Lakers’ 2019-20 NBA Championship Odds Show Belief in Big Turnaround

Lakers NBA championship odds

Getty Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James

Even though the 2019 playoffs are still underway, Vegas sleeps for no man and the 2019-2020 NBA Championship odds have already been released. While it should come as no surprise who the overwhelming favorites are, one curious bit is just how far up the list LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers are.


Lakers’ NBA Championship Odds 2019-20: LeBron & Company Land in Top-10

Landing ninth overall in the NBA, the Lakers are listed as 20-1 longshots to win the championship. However, even considering how their season ended and the unfilled roster heading into next year, the Lakers find themselves ahead of a number of 2018-19 playoff teams like the Nets, Jazz, Thunder, Blazers, Pacers, Magic, and Spurs.

Also notable is the fact that the Knicks are somehow given the third best odds to win the championship in 2019-20. Clearly, oddsmakers are expecting a seismic shift in the NBA’s power balance this summer as the Knicks would need to land at least a pair of top-shelf free agents in order for this to be remotely feasible.


Lakers 2019 Offseason Preview

After jumping up and snagging the fourth overall pick in the NBA Draft Lottery, the Lakers sit in a prime position to make a play for Anthony Davis (if the Pelicans ever decide to talk) or grab another talented youngster to add to the growing core. Either way, the Lakers should have money to target a max-contract player in free agency and everything the front office has said over the past half-decade has alluded to throwing big money around this offseason.

If the Lakers strike out on luring another top talent to play alongside James, the King’s stint in LA will likely go down as a colossal failure even if he is able to take a healthy group of kids to the playoffs. The Lakers spent years preparing for the 2018 and 2019 free agency windows yet have only come away with LeBron so far. While for most teams that would be more than enough, the Lakers were built for two stars to come on board and their inability to do so last season shortened their LeBron James window down to just two more guaranteed years.

Expect the Lakers to be aggressive in free agency once again but don’t be shocked if they once again strike out among top tier talents. The Lakers have had every opportunity to land top-shelf free agents over the past few seasons and there is a reason they only came away with LeBron. While James definitely still wants to win basketball games, he came to LA to further his career off the court and to start setting himself up to eventually move on from the sport. With their young core and exposure, the Lakers made sense but let’s not act like the front office had much to do with influencing James much one way or the other. The King had made up his mind.

Basically, the entire lynchpin of the Lakers offseason (and next two-three years) is if they can, in fact, land another max star. If they do, there is a solid chance the Lakers wind up salvaging this experiment and possibly even come away with a ring. If not, the Lakers will almost certainly be in almost the exact same position come next offseason – just with a worse draft pick and one less year of an aging LeBron James.