No Tourney, No Problem

Yesterday someone asked if Jimmy the Greek was still going to continue making picks even though the NCAA Tournament is over. Although it would be easy to sit back and count the winnings we made over the last month, I think it's only appropriate that as long as basketball is being played, I'll keep providing you with winners. My first pick is actually a futures bet for the NBA Championship and it's the Oklahoma City Thunder at +1800 to win it all. Before you choke on your Manny's sandwich, hear me out. First of all, I don't think the Thunder have the best chance at winning it all, simply they are the team that offers the most value. The Lakers +250, Heat +300, Bulls +400, Celtics +425, and Spurs +600 are teams that all have a decent chance at winning it all but you could make the argument that they are all at fair value. The top 5 seeds in the West are pretty much locked in so as of right now the Thunder's road to the Finals would most likely look like the Nuggets, Spurs, and Lakers. With out going into too much detail, the Thunder just beat the Nuggets in their first matchup since the Carmelo trade and to be honest, the Nuggets had no one to match up with Durant. The Spurs have looked old and pedestrian over the last month and with Tim Duncan a shell of his old self, I think the Spurs will have trouble matching up with the Thunder over a seven game series. The Lakers are better than the Thunder but seven times better when you consider the odds? I don't think so. The Thunder played a competitive opening series with the Lakers in last years playoffs and if you through in another year of experience for the Thunder and add a legitimate center in Kendrick Perkins, I'll take the Thunder and hope for the minor upset. As far as the finals go, I won't break down all of the matchups against the Bulls, Heat and Celtics but as a gambler, I'll take any team that is getting +1800 in a championship game or series.