The signing of Trevor Ariza does nothing significant enough to improve this team's chances of winning an NBA title.

Houston Rockets +1700 (17/1)

Here’s something that NBA gambling fans should realize - - the Lakers are not a rebuilding team. They sign players, maybe take a year or two to develop that player, and then try to go for the championship. Such is the case with Ariza who did develop during the playoffs and is an exciting player, but he is not on the level of a Ron Artest. Will Ariza help Houston? Absolutely he will, but he won’t help the Rockets any more than Artest did and he definitely doesn’t bring the Rockets into the Lakers, Celtic, Cavaliers, or Magic territory.

Houston didn’t even get good enough to challenge the Spurs. So, what does this mean? It means that the Rockets get a nice player, Ariza gets paid, and nothing changes much. The bigger issue with Houston, and the reason they are a huge underlay in the sportsbook to win the NBA Championship is that Yao Ming’s career might be over. That could be a problem. 50 to 1 are odds that make more sense for this team.

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