SOURCE: Las Vegas Sun

(Las Vegas, NV) — Forget the heralded top two picks in last week's NBA draft, Greg Oden and Kevin Durant.

The big winners from a betting perspective weren't the Portland Trail Blazers, who selected Oden with the No. 1 pick, or the Seattle SuperSonics, who picked Durant second.

The Blazers and Sonics remain middling NBA teams, and their place at the head of the draft class was already built into their odds to win the league championship or the Western Conference title in 2007-08.

Instead, the teams that emerged as winners from the draft and its related flurry of transactions were the Boston Celtics and the New York Knicks, two once-proud franchises from the Eastern Conference working to make themselves relevant again.

Before draft week, the Celtics were tied with four other also-rans as the longest shot on the board to win next season's NBA title, at odds of 300-1. Now, after a draft-night trade in which they acquired Ray Allen from Seattle, the Celtics are listed at "only" 100-1 to win the championship, according to odds at the Las Vegas Hilton sports book.

In a similar adjustment, the odds on the Knicks dropped from 200-1 to 100-1 after New York completed a trade with Portland for talented but troubled star Zach Randolph.

Odds on the Knicks and Celtics to win the Eastern Conference title also dropped, from 60-1 to 33-1 on the Knicks and from 75-1 to 33-1 on the Celtics.

The line moves demonstrated that even in the NBA, with its relatively small rosters and five-man lineups, deals for established veterans who can make an immediate impact often carry more weight with bettors and oddsmakers than highly touted draftees who might take some time to mature.

Allen came to the Celtics with the No. 35 pick (Glen Davis) in exchange for the No. 5 pick (Jeff Green), Delonte West and Wally Szczerbiak. But ol' Jesus Shuttleworth was the key to the deal - and the betting line move. He figures to team with small forward Paul Pierce and power forward Al Jefferson in a new-look offense as Boston tries to make a playoff run.

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