.

In no particular order, I know people that bet on the Celtics, Suns, Raptors Milwaukee Bucks, New Orleans Pelicans and the Los Angeles Lakers to win the NBA championship amidst speculation that they were getting a good number with those teams ahead of a potential trade in which Durant landed in one of those spots.

While some sports books might offer cash out options for one or more of those wagers, in this particular scenario, chasing potential landing spots for Durant was never an option I considered.

Believe it or not, the speculation about potential value continued on social media even after the news broke that Durant had reached an agreement to stay in Brooklyn.

The Nets moved from +750 to +700 as the third choice to win the NBA championship at FanDuel.

Durant went from +1200 to +1000 as the fourth choice to win regular season MVP at FanDuel.

I’m not interested in either bet.

First and foremost, after everything that has happened over the past couple of months, can I really trust that Durant will in fact return to Brooklyn?

Second, at 33-years-old and having played a combined 90 regular season games over the past two years, do we really think he can turn back the clock and compete with Luka Doncic, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Joel Embiid, Nikola Jokic and Stephen Curry for regular season MVP?

As somebody who completely stayed away from the speculative bets revolving around Durant, I could not be less interested in placing any futures wagers at FanDuel involving Durant and the Nets.

MLB Favourites Heat Up On Tuesday

After a startling low-scoring day on Monday in which eight of nine games stayed under the total, the bats came alive on Tuesday as the MLB favourites woke up.

The over went a combined 9-7 on Tuesday.

MLB favourites went 13-3.

All but two games were decided by two runs or more.

One of those favourites was the Atlanta Braves, which covered the run line in a 6-1 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates as one of two FanDuel Best Bets that I gave out in Tuesday’s Morning Coffee column.

Unfortunately for yours truly, my second pick didn’t hit, as the Los Angeles Dodgers got on the board in the first inning of a 10-1 win over the Milwaukee Brewers in a game that I bet on their being no run in the first inning in.

As we turn our attention to Wednesday’s MLB slate, I’m banking on a couple of favourites to shine again.

First, I’m going to run it back with the Braves -1.5 against the Pirates.

It’s a match-up of the fourth-best team in baseball against the fourth-worst team in baseball.

In addition to having the superior offence, Atlanta should have the edge in the pitching match-up as well, as Kyle Wright is 15-5 with a 3.14 ERA.

The Pirates will counter with Mitch Keller, who is 0-5 with a 4.80 ERA at home this season.

I bet on the Braves -1.5 at -150 at FanDuel.

Second, I bet the Seattle Mariners -1.5 against the Washington Nationals at -150 at FanDuel.

The Mariners have won eight of their last 12 games and are currently 2.5 games up on the Baltimore Orioles for the final American League Wild Card spot.

Seattle can’t afford to drop a home game against the worst team in the majors.

The Nationals might have won each of Anibal Sanchez’s last two starts against the San Diego Padres, but he’s still 0-5 with a 6.43 ERA following a brutal start to the year, and I’m happy to fade him in this spot.

Finally, I like the Tampa Bay Rays -1.5 -125 against the Los Angeles Angels.

The Rays are 40-23 at Tropicana Field this season.

While Shane McClanahan’s AL Cy Young award winner odds have dipped of late, he’s still 9-3 with a 2.38 ERA at home this season, and this could be the perfect opportunity for him to get back on track against an Angels’ side that has scored just two runs in its past three games.

Shohei Ohtani is dealing with a stomach virus, so the Angels will look for a spot start from 30-year-old reliever Mike Mayers, who has allowed seven earned runs in his last 7.1 innings of work.

Give me the Braves -1.5 -150, Mariners -1.5 -150 and Rays -1.5 -125 as my FanDuel Best Bets for Wednesday.