Durant officially inks extension with Thunder

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07/08/2010 - Oklahoma City, OK (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Forward Kevin Durant has officially signed a multi-year contract extension with the Oklahoma City Thunder. The deal is reportedly for five years.

"Today is an exciting and important day in the growth of the Thunder organization," Thunder general manager Sam Presti said. "The mutual and substantial commitment by both Kevin and our ownership group comes by way of aligned values and vision. Kevin's consistent work ethic, humility, team-first mentality and strong community investment are just some of the reasons that today's commitments stretch beyond our franchise and throughout our community and the entire state of Oklahoma."

Durant's agent, Aaron Goodwin, earlier told the Oklahoman the deal is worth close to $85 million and runs through the 2015-16 season without a player option that would have allowed for free agency after the fourth year.

"I am excited to remain a part of the Thunder organization and the Oklahoma City community," said Durant. "This is a big day for my family and myself. I would like to thank God for putting me in this position, the Thunder for believing in me since I was drafted and my teammates for supporting and encouraging me everyday."

Durant is the reigning NBA scoring leader after averaging 30.1 points while appearing in all 82 regular-season games in 2009-10. He set a franchise record by scoring 30-plus points on 47 occasions last season and helped lead the team to the playoffs for the first time since the 2004-05 season.

Also, his 756 made free throws were a franchise-best and the most recorded in a single season since Michael Jordan connected on 833 during the 1986-87 campaign.

Taken second overall by the defunct Seattle SuperSonics in the 2007 draft, Durant has averaged 25.3 points, 6.2 rebounds and 2.7 assists for his career.

"Kevin Durant personifies what we are building with the Oklahoma City Thunder," said Thunder chairman Clay Bennett. "His dedication to his teammates, to continually working at his game, and to this community is at the core of what we want this organization to represent. We are excited to have the opportunity to continue to watch Kevin evolve as a player and just as thrilled to have someone of his personal character on our team."

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Michael Vick is back, Brett Favre isn't and the NFC East remains the best division in the NFC, maybe in all of football.

As players start to gather for the start of another season, some things change and some stay the same in the world of the NFL.

Bet 2010 Super Bowl Odds

The NFC East has been the dominant division in the National Conference for a while, despite limited playoff success, save for the New York Giants surprise Super Bowl win two seasons ago.

Hell, there's a generation of kids in Texas who have never seen the Cowboys win a playoff game (last win was in 1996).

But collectively, the Giants, Eagles, Cowboys and Redskins (well, maybe not so much the Redskins) are as good as a division gets in an NFC conference that has struggled to stay competitive with the AFC side.

Sports bettors have both acknowledged the NFC East's dominance, as one glance at the NFL future odds menu will show.

Looking over the NFL betting odds at online sports book MySportsbook.com we see the top three teams listed to win the NFC Championship are all from the NFC East:

Dallas Cowboys - 7 - 1

Philadelphia Eagles - 13 - 2

New York Giants - 9 - 2

Slotting in behind these three are two teams from the NFC North: the Minnesota Vikings (15-2) and the Chicago Bears (10-1).

Again, despite the lack of recent playoff success, the Dallas Cowboys are popular with the sports betting community, as they hold 14% of all the money wagered on who will win the NFC Championship.

So far, the New York Giants are the bettors' favorite to represent their conference in the Super Bowl, as they have 24% of the overall NFC Championship betting volume.

And what about the Philadelphia Eagles? For the most part, the Eagles had a very productive offseason, the kind that could bring them back to the top.

They had a good draft adding the likes of WR Jeremy Maclin and RB LeSean McCoy.

Unfortunately, the team received a blow when long-time defensive coordinator Jim Johnson passed away on Tuesday.

But this team will make a real run at the division title this year. Going into the regular season, Philly is listed at +240 to win the division.

Last season the Eagles were 9-6-1 SU and 10-6 ATS.

Teams from the NFC East will play teams from the AFC West in the regular season and the Eagles haven't really been a good bet in the last 20 games against the likes of San Diego, Oakland, K.C. and Denver, only going 8-12 ATS.

Two seasons removed from that Super Bowl title, the New York Giants see themselves listed as the odds-on favorite in NFC East championship futures at +162.

Plaxico Burress is gone and with him all the bad publicity surrounding the gun in the sweatpants incident, but can they replace him in the offense?

Last season the Giants were a very reliable bet going 12-4 ATS.

In the Giants' last 20 games against fellow teams from the NFC East; they are 13-7 ATS.

Dallas is listed at +240 to win the division.

Dallas went 9-7 SU and 7-9 ATS last season and with the amount of talent the Cowboys have, a similar performance won't do.

The Cowboys have been atrocious against divisional rivals, going 6-14 ATS in their last 20.

The Washington Redskins are longshots to win the division at +550.

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