So here we go with each division and the BetUS NBA odds on winning them:<\/strong><\/p>\n Boston Celtics -300 The Nets are in the midst of a massive rebuilding job, and that might continue if they can figure out a way to get some value for Vince Carter. The Knicks will not have the personnel to make Mike D’Antoni’s system work. Toronto is going to benefit a great deal from Jose Calderon, a potentially outstanding player, getting more time at the point guard spot. Philadelphia made great strides in the second half of last season, and now they’ve added Elton Brand to the mix, which allows Andre Iguodala to operate without having the scoring burden. But the Celtics, even if they don’t have as strong a bench as last year, are still the class of this division, and there is very little to change that. Kevin Garnett makes all the difference in the world, not just with his defensive play, but his leadership, insisting everybody around him also contributes on the defensive end. JAY’S PLAY: BOSTON -300<\/strong><\/p>\n Cleveland Cavaliers +200 You still have to rate Detroit as the favorite here, but you get the feeling that they are getting ready to pass the torch, in that their starters are moving along in age. The question is – who will they pass the torch TO? And will it happen this year? Cleveland would seem the most ready to take the ball and run with it, because of some deals made last year, and obviously the presence of LeBron James, who is in the final year of his contract. The Cavs are hoping that the addition of Mo Williams, acquired from Milwaukee, provides a point guard who can score and take some of the pressure off James. Scott Skiles should bring a more defensive mindset to Milwaukee, but the Bucks just don’t have enough winning players. T.J, Ford is going to take over point guard duties with Indiana, but the Pacers don’t play enough defense. Derrick Rose will eventually help turn that situation in Chicago around. But not in time for us. JAY’S PLAY: CLEVELAND +200<\/strong><\/p>\n Atlanta Hawks +1200 I look at this as something that is rather wide open, because all these teams have holes. The Magic is listed as the front-runner, because Orlando has the inside-outside game with Dwight Howard and shooters like Hedo Turkoglu and Rashard Lewis. But I do not have a lot of faith in their guard play. Charlotte has Larry Brown taking over, but Brown doesn’t seem to like the team he’s been handed. Miami, I think, is overrated by these numbers. Sure, Dwyane Wade is tremendous, but when Shawn Marion went into the front office at Phoenix and asked for a trade because he wasn’t getting as much publicity as Steve Nash or Amare Stoudamire, that showed me he is a “me first” loser. Atlanta, which made the playoffs and took the Celtics to seven games, is a team on the rise. Their young players are for real. They may be worth a play at 12\/1. Washington is talented, but weak in the pivot and will be disrupted when Gilbert Arenas comes back. There might be some value with the longshot here.<\/p>\n JAY’S PLAY: ATLANTA +1200<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" NBA Basketball Futures Handicapping, plus betting odds and a preview of the Eastern Conference, Division by Division<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":68,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[3941,1979,3945,1597,3944,3938,3939,3936,744,3946,3943,1599,3942,747,3940,2381,3937,3925],"class_list":["post-3368","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nba","tag-2008-nba-betting","tag-basketball-betting","tag-basketball-betting-trends","tag-basketball-handicapping","tag-basketball-lines","tag-basketball-odds","tag-bet-on-basketball","tag-nba-basketball-futures","tag-nba-betting","tag-nba-betting-tips","tag-nba-eastern-conference","tag-nba-free-picks","tag-nba-handicapping","tag-nba-lines","tag-nba-money-lines","tag-nba-picks","tag-nba-point-spreads","tag-nba-predictions"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3368","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/68"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3368"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3368\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3373,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3368\/revisions\/3373"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3368"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3368"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3368"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Atlantic Division<\/h3>\n
\nNew Jersey Nets +4000
\nNew York Knicks +3000
\nPhiladelphia 76ers +375
\nToronto Raptors +500<\/p>\nCentral Division<\/h3>\n
\nChicago Bulls +550
\nDetroit Pistons -140
\nIndiana Pacers +2000
\nMilwaukee Bucks +6000<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.betus.com\/images\/lockerroom\/banners\/nba\/20080809-nba-main-promo.jpg\" "\\"Betus")
<\/a>But Williams, though talented, is not a playmaker-type.<\/p>\nSoutheast Division<\/h3>\n
\nCharlotte Bobcats +1800
\nMiami Heat +300
\nOrlando Magic -200
\nWashington Wizards +900<\/p>\n