When news came down on Sunday that the Brooklyn Nets were going to sign Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant and DeAndre Jordan, the team's odds to win the championship started shortening.
Within minutes, DraftKings, which had the Nets at 27-1, moved the Nets to 20-1 before moving to as short as 11-1.
What was going on here?
Was it not clear that KD was going to sit out the year?
DraftKings said its moves weren't indicative of any big bets, but the book did take in almost two-times the amount of bets on the Nets, after the KD news, than any other team. Since the news leaked, 33% of tickets written by DraftKings have been on the Nets, the next closest team? The 76ers at 17% of total bets. The team got a boost with the Al Horford signing.
The biggest bet taken on the Nets in New Jersey is believed to be the $3,800 that PointsBet took on three consecutive wagers from the same customer with blended odds of 23-1. PointsBet told The Action Network that the wager came from one of their sharp bettors.
If the Nets win the 2020 title, this bettor would win $88,000.
At the Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook, oddsmaker Jeff Sherman was standing strong, telling The Action Network after the KD and Kyrie announcements that he'd keep the Nets at 30-1 unless some money came in.
Well, money did indeed come in.
A $500 wager here, a $400 wager there, but it was enough to shorten the odds to 25-1.
"The most tickets we wrote yesterday were actually on the Nets," Sherman said. "We were happy to take that. But we brought it down because there were some bets made within in our app by people we respect."
Sherman added that these were most likely value plays. The Westgate had the Nets at 30-1, while some other books had the Nets "in the teens" at the time.
As of 2 p.m. ET on Monday, some 20 hours after NBA free agency officially started, PointsBet, DraftKings and FanDuel have the Nets at 20-1.
