Kaman could be a keeper elsewhere

Basketball Betting Lines

01/28/2012 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - You can forget about blowing the whistle on ageism in sports.

After all, it's not only accepted it's expected.

If you were wondering why the New Orleans Hornets are actively trying to trade center Chris Kaman, understand the former All-Star is about to cross a very important threshold on April 28 of this year -- his 30th birthday.

Thirtysomethings simply do not fit into rebuilding plans and at a Western Conference-worst 4-15 the Hornets are resigned to starting one.

New Orleans, of course, acquired Kaman back in December as part of the blockbuster deal that sent the face of the franchise, Chris Paul, to the Los Angeles Clippers.

Even then most thought the Big Easy was just a transitory stop for the former Central Michigan star with the conventional wisdom believing the Hornets acquired an asset to move before the March 15 trade deadline.

And Kaman remains an alluring piece to a number of puzzles. He's got skill and perhaps more importantly, an expiring deal worth just over $14 million this season.

Already the oldest player on the Hornets' roster Kaman quickly fell out of Monty Williams' rotation in favor of Jason Smith and promising Mexican Gustavo Ayon.

"It's just something (where) we want to play our young guys and we certainly don't want to disrespect Chris at all," Williams told the media before Friday's upset against the Magic. "This is something we want to keep internally. It's certainly not disciplinary and he understands and I talked to him.

"We're going to play Jason Smith, Gustavo Ayon and Al-Farouq Aminu. It's just difficult to play that many bigs and I understand how difficult it is for (Kaman) to not get the minutes he wants."

It didn't stay internal for long. By the third quarter Hornets GM Dell Demps had released a statement.

"We've informed Chris that we are looking into possible trades and he was understanding about the situation," Demps said. "We're working together on this. Chris has been the ultimate professional since he joined us.

"In no way is this a disciplinary action. We had discussions about extending his current contract when he first came to the Hornets, but the organization decided to go in a different direction."

Since Kaman was not with the team on Friday, it was easy to speculate that perhaps he had run afoul of either Williams or Demps. I mean, it's one thing to bench a guy for a youth movement but it's another to jettison him from practice and his teammates.

The "ultimate professional" as Demps described Kaman wouldn't be happy losing minutes, perhaps, but he certainly wouldn't want to stop working either.

New Orleans is trying to spin things as best it can, fueling rumors that the club approached Kaman and his agent, Rob Pelinka, once they settled on the youth movement. From there both sides reportedly agreed that Kaman would be deactivated until a trade is consummated.

On the surface that seems a bit far-fetched but Kaman has certainly been injury prone and giving him mop-up minutes here and there could be a risk to any potential deal, something neither Kaman or the Hornets would want.

Either way, New Orleans isn't exactly going to get a king's ransom for a player that is seemingly on the downside, has lost minutes to a pedestrian player like Smith and could be complaining.

On the other hand, in a league short on competent big man, it's not outlandish to think one or two teams might remember 2007-08, Kaman's breakout season with the Clippers when he averaged 15.7 points, 12.7 rebounds, and 2.8 blocks per game. And remember as late as '09-10 he averaged 18.5 ppg and 9.3 rpg.

Building for the future is what the Hornets are all about now but others are concerned with competing and renting a 7-footer that can play could pay dividends.

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MySportsbook.com Favors Fighting Irish to win College Football betting odds

According to odds makers at MySportsbook.com, on January 8, the Fighting Irish faithful may be toasting their 14th national title in Arizona – Notre Dame’s first national championship in close to 20 years.

Although MySportsbook.com has listed Notre Dame as the 5-1 favorite to win thecollege football College Football betting, fans in Columbus do not need to cancel their tickets to Glendale just yet.  The Ohio State Buckeyes, listed right behind the Irish at 7-1, are also heavy favorites to win college football’s most coveted prize, while West Virginia, USC and the 2007 National Champion Texas Longhorns - all listed at 8-1 – are strong contenders as well.

MySportsbook.com has also posted gambling odds on the conference championships for the ACC, Big 12 and SEC.  In the ACC – it could be anyone’s title, particularly for the two schools from the Sunshine State.  Florida State and Miami, both listed at 2-1, are favored to win the ACC Championship Game odds, with the ‘Noles hoping to finish in the nation’s top 10 for the first time in five years, and the ‘Canes looking to avenge their 10-7 loss against FSU in last year’s ACC Championship betting.

Moving west to the Big 12, MySportsbook.com has betting lines listing Texas as 7-5 favorites to repeat as conference champions, even though the Longhorns lost their national championship-winning quarterback Vince Young to the NFL.  In the south, the Auburn Tigers – led by Heisman-hopeful senior running back Kenny Irons – have been given the best odds to win the SEC Championship odds at 5-2.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook accepts Visa needs.


ODDS TO WIN THE BCS NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP

Notre Dame
Ohio State
West Virginia
Texas
USC
Florida
California
Auburn
Oklahoma
Iowa
Louisville
Florida State
Michigan
Miami (FL)
LSU
Penn State
Virginia Tech
Nebraska
Tennessee
Georgia
Arizona State
Oregon
Clemson
Texas A&M
Texas Tech
Alabama
Arkansas
Boston College
Michigan State
Maryland
South Carolina
Colorado
Purdue
Georgia Tech
TCU
UCLA
Arizona
Pittsburgh
Iowa State
Wisconsin
North Carolina State
Virginia
North Carolina
Fresno State
Hawaii
Northwestern
BYU
Oregon State
UNLV
Field (Any Other Team)
5-1
7-1
8-1
8-1
8-1
12-1
15-1
15-1
18-1
20-1
20-1
20-1
20-1
20-1
25-1
40-1
40-1
50-1
60-1
60-1
60-1
70-1
70-1
100-1
100-1
100-1
100-1
100-1
150-1
200-1
200-1
200-1
200-1
200-1
250-1
250-1
300-1
300-1
300-1
300-1
300-1
300-1
400-1
500-1
500-1
500-1
500-1
1000-1
1000-1
40-1



ODDS TO WIN ACC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

Miami (FL)
Florida State
Virginia Tech
Clemson
Georgia Tech
Boston College
Maryland
Virginia
North Carolina State
North Carolina
Wake Forest
Duke
2-1
2-1
3-1
7-1
15-1
15-1
15-1
30-1
30-1
30-1
50-1
500-1



ODDS TO WIN BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

Texas
Oklahoma
Nebraska
Texas Tech
Colorado
Iowa State
Texas A&M
Kansas State
Missouri
Kansas
Baylor
Oklahoma State
7-5
9-5
9-2
12-1
14-1
15-1
15-1
30-1
30-1
35-1
100-1
100-1



ODDS TO WIN SEC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

Auburn
Florida
LSU
Georgia
Tennessee
Arkansas
Alabama
Mississippi
South Carolina
Mississippi State
Kentucky
Vanderbilt
5-2
11-4
4-1
6-1
7-1
7-1
9-1
20-1
28-1
75-1
100-1
300-1

For complete NCAA football odds please visit Mysportsbook.com.