53-53
You see these season long bets and you want very strong plays if you are going to invest money for 6 months!
I have that strong season win total bet right here:
Raptors UNDER 48 Wins -110
Yes, go UNDER.
Why?
The modern NBA is all about one shot: the three pointer.
So what did the Raptors do in the offseason? They got rid of 6 3 point shooters!
Carrol, Joseph, Tucker, Ross, Patterson - all gone (yes Ross was gone last year at the trade deadline but this is the first full season without him).
That's 346 3-pters leaving the team at a 36% clip.
And those 5 players did more than shoot 3's however disappointing at times (which Carrol was).
Now who did they bring in outside the draft? No one. They got a good player out of Indiana in OG but he's raw.
And they overpaid an aging point guard in Lowry who ALWAYS gets injured at some point be it playoffs or regular season. And the older he gets the more broken down he becomes. This doesn't even speak to the fact the Raptors were bidding against themselves to sign him and then made a salary dump trade to the Nets getting back Justin Hamilton (who they cut).
They also signed Ibaka. Good player. But is it one who gives you confidence to get over this number? No.
The fact is the Raptors Pistons and Knicks rank in the bottom 3 in terms of LEAST modern offenses in the league.
And here's the kicker. Per direction of Uriji, they want to shoot MORE threes this year (seeing Valanciunis camp out by the perimeter all preseason should have told us all this).
So there will be an adjustment. Perhaps a major one. And that will result in what? Growing pains and losses.
On top of that, the Raptors are not efficient offensively. They started it the season hot at 6th in the league in efficiency. Then finished the year in 14th as teams adjusted and they didn't.
That's not a good sign for what is supposed to be a near 50 win team.
They were the third WORST offensive efficient team in the playoffs.
And lastly, and most discouraging, Lebron toyed with them last year. They didn't have a single game in a sweep where they threatened the Cavs. And to go into the offseason and LOSE players to save money and bring in no new additions? That has to be immensely disappointing to guys like Derozan who apparently values money over rings (and there is nothing wrong with that). This team present ZERO THREAT to the Cavs and both teams know it.
It's simply that, why is this team going to bust its tail when it can finish 4th or 5th and possibly get Boston instead of a Cavs team that openly mocked them in the playoffs (a la Lebron's ball spin 3)?
The East is bad. But how bad? Who's to say the Nets or Knicks or Sixers can't beat the Raptors or split season series with them?Who's to say the Hawks and Bulls can't win a game against them?
I don't see a dominating 50 win season with a team that didn't adjust, wants to, and got rid of the players who would have helped them do that! And Jonas is starting to. And this is a guy they openly wanted to trade last year.
Down year for the Raps. Go UNDER 48 wins!