Toronto officially signs Kleiza
Basketball Betting Lines
07/26/2010 -
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Toronto Raptors have signed forward
Linas Kleiza to a multi-year contract.
Per team policy, no details of the deal were announced.
The Raptors had signed Kleiza to an offer sheet that was not matched by his
former team, the Denver Nuggets, and assumed his rights on July 17.
The former Missouri Tiger played with Olympiakos in Greece last season and
averaged 14 points and 5.1 rebounds in 31 games. He helped lead Olympiakos to
the Euroleague Championship game in Paris and contributed 17.1 points and 6.5
boards in 22 Euroleague contests.
Kleiza spent the first four years of his career in the NBA with Denver and
averaged 8.3 points and 3.5 rebounds in 301 games.
"We are very happy to add a tough-minded, hard-nosed forward who will
certainly get a chance to contribute given the departure of Hedo Turkoglu,"
said general manager Bryan Colangelo. "Linas has that unique inside/outside
game that makes him a tough cover at a couple of different positions."
The Lithuanian-born Kleiza was originally selected by Portland with the 27th
pick in the 2005 NBA Draft.
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Bulls' sign Kurt Thomas >>
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Bulls made it official on Monday by
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Terms of the deal were not disclosed, per team policy.
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Celtics bring back Marquis Daniels >>
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Celtics re-signed veteran
guard/forward Marquis Daniels on Monday.
Terms of the deal were not announced, per club policy.
The seven-year veteran posted averages of 5.6 points and 1.
Nashville signs D Parent >>
Nashville, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Nashville Predators have signed
defenseman Ryan Parent to a two-year, $1.85 million contract.
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Ravens sign second-rounder DT Cody >>
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He was a con
NFL owners, already life's biggest winners, want to try their luck with the lottery.
That was the news out of their meetings last week, where team bosses voted unanimously to allow stamping state and local lottery tickets with franchise logos, if, ahem, any governments wanted to do a deal.
A shocker: Within days the Pats announced they'd be sponsoring the Massachusetts state lottery, the Skins said they'd slap their sticker on Virginia scratch-offs and the Ravens admitted they were talking to Maryland lottery bosses. In all likelihood, it won't be long before every team is a presenting sponsor of scratch-offs or just plain old pick fives. "The change in policy was approved 32-0," said NFL spokesman Greg Aiello. "So you can expect to see more deals soon."
It's a branding opportunity too big for the owners to ignore, and one a couple of dozen baseball franchises have enjoyed for years. The fact the NFL has been slower to act than those slack-brained Seligites is indicative of its complicated relationship with all forms of gambling. Consider this: Last Thursday, as the Pats and the Redskins finalized their new lottery deals, a lawyer representing the NFL argued before Delaware's Supreme Court that the state's newly signed sports betting law should be repealed.
The NFL betting is the face of opposition to sports gambling . And as much as it would like to share that responsibility with other leagues, that's not going to happen as long as more than 40% of all money legally wagered on games is bet on football. That's why the Brewers can do a multi-million dollar deal with a local casino, or the Celtics can make their own pact with the Mass lottery, and the response is, "Sweet, let's play." But when the NFL does it the stakes are higher, and everyone from NPR's Frank Deford to the Associated Press to the guys blogging at Deadspin will line up to play gotcha.
So I asked Aiello, who surely knew there'd be piling on, how the league can rail against being bait for sports bettors, then allow its franchises to be just that for lotteries, the most insidious and addictive form of gambling around. He emailed me this response: "We are not moral crusaders. NFL personnel are permitted to engage in legal forms of gambling, except for betting on NFL games. We are making a distinction here between the spread of gambling on the outcome of our games and supporting state lottery scratch-off games, that have nothing to do with the outcome of our games."
Here's where I should rip him. But, the thing is, he's right. Not to get Obama on you, but this is a complicated, nuanced issue. As much as lotteries are considered a tax on the poor, the NFL isn't a socially obligated government program -- it's just a business. Scratch-off's help the bottom line, sports betting doesn't.
Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors … But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal.
Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors. And it's okay to mutter something obscene when the league pretends gambling doesn't help drive TV ratings and fan interest and put money in owners' pockets. But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal. The Bears should put an orange "C" on every deck of cards dealt at Harrah's in Joliet; the Eagles should slap their logo on roulette wheels at the Borgata in Atlantic City; the Dolphins should hold training camp at the El San Juan in Puerto Rico.
Seriously.
The NFL's problem, when it comes to the gambling world, isn't hypocrisy, it's worse: The bosses lack vision. That's why the league is picking unwinnable fights in Delaware and taking pot shots from critics after making smart sponsorship deals. Roger Goodell and his gang are acting and thinking locally rather than globally, which is rare for them, especially compared to their professional (and amateur) counterparts.
The NBA held its All Star game in Las Vegas and David Stern's kingdom didn't crumble (although the town did bring plenty of players to their knees.) I'd say it's 6 to 5 and pick 'em that Lebron will make a road swing through Sin City before his career is over.
Even the NCAA College Football Betting is more progressive on this issue than the NFL. Several years ago Rachel Newman Baker, college sports' gambling czar, opened a dialogue with Vegas bookmakers to learn about how they do business. She's visited Nevada sports books, studied their operations and listened to how they regulate action. Now she knows she can expect a call from bookmakers, who lose money when sports are fixed, if they think something sketchy is going on in NCAA games. She's not in favor of sports betting, but, as she once told me, "I know it's not going away, either."
The NFL can't seem to accept that. And until it can find peace with the idea, it'll get flack, even when it's right.
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