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What does Las Vegas know that we don’t? Usually, teams this high up a list of title odds for next year come off of seasons with a few more than 35 wins. But for some reason, there the Los Angeles Lakers have the fifth-highest odds at walking away with a ring next year.
Take a look, via Jeff Sherman of Westgate Las Vegas:
2018-19 NBA Championship updated
— Jeff Sherman (@golfodds) June 6, 2018
Warriors 6/5
Rockets 7/2
76ers 7/2
Celtics 7/1
Lakers 14/1
Spurs 30/1
Cavaliers 30/1
Raptors 50/1
Heat 50/1
Jazz 60/1
Thunder 60/1
Trail Blazers 80/1
Pelicans 80/1
T’Wolves 100/1
Nuggets 100/1
Bucks 100/1
Pacers 100/1
Wizards 100/1
Wizards 100/1
The teams above the Lakers make sense.
The Golden State Warriors are in the middle of one of those championship runs that make fans of other teams wonder if they’ll ever have a chance.
Houston pushed Golden State to seven games and it’s hard to argue with any Rockets fan who thinks they’d be up 2-0 on Cleveland if Chris Paul didn’t pull his hamstring.
Philadelphia and Boston represent the future of the Eastern Conference, almost whether LeBron James is playing in Cleveland or not. Oh and by the way, Philadelphia has plenty of room to add James this summer, which is probably why they’re listed about Boston despite having lost handily to the Celtics in this year’s playoffs.
Then, there sit the Lakers, whose odds have improved since the last time these dropped, likely dew to reports that Paul George and James will discuss teaming up there.
Vegas must think they’re at least getting George and probably another star (LeBron, given these odds). As exciting as Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, Kyle Kuzma and the rest of the core are, simply keeping Julius Randle around and hoping everyone takes a step forward isn’t enough to comfortably make the playoffs, let alone be considered in the championship conversation.
The other thing to keep in mind here is that the Lakers are a very public team, meaning they garner a lot of bets compared to other franchises. Listing them at these odds will certainly drum up attention and probably lead to fans placing bets while the odds are “only” 14 to 1.
With gambling on the precipice of being legalized everywhere, it would be cool to place a wager on these Lakers. Would you take them at these odds? Let us know in the comments below!