The Miami Heat are favored to win it all in 2012
Last season the Miami Heat came into the year as arguably the most talented basketball team in the NBA. With the free agent additions of superstars LeBron James and Chris Bosh alongside the re-signed Dwyane Wade, the Heat were a scary sight for any team on their schedule, but even though they were able to make it all the way to the NBA Finals, the Dallas Mavericks were the better and pulled off the upset.
Coming into this shortened NBA season which should get underway on Christmas Day, the Miami Heat have been favored to win it all at +250. Just behind the Heat are the Los Angeles Lakers at +550 followed by the Chicago Bulls (+550), Oklahoma City Thunder (+800) and the defending NBA champion Dallas Mavericks (+900).
If you aren't much of a sports bettor or believe that the shortened season is unpredictable, there are other ways to earn some extra money like online cash bingo games. Personally, I believe taking the Lakers to get back on track and win it all would be a great bet! With Kobe Bryant all healed up and motivated to get back to form and Pau Gasol looking to prove that he is one of the best forwards in the game, the Lakeshow should be fun to watch this season and incredibly tough to stop if things go right in the Mike Brown era in Los Angeles.
With that being said, I believe the Lakers will surprise some people this season as they could be much better than anticipated and run the table in the Western Conference.
NBA Lockout Update: Owners, players agree on tentative deal to end NBA lockout
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It seems as though the day has finally come with the NBA owners and players seeing eye-to-eye on a new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). After meeting for 15 hours on Friday and into Saturday morning, the league can say goodbye to a very long and drawn out NBA lockout as it appears that we will see NBA games get started this season on Christmas Day.
Remember, this is nothing more than a tentative deal which basically means a handshake on a agreement with nothing signed, but everyone seems to be in agreement that this new CBA will get signed in the coming days. The players and owners must take a vote on the new CBA and it will almost certainly pass.
With that being said, the NBA is officially back in action and NBA camps and free agency will begin on Dec. 9. Now that we can put the NBA lockout behind us, the speculation about the upcoming season begins and you can start considering NBA futures betting.
As of right now, the Los Angeles Lakers aren't favored to win it all, but they are pretty close and it might be a bet worth taking!
In the meantime, avid Lakers fans should get ready for what will be an extremely fast free agency period in which the team could make a few changes. There has been plenty of talk of what potential free agents could be coming to town like Jamal Crawford (Atlanta Hawks), Baron Davis (Cleveland Cavaliers), Jason Richardson (Orlando Magic) and Mike Bibby (Miami Heat), but it is uncertain what direction the Lakers will go in.
It will be interesting to see all the player movement starting Dec. 9.
NBPA president Derek Fisher gives an update on NBA lockout negotiations
Los Angeles Lakers guard Derek Fisher has been a very busy man of late as he might very well have the worst job in sports right now trying to convince NBA owners to agree upon a new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) in order to end the NBA lockout.
Here is a video of Derek Fisher giving an update on The Jim Rome Show about the current negotiations:
Can NBPA president Derek Fisher end the NBA lockout without losing regular season games?
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The NBPA (National Basketball Player's Association) doesn't seem to be any closer to agreeing upon a new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) with the NBA owners that would end the NBA lockout and get things back on track in the league. With the NBA regular season just around, the pressure is on the NBPA to come to a compromise with the NBA owners or the league could be in serious danger of missing games and seeing a lot of players going overseas to earn some paychecks.
With the recent news of the lucrative contract offered to Kobe Bryant from Italian team Virtus Bologna and the cancellation of all 43 preseason games, the negotiations between the two sides have to come to an agreement within the next few weeks to avoid what could be a repeat of the 1998-1999 NBA season where only 50 games were played.
The one guy that has a lot on his plate right now is none other than five-time NBA champion and Los Angeles Lakers point guard Derek Fisher. Not only is Fisher a Lakers legend, but he is a very busy man off the court as the NBPA president. Fisher's task during this off-season has been a tough one as he has been the voice of the NBA players in this negotiation and at this point there is a good chance that he is regretting taking this job.
Something that seems to be an ongoing theme in these talks is the NBA owners not willing to budge. Not only are the owners are the owners being stubborn about their stance in the current negotiation on a new CBA, but reportedly there has been some problems between a few owners on the new deal which makes things even more complicated than they already are.
In my opinion, Derek Fisher is made for these kind of situations and he will definitely have a future after basketball in the political arena, but whether or not he has what it takes to convince these owners to come to an agreement remains to be seen. Fisher definitely has the confidence of the fans and players around the league, but he will have a tough task ahead if he wants to end this NBA lockout and get back to business as usual.
It will be interesting to see what goes down in the coming weeks with big-name players like Kobe Bryant considering playing overseas and the scheduled start of the NBA regular season rapidly approaching.
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