There may be no basketball and no football right now, but this is still a fast and furious time in the world of sports. LeBron James sent shockwaves through everyone and everything by going back to Cleveland, Major League Baseball's All-Star Game took center stage on Tuesday, and golf's second major in as many months begins on Thursday.

Odds provided by Sportsbook.ag

NBA Championship

San Antonio Spurs (+450) - The more other teams change, the more San Antonio stays the same. And to say that's a good thing for the Spurs would be an understatement. They are coming off a dominant performance in the NBA Finals, still have their veterans, and Kawhi Leonard is an emerging star.

Cleveland Cavaliers (+450) - It remains to be seen what else Cleveland is going to do this offseason (Kevin Love?), but the biggest piece is already in place. LeBron is back home and will team up with Kyrie Irving and who knows who else. The Cavs are immediately considerable favorites in the Eastern Conference.

Oklahoma City Thunder (+600) - The Thunder have reached at least the conference finals in three of the last four seasons. With the Heat at least somewhat broken up, can OKC get past San Antonio and then all the way over the hump? Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook are only getting better, so it is not out of the question.

Chicago Bulls (+1000) - Chicago has to settle for backup plan in free agency, as LeBron opted for Cleveland and Carmelo Anthony went back to New York. It signed Pau Gasol and amnestied Carlos Boozer, while also drafting Doug McDermott. Of course, Derrick Rose's health is the key. If he is close to 100 percent, the Bulls will be serious contenders

World Series

Los Angeles Dodgers (+500) - The Dodgers are No. 1 in the National League at the all-star break, albeit just a half-game ahead of Milwaukee. More importantly, they have both Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke at their disposal, and both are pitching well. So, too, is Josh Beckett (2.26 ERA in 103.2 innings).

Oakland Athletics (+550) - Break up the A's! They are the best team in baseball at 59-36, and the only one that is close happens to be in the same American League West (the Angels at 57-37). Oakland also added Jeff Samardzija earlier this month and he promptly gave them two quality starts and one win.

Detroit Tigers (+550) - Detroit has crossed the plate 437 times this season, more than every team other than the A's and Angels. The Tigers are coasting to another AL Central title even without Miguel Cabrera (.306, 14 home runs) at his best and with Justin Verlander (8-8, 4.88 ERA) being a shadow of his former self.

Washington Nationals (+1000) - Washington is tied atop the NL East with Atlanta at a solid-but-unspectacular record of 51-42. The Nationals, though, were without third baseman Ryan Zimmerman and left fielder Bryce Harper for much of the first half. Those stars are back, so watch out.

MLB Regular Season Home Runs

Jose Abreu (-180) - Abreu leads all of Major League Baseball in homers at the proverbial halfway point with 29, one more than Nelson Cruz. The White Sox 27-year-old rookie may strike out a lot, but he does hit for average (.292), so it's not like he is a one-dimensional ball-basher. A red-hot Abreu went deep 10 times in June and already has four yahtzees in July.

Nelson Cruz (+150) - Cruz and Abreu have almost identical statistics. Cruz: .287, 28 home runs, 74 RBIs, 81 strikeouts; Abreu: .292, 29 home runs, 73 RBIs, 82 strikeouts. The Orioles' designated hitter is showing no signs of rust after last season's 50-game suspension as a member of the Rangers. Cruz is hitting .326 with three dingers in July.

Edwin Encarnacion (+500) - Jose Bautista caught fire for Toronto in 2013, but this time around it is Encarnacion leading the way for that team. He is right behind Abreu and Cruz with 26 home runs to go along with a decent .277 average and just 58 strikeouts. The first baseman, though, has been on the DL since July 7 with a quadriceps injury and could miss another week.

Giancarlo Stanton (+1000) - The American League won the Home Run Derby (Yoenis Cespedes) and the All-Star Game and is running circles around the National League in the department of individual home runs. Stanton is tops in the NL (tied with Troy Tulowitzki) but just tied for fifth overall with 21 long-balls. He has not homered since June 26.

British Open

Adam Scott (+1200) - Scott has been the absolute model of consistency in recent years, in majors and everything else. He has eight top-10s at the four biggest tournaments since the start of 2012, including a Masters win last season and two top-three performances at the British Open in 2012 and 2013. A stellar 2014 campaign has him at No. 1 in the world rankings.

Rory McIlroy (+1500) - McIlroy has endured well-documented struggles both on and off the golf course this year. He has not finished better than T-8 at a major since winning the 2012 PGA Championship. The Northern Irishman has not been great of late, but he was T-14 at last week's Scottish Open and would have seriously contended if not for a second-round 78.

Henrik Stenson (+1500) - Stenson has fallen off the pace in 2014 after capturing the FedEx Cup last year. However, the veteran Swede is once again rounding into form. He finished T-4 at the U.S. Open and T-2 at the recent BMW International Open. Stenson placed T-3 at the British Open in 2010 and was runner-up to Phil Mickelson last summer.

Justin Rose (+1500) - Rose is coming off a win at the Scottish Open. In 2013, Mickelson triumphed in Scotland and then lifted the Claret Jug seven days later. Tiger Woods, meanwhile, is the sixth favorite this week at +1600. He returned from back surgery in late June and missed the cut at Congressional.

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