Kevin Durant trade: How Nets, Suns' NBA Finals odds moved

It took seven months, but the Suns finally landed Kevin Durant in a stunning trade ahead of Thursday’s deadline. Now they’re among the favorites to win the NBA Finals.

Phoenix saw its title odds slashed across the board in the early hours of Thursday morning, when the Suns sent a package headlined by Mikal Bridges and four first-round picks to the Nets for Durant and former Phoenix swingman T.J. Warren.

The betting market was quick to react: BetMGM and Caesars both installed the Suns at 5/1 after the deal, while FanDuel is dealing Phoenix at +460 – which still isn’t the shortest price across major books as of Thursday morning. Durant’s new team is the consensus favorite to win the West (+200 FanDuel), while most shops have the Suns as the second-favorite to win it all behind only the Celtics.

Kevin Durant trade: The fallout

While Durant-to-Phoenix has been written in the stars for months now, few could have predicted the scope and timing of Thursday’s blockbuster, which came just hours after the Nets seemingly rebuffed rumors of a pending Durant divorce. Instead, they pulled the trigger on one of the biggest trade hauls in NBA history and helped construct a devastating contender in the desert.

Ironically, this wasn’t the first time we’ve seen the former MVP have a direct and dramatic impact on the Suns’ title odds.

When Durant first requested a trade on the eve of free agency in June, he listed Phoenix among his preferred destinations for an eventual deal – a declaration that drove the team’s price as short as 5/1 at BetMGM. The Suns were back up to 10/1 after Durant reconciled with Brooklyn brass, and they were dealing at 18/1 after Tuesday’s win (in Brooklyn, no less) to bring this team’s record to 30-26 on the season.

Then came the Woj bomb ‘heard round the world, forcing oddsmakers to take swift action in a similar manner to what we saw in June. Finally, the Suns had executed an elusive deal for Durant, and the expectations are now NBA Finals or bust for a team that’s never won it all.

Betting on the NBA?

On the other side, the Nets are essentially waving the white flag after cashing out on Kyrie Irving and Durant in the days before Thursday’s NBA trade deadline.

Brooklyn entered the season with 7/1 odds to win it all and was dealing as short as 6/1 at some shops amid its 12-game win streak that bled into early January. A month later, the Nets saw that price plummet to 22/1 after dealing Irving and reach as high as 100/1 at FanDuel in the hours after Thursday’s deadline shocker.