For consecutive years now, we’ve gotten accustomed to the Golden State Warriors being preseason favorites to win the NBA championship, but the latest offseason and the 2019-20 campaign is bringing us a completely different scenario.
According to online sportsbook Bovada, the Los Angeles Lakers take the top-dog status away from the Golden State Warriors and enter the new season as +300 favorites to win the NBA Finals. Not far behind the Lakers in second place are their Hollywood counterpart in the Los Angeles Clippers at +350 odds, followed by the Milwaukee Bucks in third at +600. In the No. 4 position, the Philadelphia 76ers sit at +750, and the Houston Rockets round out the top five at +850. As far as the Golden State Warriors are concerned, they don’t make an appearance on the odds-board until the sixth spot at +1000, and the Utah Jazz are behind them at +1200 in No. 7. In eighth place, the Denver Nuggets take that position at +1800, and the Brooklyn Nets and Boston Celtics round out the top 10 for us in a tie for ninth at +2500 odds.
I’m not shocked to see the Los Angeles Lakers on top of the odds-board for most sportsbooks across the United States, especially considering they now have the best center in the league in Anthony Davis to add to debatably still the best player in the league in LeBron James. I get it, but I’m personally not buying their status as the ultimate favorites to win the NBA championship next June. Yeah, like I said, I get they have James and Davis, but after that, the roster falls off pretty drastically. There aren’t any other championship pieces around those two superstars for me to take them seriously to make a run all the way through the Western Conference. And are we forgetting the disastrous campaign that took place last season?
As I already mentioned in my Western Conference preview, the supporting cast of the Lakers strongly concerns me. Back in the offseason, they would hold out in free agency to try and snag Kawhi Leonard, but when he would eventually go to the Clippers, his wait would result in the Lakers being forced to settle for the leftovers. The best players that surround James and Davis are Danny Green, Jared Dudley and Avery Bradley. Yeah, they’re decent players, but can they win a championship? After first getting through the hazardous Western Conference? I’m not buying it.
One injury to their main core, and the season could easily be wrapped up. I do see the Lakers getting back to the playoffs for the first time since 2012-13, but I’m not putting my money anywhere near those +300 odds for them to win the NBA title — not happening. If their odds drop as the season goes along, I wouldn’t blame you for taking them as a long shot pick, however, so pay attention to that.
For now though, I would definitely advise you to hold off like they did for Kawhi Leonard, just make sure you score with your gamble unlike them. With that, I would pay attention to the NBA trade rumor mill before we get to the deadline, I could certainly see the Lakers pulling a move to make their long odds then very profitable. If it seems like they’re close to making a big move, pull the trigger on a bet.
Yes, the other Hollywood team. Back in the offseason, the Los Angeles Clippers were certainly the top winners in free agency making the biggest splash bringing in both Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, both natives of California. Perfect timing too, because this Western Conference is gearing up to be more competitive than usual. With Leonard, the Clippers get someone who has not only has one, but two championship rings — and one of those he’s fresh off of winning with the Toronto Raptors last season, his one and only campaign with the franchise.
Needless to say, Leonard elevates the Clippers to a completely new level, and puts them in the greatest position that they’ve ever been in as an organization in their entire history: Championship contenders.
See, the thing about the Clippers, they were also pretty flashy with a 48-34 finish in the 2018-19 version of the Western Conference, and they would do this without Leonard and George. During the offseason, they wouldn’t have to give up anybody to get those two, so the Clippers are still stacked with the talent that they had from last season. They also have talent such as Lou Williams and Montrezl Harrell to take on opposing teams’ backups, they’re very deep in depth. So as you see, the potential is very strong for the Los Angeles Clippers to have an extraordinarily dominant season. They have Kawhi Leonard, Paul George and a massive amount of talent that surrounds them. Get ready, Clippers fans. It’s going to be a beautiful season for your franchise.
Let’s venture outside of Los Angeles and get into some of the other top favorites to win the 2019-20 NBA championship, review all of the betting odds, and then afterwards, I’ll be giving you my betting prediction (and long shot pick) to win the title. Who do you think will be the kings of the National Basketball Association? After you read and get your advice from me, you can then place your bets over at one of the top NBA betting sites for who you think will be the 2019-20 NBA champions.
You can also check out my individual conference season previews for the Eastern Conference and Western Conference, and who I have as the champion of each, plus a long shot pick.
Last season, the Milwaukee Bucks were just two games away from an Eastern Conference championship and an appearance in the NBA Finals. Now with Kawhi Leonard out of the picture with him being out West, they won’t have to worry about blowing another 2-0 lead to lose four straight games to the Toronto Raptors again in the conference finals. (Ouch) So the thought process is like this with most pundits, including myself, and probably you too: This is Milwaukee’s Eastern Conference to lose this season. With their leader and reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, he’s only getting better at this point, which is absolutely terrifying for their opposition — and the Bucks would get better too at that.
Over the offseason, they would go out and make effective moves such as picking up both Kyle Korver and Wesley Matthews, two players who are able to shoot from the arc and stretch the floor. Yeah, they’ll miss Malcolm Brodgdon on the defensive side of the ball, but Matthews should be able to bring enough quality defense to counter the loss. Sky is the limit for the Milwaukee Bucks this season. If Giannis keeps improving, no Kevin Durant to worry about right now and the Philadelphia 76ers being the only real challenge for the Bucks, it’s their year — “Finals or Bust” comes to mind.
It would be quite the turnaround for the Philadelphia 76ers franchise, and quickly too. Not that long ago, Joel Embiid wasn’t preaching to just the city of Philadelphia, but the entire NBA with his “Trust The Process” slogan — doing this at a time when the Sixers were only winning 15 games in a season as well. Fast forward from then until now and you have a legit championship contender with the Philadelphia 76ers. Over the offseason, they would take a bit of a hit losing Jimmy Butler to the Miami Heat, but they would manage to bring back Tobias Harris and would also add a quality player in Josh Richardson from the Butler sign-and-trade. They might not have been winners like the Los Angeles Clippers in free agency, but they would be one of the most successful teams behind the Clippers signing players such as Al Horford, Trey Burke, and Kyle O’Quinn, making the Sixers even deeper on the depth chart. As far as their potential to get to the NBA Finals, well, that all depends on Joel Embiid’s and Ben Simmons’ play this season.
The “process” that we were supposed to “trust” delivered us some great basketball from the Sixers, now it’s up to their leaders Embiid and Simmons to take them to the next level. With that being said, they have a massive hurdle in their way with the likes of the Milwaukee Bucks, but another appearance in the Eastern Conference Finals is an easily-accomplishable goal for the Philadelphia 76ers, and that’s where I have them this season.
Speaking of teams who made big splashes back in the offseason, the Houston Rockets would certainly do that with their acquisition of Russell Westbrook via trade which would ship Chris Paul to the Oklahoma City Thunder. With Westbrook, they get a completely different style of play than Paul, especially considering Paul is becoming an aging veteran at 34 years old. Needless to say, Westbrook is so much easier to depend on to put points on the scoreboard at this point in both of their careers. And not only can Westbrook score either, but he’s absolutely lethal when it comes to putting up triple-doubles — he’s a legend in this statistical category, placing second place all-time in the history of the NBA at 138.
And here’s another plus, and probably the biggest of them all: Westbrook is going to easily mold well with James Harden, his former teammate from OKC and now reunited in Houston.
For the past few years now, the Rockets have been in a position to win an NBA championship, but haven’t been able to completely get over the hump to achieve the glory — and this includes a playoff defeat last season to the Golden State Warriors with an injured Kevin Durant. After they would bring in Westbrook, it became obvious that Houston felt like their current core wasn’t enough after trying it for a few years, and that’s why you had such the dramatic move. And with the Golden State Warriors downgraded a bit, the time is perfect for the Rockets to take advantage to finally get to the NBA Finals. Houston is definitely sitting pretty with Harden and Westbrook at the helm, and it’ll be fascinating to see how they change things up to improve even more from here. If they can add one more quality piece before the deadline, this team becomes extraordinarily dangerous.
They say that the mighty has fallen, but have they? For years now, the Golden State Warriors have dominated the Western Conference and the entire National Basketball Association. But now with the departure of Kevin Durant and the injury to Klay Thompson, a lot of pundits are saying that Golden State is currently on a decline and have brought their level down to the rest of the league. Maybe there’s a little truth to that, but the Warriors will certainly remain contenders to win the NBA title. After all, they still have the same core of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green that has won a championship before without Kevin Durant. Going back to the Thompson injury, he will be out until at least the All-Star break, but they do have a quality player in D’Angelo Russell to fill the gap.
My biggest concern for Golden State, personally, is the depth chart and how shallow it is. Over the seasons, the Warriors have had the luxury of a deep bench, but with the new campaign, things will be a bit different. Off of the bench, they do have talent such as Willie Cauley Stein, Alec Burks, Glenn Robinson III, and Omari Spellman, but inconsistency has been a trait with all of these players. With that being said, Steve Kerr has worked some magic over the years and has been able to pull the most out of his players, so the potential is there for them to form a strong second unit. Don’t count out the Golden State Warriors and their status as NBA title contenders.
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