Vegas: Miami Heat are the Championship Favorites

Some of the oddsmakers in Sin City quickly placed LeBron’s new team at the top of the NBA heap. Reports FanHouse: “The Miami Heat don’t have a complete roster — but with the addition of LeBron James, the club is already the favorite to win next year’s NBA title, according to Las Vegas oddsmakers. After James announced his decision to leave Cleveland last night on ESPN, oddsmakers at Las Vegas Sports Consultants made Miami the prohibitive favorite to win the NBA title, moving the club’s odds to 4-5 — a massive shift from just a few weeks ago, when Miami was a 25-to-1 long-shot to be the 2010-11 NBA champions. After guard Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh committed to Miami yesterday, oddsmakers at several Vegas sports books moved the Heat’s odds to 6-1, ranking them as the second most-likely NBA champion after the Los Angeles Lakers, who began today as 7-2 favorites. After James’ move to Miami, however, the Lakers odds moved to 5-1, according to Sean Van Patten, an oddsmaker at Las Vegas Sports Consultants, which provides point spreads and gambling information to all the major casinos. ‘Our thinking is with LeBron joining two All-Stars, Miami becomes the best team in the league,’ he said.”