By default, the answer to the title question is yes. In terms of NBA betting, the Cavaliers are the front-runners from the East and, on paper, they are the only team in the entire Conference with the talent to really put up a fight against the Golden State Warriors and the San Antonio Spurs. It is a harsh reality, but one that must be digested, a team that has the best basketball player of this generation despite dominating their Conference, will be the sports betting underdog regardless of the competition they find in the NBA finals.
As a stark contrast to the brilliance we have seen coming from the West, the East has been awful. The 2015-2016 season had the particularity that virtually all of the teams in the Eastern Conference are going through the proverbial rebuilding year. In such a setting the overly talented Cavaliers reign unopposed, but they in all fairness have been great either. Currently they are the top three team odds-wise to win the NBA world Championship just below the San Antonio Spurs with odds of +405.
Online gambling analysts have noted that the Cavaliers are overly dependent of LeBron James, and his state of health coming into the playoffs is closely guarded by the Cavaliers coaching staff banking on having him well rested for the post season. The problem is, that with King James sidelined the Cavs suffer on the court and have lost games that they should have won. At this point on the season, they can’t afford to loose many more games because the Toronto Raptors are close behind them. As insiders and other NBA Betting experts have pointed out, the Cavaliers must make up their minds and decide between a well-rested LeBron or the #1 spot in the Eastern Conference, it seems that they are not able to have it both ways.
Another point worth mentioning is the underlying narrative of the lack of championship rings that Cleveland has had upon the so-called “Return of the King”. There has been a quiet, but steady unrest growing inside the Cavs organization with LeBron starting to get frustrated with the franchise and the inability to build a championship caliber team. When one sees the success the Golden State Warriors have achieved based merely of very smart drafting and team building, the Cavaliers have seen their experiment crumble and sent back to the drawing board.
NBA Betting fans must now this, and take it for what its worth, the amount of pressure that LeBron and the Cavs upper management have to win a Championship this year is much larger that what is printed on the media. Should the Cavaliers not win it this year, the offseason could see some seismic changes in the basketball scene that could rock the league to its core. Recent reports of LeBron stating that he would like to be in a team with his friends D-Wade, Chris Paul and Carmelo Anthony could give Cavs fans chills of excitement… until they realize that this super team doesn’t necessarily has to be wearing a Cleveland jersey.