Getty Kyle Kuzma of the Los Angeles Lakers, who is involved in trade talks alongside Brandon Ingram.
In what is turning into a wild NBA offseason, oddsmakers have decided to open the books and take on a large number of obscure prop bets surrounding the Lakers. One prop bet available is if young Lakers Kyle Kuzma and Brandon Ingram will actually be on the roster at the start of the 2019-20 NBA season.
With both Ingram and Kuzma at the center of trade talks with the Pelicans for Anthony Davis and the Lakers desperate to make a splash this offseason, oddsmakers feel that both Ingram and Kuzma might be on the way out.
Kyle Kuzma and Brandon Ingram Are Heavy Favorites to Not Be Lakers Next Year
According to @BovadaOfficial both Brandon Ingram and Kyle Kuzma are NOT expected to be on the #Lakers at the start of next season.
BI is -300 to play for another team, and Kuz has slightly better odds at -220.
Not only are Kuzma and Ingram favored to not be on the Lakers next season but both have heavy odds in favor of suiting up outside of Los Angeles. Oddsmakers expect Ingram to have the best chance at leaving as he clocks in with heavy -300 odds to play elsewhere.
Kuzma isn’t too far behind and while he has slightly better odds to stay (-220), oddsmakers feel that there is still a very good chance he winds up being packaged in a trade as well.
Ingram has already been placed on the table as the Lakers reportedly have offered Ingram, Lonzo Ball, and the fourth overall pick to the Pelicans. Kuzma comes into the picture as an asset the Lakers are trying to hold on to but one that the Pelicans are also actively trying to get included in the trade package.
Lakers Free Agency Options in Flux After Klay Thompson & Kevin Durant Injuries
With first Kevin Durant going down for the entirety of next year with a ruptured Achilles and Klay being out for 6-8 months rehabbing his torn ACL, the loaded free agent market got a whole lot more confusing heading closer to free agency. Both Durant and Thompson were poised to hit the free agent market this summer and as two of the best players in the league, teams with ample cap space were preparing to make a play for the two superstar’s status.
With both out with injury now, the free agent crop just got a lot thinner and with Brooklyn and New York holding two max slots each along with the Clippers having a max opening as well, the market for remaining free agents just got a whole lot more competitive. Especially in the Lakers case, they need to win now and while the Lakers were never favorites for Durant and Thompson, Durant’s injury, in particular, could send the Knicks and Nets creeping on some of the Lakers’ targets.