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17-04-2010, 01:32 AM
April 16 (Bloomberg) -- The Cleveland Cavaliers and Los Angeles Lakers assume familiar roles as top seeds entering the National Basketball Association playoffs this weekendyouth NBA jersey (http://www.nfljersey-supply.com/). Next year, that might picture might be very different. While the Cavaliers and defending champion Lakers are the oddsmakers’ favorites to capture the title, free agency may shake up the power structure atop the NBA this offseason, resulting in new teams among the elite. The New York KnicksNBA jersey (http://www.nfljersey-supply.com/), whose playoff drought grew to six years, and the New Jersey Nets, who worked just to avoid a record-setting losing season, are among franchises that cleared salary-cap space entering this summer, when All-Stars such as Cleveland’s LeBron James can become unrestricted free agents. “One word that comes to mind is crazycheap NBA jerseys (http://www.nfljersey-supply.com/), another is unpredictable,” Steve Smith, an analyst for NBA TV, said about how this offseason may shape up and affect the future of the league. “It’s going to come down to those teams that have cap room, city appeal and team appeal. That could change the whole dynamic.” James, 25, is among eight 2010 All-Star Game participants who can become unrestricted free agents after the season. The rest are Miami’s Dwyane Wade, Toronto’s Chris Bosh, Atlanta’s Joe Johnson, Phoenix’s Amar’e Stoudemire, New York’s David Lee, Boston’s Paul Pierce and Dallas’s Dirk Nowitzki. James’s Year? James averaged 29.7 points, 8.6 assists and 7.3 rebounds a game this season, his seventh since joining the Cavaliers out of high schoolwholesale NBA jerseys (http://www.nfljersey-supply.com/). Cleveland faces the Chicago Bulls -- another team seeking an offseason roster overhaul -- in the opening round of the playoffs, with Game 1 of the best-of-seven series on April 18. James, last season’s Most Valuable Player, hasn’t been on an NBA championship team since he started playing in the league in 2003. That may change for him this year, said Smith, a former NBA All-Star who won a title with the San Antonio Spurs. “It looks like LeBron’s year,” Smith said in a telephone interview. “Anything goes in the playoffs, but starting right now, the way things have been going, it looks like Cleveland.” The Cavaliers are an 8-5 favorite to win the titlecheap NBA jersey (http://www.nfljersey-supply.com/), according to Las Vegas Sports Consultants, which helps Nevada sports books set gambling lines. The Lakers are the second favorite at 2-1, meaning a winning $10 bet on Los Angeles to repeat as champion would return $20 along with the initial wager. The Lakers, led by Kobe Bryant, had slightly shorter odds than Cleveland entering the campaign. ‘Slippery Slope’ As for future seasons, the dominant team is anybody’s guess. “Once the playoffs start, there are places that ask us for next year’s NBA odds, and this year that’s a slippery slope,” Tony Sinisi, the odds director for Las Vegas Sports Consultants, said in a telephone interview. The Knicks, for example, entered this NBA season with 100-1 odds to win their first title since 1973. Despite finishing with a 29-53 record, they’d have somewhere around 15-1 odds for next year, Sinisi said. “Even though it’s not a certainty the Knicks are going to get Wade or LeBron, you don’t want to hang a 100-1 if there’s a chance they might,” Sinisi said. James, the youngest player to score 15,000 points in NBA history, will be the most coveted free agent. Whether he wins an NBA title this year might go a long way toward shaping his offseason decision. “That’s when we’ll really find out LeBron James’s personality,” said Smith. “If he wins a championship, they have all the pieces set to make a run. Or does he say, ‘I’ve won a championship, let me move on to a place where I want to live and play, because I have the ring under my belt and I can do it again.