LeBron’s Lakers Enter All-Star Break with 3rd-Best Championship Odds Among Western Conference Teams
- The Lakers have +1100 odds to win the NBA title despite being three games out of a playoff spot.
- This is the latest into a season that a LeBron James-led team has been below .500 since 2003-04.
- Is there anyway to justify betting on the Lakers to win the title?
LeBron James’ first season as a Laker hasn’t exactly gone as planned. Los Angeles has failed miserably trying to pair the four-time MVP with another superstar, and their record at the All-Star break is worse than anyone could have imagined.
Lakers suffer ugly road loss to Hawks, sink below .500 going into All-Star break https://t.co/luM1dQ8ttJ pic.twitter.com/wqgXp1gl3l
— L.A. Daily News (@ladailynews) February 13, 2019
But despite their most recent humiliation at the hands of the Hawks, online sportsbooks remain suprisingly bullish on LeBron’s Lakers. Their average odds to win the NBA title are the third shortest among Western Conference teams, and the odds imply only the Warriors have a better shot at coming out of the West.
2019 NBA Championship Odds
| Team | Odds to Win 2019 NBA Championship (02/16/19) |
|---|---|
| Golden State Warriors | -230 |
| Toronto Raptors | +750 |
| Boston Celtics | +950 |
| Milwaukee Bucks | +950 |
| Los Angeles Lakers | +1100 |
| Philadelphia 76ers | +1100 |
| Houston Rockets | +1300 |
| Oklahoma City Thunder | +1700 |
| Denver Nuggets | +2000 |
| San Antonio Spurs | +7000 |
*Click on the link in the table above to see odds for all 30 NBA teams
LA’s price has experienced little change in the last couple weeks, despite striking out in the Anthony Davis sweepstakes, and moving forward with a roster that features only two players with a PER above 20.
Unchartered Waters
At 28-29, the Lakers are below .500 for the first time since they were 5-6 in the beginning of November. It’s the latest into a season that a LeBron James-led team has had a losing record since his rookie campaign in 2003-04, and has prompted some pretty outlandish claims from former NBA players.
.@ScottiePippen doesn’t see the same instinct and ability to take over games like Michael Jordan had in LeBron James. pic.twitter.com/v8LuP4Q305
— ESPN (@espn) February 14, 2019
Granted, LeBron did miss a career long 17 straight games due to a groin injury, but LA has been inconsistent even when he’s been on the court.
Tuesday’s loss to Atlanta was the Lakers’ third in the last 19 games to a team with a below .330 winning percentage.
LA has now lost four of its last five, with two of those defeats by more than 22 points.
Playoffs? Don’t Talk About Playoffs
The Lakers currently sit 10th in the West, three games behind the Clippers for the conference’s final playoff berth. At the beginning of the season, they were as high as a -600 favorite to make the postseason, but now their odds to make the playoffs are the same as their odds to miss them at some sportsbooks.
To make matters worse for LA fans, 15 of their final 25 games are against teams with an above .500 record, and ESPN’s playoff index gives them only a 5.8% chance of making the postseason.
Fade the Lakers
The Lakers are only priced where they are because they have LeBron James on their roster. This isn’t the first time a LeBron-led team has been overvalued and it certainly won’t be the last. Don’t get cute trying to squeeze value out of a borderline playoff team, stick to a winning formula and bet the Warriors.
The @warriors are still going strong in our NBA Power Rankings ? pic.twitter.com/dx61IVBnaS
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) February 11, 2019
Sure, nobody likes laying -230, but barring a series of catastrophic injuries, no one is slaying this giant.
As SBD's resident Swiss Army Knife, Chris covers virtually every sport including NFL, PGA, NBA, MLB, NCAAB, NCAAF and the Olympics. A true grinder, he'd rather pick off small edges in the player props market than swing for the fences with a 5-leg parlay.
