The Las Vegas Superbook released their expected win totals for every NBA team. Brooklyn Nets are at 20.5 and the New York Knicks are at 38.5.
Early Tuesday, the Westgate Las Vegas Superbook released the expected win totals for NBA teams for the 2016-17 season. The Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors finished as the top dogs in each conference with 56.5 and 66.5, respectively. The Brooklyn Nets landed at 20.5, dead last in the league by six games. The New York Knicks finished with a modest 38.5, right on the outside of the playoff hunt.
It’s not shocking to see the Nets ranked so low, but they should be able to eclipse 21 victories. If they returned the same pieces they had on last year’s team, it’d be entirely plausible that they finish around 20 wins, but they improved over the summer.
Trading Thaddeus Young doesn’t help their case, but adding Jeremy Lin and Trevor Booker should. Furthermore, all their young guys are going to improve. Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, Sean Kilpatrick, Bojan Bogdanovic are all going to have the best seasons of their young careers, all while being mentored by longtime Nets center Brook Lopez.
If you’re putting your money on Brooklyn, take the over. In a vacuum, they’re talented enough to win at least 23 games and the East hasn’t had any major shakeups in talent. The most productive players have bounced between teams, but no major star from the Western Conference has switched over.
Across the East River, the New York’s win expectation leaves them as a borderline playoff team. This is not far-fetched, and Vegas is clearly optimistic about the Knicks’ future. Taking the over on them would mean a seven-game improvement at least and a jump that big will put New York in contention for the seventh or eight seed.
There’s just one issue: their health.
Bringing on Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah means the organization has to worry about two injury prone former All-Stars, along with an aging Carmelo Anthony.
It’s also a huge possibility that injuries leave Noah, Rose, and Anthony out of the lineup for extended periods of time. After all, all three of those guys have struggled to stay healthy in recent seasons.
The uncertainty of New York fits the gambling world perfectly. It’ll be spectacular, or they’ll crash and burn. If you feel confident in the Knicks’ chances of staying healthy, definitely take the over. Because, as I mentioned earlier, they can make noise if everyone’s healthy and on the same page.