By Tim Roberts

updated 10:44 p.m. ET Aug. 2, 2007

Boston hasn’t had this many happy basketball fans since the halcyon championship days of 1986, a time so golden that Hollywood could sell moviegoers on the notion of Tom Cruise and Val Kilmer as rival pilots fighting to save America from communism.

NBA oddsmakers reflect Beantown’s newfound optimism in their most recent futures odds. The Boston Celtics, on the verge of completing a trade with the Minnesota Timberwolves for superstar Kevin Garnett, have suddenly become Eastern Conference favorites for the upcoming season.

Sports.com lists the Celts as 7-2 co-favorites with the Detroit Pistons to win the East. The Chicago Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers and Miami Heat aren’t far behind at 17-4.

The same site also pegs Boston at 10-1 to win its first NBA title in 22 years next summer, making the Celtics their best bet among Eastern teams to win the championship. Detroit is 12-1 while Chicago, Cleveland and Miami are 14-1.

Bettors can view the revamped Celtics in a couple of lights. Optimists look at all-stars Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen and see an unstoppable trio in a weak conference. Pessimists note the holes at point guard and center, the glaring lack of depth and the presence of Doc Rivers on the sidelines, and aren’t ready to crown the Celtics just yet.

Let’s take a closer look at Boston’s new odds.

Winning the Eastern Conference
The East isn’t packed with title contenders, it’s true. Pick a team, any team, and you can find a hole.

Cleveland won the conference in last spring’s playoffs with LeBron James and little else. The Bulls are promising but overly perimeter-oriented. Detroit’s run is grinding to a halt as its stars age and prepare to leave town. The Heat will have Dwyane Wade and a bunch of question marks going into the season.

And those are the Boston’s chief rivals for the Eastern throne.

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Check out the pretenders and the holes become gaping chasms. The New Jersey Nets and Washington Wizards are donut teams – absolutely nothing in the middle. The Toronto Raptors were physically dominated by the Nets in the playoffs, which is embarrassing simply to type. The Milwaukee Bucks, Orlando Magic and Charlotte Bobcats are on the right path, but they’re not ready to contend just yet.

The Celtics’ three stars should be able to win 50 games against an East-heavy schedule. Garnett, Pierce and Allen will all be 30 by the time the season starts but none of them have crossed the line into “old” territory just yet. They’re unselfish and driven, all of them desperate to play for a winner at some point in their careers.

Boston will rely on Rajon Rondo and Kendrick Perkins more than any serious contender should, but there’s no squad in the conference that can stop KG, Pierce and Jesus Shuttlesworth at the same time. Oddsmakers had to adjust their futures lines to meet the hype the Garnett trade would bring and, looking at the rest of the conference, their adjustment seems sensible.

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