Raptors 2020 NBA Championship Odds Fade to +1600 After Kawhi Leaves

• Kawhi Leonard has decided to sign with the Los Angeles Clippers
• The Raptors – in their current form – are not good enough to compete with Philadelphia, Milwaukee or even Boston in the playoffs
• The Denver Nuggets and Utah Jazz offer better value at +1600

The Toronto Raptors lost the Kawhi Leonard sweepstakes on Friday night as the free agent opted to sign with the Los Angeles Clippers.

As a result, the Raptors 2020 NBA Championship odds have dropped to +1600. Are the Raptors still worth a flier at 16/1 or are there better bets in the East?

2020 NBA Championship Odds

*Odds taken 07/06/19

Leonard Chooses Los Angeles Clippers

After a wild week of reporting that mostly proved to be false, Leonard ended up choosing the Clippers after they acquired Paul George from the Oklahoma City Thunder. In the end, it looked like Leonard always wanted to go to the Clippers, ending a bizarre week where he waited and pushed the Clippers to find him another star.

Raptors Roster in Shambles

While it may seem like losing Leonard is just one piece off an NBA Championship roster, that piece was just about everything to the Raptors. Remember, they were a 50-win team before him but that was with DeMar DeRozan on the roster. Without DeRozan and now Leonard, this team is going to falter quite a bit.

The Raptors also ended up losing Danny Green as he bolted for the Los Angeles Lakers the second Kawhi announced he was leaving. He hit 2.5 threes per game for the Raptors last season and played stellar defense.

There are still a lot of quality players on this roster with Pascal Siakam, Kyle Lowry, Marc Gasol, Serge Ibaka and Fred VanVleet, but without Leonard and without Green, this is not a team that will threaten the Philadelphia 76ers, Milwaukee Bucks or even the Boston Celtics in the playoffs.

One-Year Contracts

The other issue with the Raptors is virtually their entire roster is on expiring contracts next season. Knowing that they’re going to lose most of those players, it wouldn’t be a surprise if they start trading off that team to see what they can get back.

Lowry is at $33 million next season but a free agent after. The same goes for Gasol ($25 million), Ibaka ($23 million) and VanVleet ($8.6 million). With so many teams in the running, the Raptors will be dumping these players for picks or future prospects to the highest bidder.

Value With the Nuggets, Jazz

If you’re looking at teams with value on the board to compete for a crown next season, take a good look at the Utah Jazz and Denver Nuggets. The Nuggets won 54 games this season and have plenty of roster continuity. We know that the Los Angeles Clippers and Lakers made big moves but sometimes the chemistry doesn’t work out (see: 2018 Lakers).

The Nuggets have great team chemistry, have an MVP-caliber player (Nikola Jokic), a rising star (Jamal Murray) and a cast of young players who should be better. If last year’s first-round pick Michael Porter Jr. can contribute as expected, that could put them over the top.

As for the Jazz, this is also not only a team with good chemistry but a squad who plays good defense. They have their own Big Three in Mike Conley Jr., Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert, which might be as good as anyone’s Big Three in the conference.

When you look at those teams, they’re both at 16/1 and offer a much better chance of winning the championship over the Raptors next season. They’re a much better investment.