One Tweet Shifted the NBA Draft Markets

The 2023 NBA Draft is over, but the drama isn't. One tweet from one insider, Shams Charania moved the markets massively, and after it turned out to be incorrect, sports bettors are upset. Should insiders be employed by sportsbooks? It's a fair question to ask, as Shams is a commercial partner of FanDuel Sportsbook. We take a closer look at what happened during the NBA Draft.

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One Tweet that Moved the Markets

It was looking like a quiet, normal day leading up to the NBA Draft that night on Thursday, June 22.  Until one tweet changed everything.

Shortly after noon on the day of the NBA Draft, NBA insider Shams Charania tweeted that Scoot Henderson had gained momentum and was in serious consideration to be taken 2nd overall by the Charlotte Hornets.

Sources: Scoot Henderson is gaining serious momentum at No. 2 with the Charlotte Hornets in tonight’s NBA draft. Hornets have been torn over the last week between Henderson and Brandon Miller. Team has final meetings today to settle on decision.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 22, 2023

This was a massive swing, as Brandon Miller had been the expected pick all along, according to reports from other insiders around the league and draft experts' projections.

Sports bettors rushed to take advantage.

Beofre the tweet, Brandon Miller was a -200 favorite to be taken with the #2 pick (Scoot Henderson was +140). After the tweet, Henderson was all the way up to -700 (Miller was +200).

Unfortunately for the bettors that jumped on it, that isn't what happened. Brandon Miller was taken by Charlotte, and suddenly everything felt a little fishy.

Who is Shams Charania?

Shams is one of the top two insiders in the NBA. His word is usually gospel, and he is the arch nemesis of the man famous for the "Woj Bomb", Adrian Wojnarowski.

These two often rush to break news against each other, competing for "scoops".

Shams has a commercial partnership with FanDuel - he’s not a FanDuel employee, but he regularly appears on FanDuel’s TV channel and gets paychecks from the company.

Because of this relationship, bettors took their outrage online. Speculating that Shams' incorrect tweet was essentially "fraud" due to his working relationship with the sportsbook.

- shams (employed by fanduel) tweets this

- tons of people put money on scoot at #2 at sportsbook like fanduel (odds massively shifted immediately after the tweet)

- hornets don’t draft scoot

- fanduel makes a ton of money

is this not just blatant fraud ??? https://t.co/Vf6yKFOrYu

— mansur🕊️ (@mansurshaheen) June 23, 2023

Despite the frustrations from bettors, there is no proof that this was intentional market manipulation. But due to the public outrage, FanDuel had to release a statement that the company “is not privy to any news that Shams breaks on his platforms”

So, What's the Takeaway?

This won’t be the last time this happens.

Sportsbooks will have to be very careful with how they handle the optics if they continue to employ insiders with access to private information that the public can’t get their hands on.

In the end it’s highly unlikely this was intentional by Shams. He reports inaccurate findings from time to time, as do all "insiders" in professional sports.

But it also won't be the last time recreational bettors end up upset. And the groans will only grow louder the more frequent these situations become.

Do you think insiders should be allowed to work for sportsbooks? Let us know what you think on Twitter.

*All odds correct at the time of publishing

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